"Historical post" - Jeju Island, September 2009

 Japanese Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus xanthodryas

juvenile Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis

Seogwipo, Jeju island, September 15, 2009
  Some interesting bird activity in a Seogwipo park, on an overcast day. A Japanese Leaf Warbler flitted through trees, loosely associating with a flock of Japanese White-eyes. A decidedly scruffy Brown-eared Bulbul showed an odd silhouette, while a conspicuously quiet female Black-naped Oriole lurked in nearby tree tops. Two Oriental Cuckoos continue to gorge themselves on caterpillars in riverside trees, and a scolding Bull-headed Shrike dueled with an equally agitated Grey Wagtail for several minutes.

Eurasian Magpie Pica pica

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus 

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Seogwipo, Jeju island, September 5, 2009
  Great sunny weather for birding in a park near downtown Seogwipo. The river was busy with regulars like Grey Wagtails, Eurasian Magpies, Spot-billed Ducks, Little and Intermediate Egrets, Common Kingfishers, Bull-headed Shrikes, Common Sandpipers, and Blue Rock Thrushes. A personal first for this park was a juvenile Oriental Cuckoo, that fed and flew back and forth across the river. 

  I almost fell off my rock when a Western Osprey dropped into the river 20 feet in front of me. It drank from the river, then stretched out its wings and drifted in the current, until it finally flew off a few minutes later, closely but briefly pursued by two agitated Grey Wagtails.

(*Note: This is a “historical post.” Whereas I started birding in Korea in 2005, this blog has only been active since early 2012 - these posts are an attempt to consolidate my early birdventures from the various blogs and websites where they reside, largely from the “Archived Bird News“ section of Birds Korea’s excellent website: http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-Birdnews-archive.shtml. Find more historical posts by clicking on the "Historical posts" tab at the bottom of this post.
  For this post, most of images are lamentably poor-resolution screensaves, as many of the original photo files were lost in the infamous computer crash of 2011.)