Smew arrivals: Gangneung, November 23-24, 2018

Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana

Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana

Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana

Great Egret Ardea alba

Ruddy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea

male Smew Mergellus albellus 

female-type Smew Mergellus albellus

Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus

Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica

Too slow...

pitiful pair of mangy Raccoon Dog Nyctereutes procyonoides

This is the formerly scrubby spot Youngwhan recently told me about with a broad smile on his face: “This place is always good in winter for small birds, especially interesting buntings.” And now it’s a wrecked pile of garbage, being prepared for the construction of something inevitably stupid. Bah humbug. 

The desolation of smog (from “Asia Air Quality” app)

  I adore that word. Smew. SMEW. Smew. Try it. Lovely bird too, innit.
  On Friday the 23rd, an early-morning river mission was undertaken under fresh blue skies. This long walk was designed to compensate for most likely being house-bound on Sunday, due to a grim smogcast. Shitcrap. Anyway, trying to make lemonade this time 'round, innit. Things could be worse, they always can.
  The first highlight was a Japan-banded Oriental Stork that was courteous enough to strut mid-river in the spot where the photogs coagulate. Neat, I’ll look up where and when it was banded later.
  I suspect the plover from the other day was a Long-billed Plover, and I spent almost 30 minutes watching one feed on a small riverside smudge of sand. Closer to the sea, I spied three Ruddy Shelducks, super-cool bird.
  The next day, it rained all morning, so I made a mid-afternoon trip to Gyeongpo Lake when the clouds moved on. I recorded 44 species in three hours, which ain’t half bad for November, I think.
  It’s been getting colder in this corner of Gangwon-do. Gangneung didn’t get the snow Seoul did, but the surrounding mountains have picked up a handsome dusting. While it wasn’t Canada cold, there was a chipper wind in the fields, in weather that’s finally feeling wintry.
  About ten minutes into my walk, I was surprised when the Oriental Stork came in hot and low right over my head, and landed in a small pool by a water treatment plant, near a large pack of suspicious Great Egrets. The stork was flushed three times in ten minutes by nearby pedestrian traffic, and after the last disturbance, the huge bird circled high (in disgust?) then headed north along the coast, with purpose.
  Later on, three Whooper Swans were spotted on the lake, although the yellow/black ratio on one individual's bill had me thinking Tundra Swan for a minute or two there (comparison shot here: https://snowyowllost.blogspot.com/2015/12/seosan-november-28-29.html).
  What else? More Northern Lapwings in the fields, more ducks on the lake, as it should be in winter. Oh, and a Merlin. Good looks at elegant Siberian Accentors and Goldcrests in the ‘Yellow-bellied Tit’ patch of pines. No re-sighting of the Water Rail – there’s your ultimate ‘the harder you look the better it hides’ species.
  At the end of the walk, a buffy passerine with a flash of profound orange in the tail silently flushed low from one clump of reservoir reeds to another. I got a Bluethroat jizz from the bird, but there was an odd Meadow Bunting and several Daurian Redstarts in the area, so probably best to stick to the regular suspects before shouting Bluethroat in a crowded theatre.
  Smew.