The joys of backyard birding

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus

Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos canicapillus

(Brown-eared Bulbul screeching in the background)

(Pro tip: the second time the videos are played, they're way clearer for some reason)

  When I need a recharge, I hit the quiet hills that loom over my backyard. While there hasn't been anything spectacular up there so far, it's always awesome to listen to the calling birds being drowned out by the shush of the wind in the 80-foot pines.
  As I was heading back home today from a lazy ramble, I spotted two smaller woodpeckers. One was a Japanese Pygmy, and I had written the second one off as the same when it made a call that sounded, to my rusty ear, much closer to that of a Great Spotted. When I got up on it, I was stunned to be standing 10 feet from a Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker! This is a scarce species that has declined in most of its South Korean range, and whose status seems to exist in a veil of uncertainty. What? Anyway, this badass bird made my day. Haven't seen one since 2008, I believe.