Otter you lookin’ at?

Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra

Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus

Grey-backed Thrush Turdus hortulorum

Gwangju, May 29, 2023

  Went for a final spin at the Gakwha Reservoir at dusk, to see what was stirring. Heard some Oriental Scops Owls and Eurasian Cuckoos singing, as well as Pale and Grey-backed Thrush in some small garden plots. Got some close looks at a Eurasian Otter on the way out, poking out of the trash-choked water along the edge of the reservoir.

Gwangju, May 27-29, 2023

Varied Tit Sittiparus varius

Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

Gakwha Rerservoir looks peaceful...

...but turn around and this is the view

Gusi Beach

  Gwangju’s been a bit of a bust, bird-wise, but I’ve been using it as a chance to catch a breath and recharge for the next phase. I’ve been based in the northeast of town, due to the proximity of Gakwha Reservoir. This is where Ruddy Kingfishers were reported on numerous occasions at this time of year, about ten years ago. I’ve been to the reservoir for the past three dawns, with no sign of Ruddys. Could be they’re just late this year. Another explanation could be that this spot is no longer suitable for the shy species. The area was quite active even at dawn, and by 7:30am, the narrow trails around the reservoir and into the hills beyond were jammed with people. Many of these folks were blaring music or talk radio from the ubiquitous and uniquely Korean hip-mounted ‘trail radios.’

  Seems that birding intel is more perishable in Korea than elsewhere. That’s because a year in Korea is a decade, development-wise. Perhaps ten years ago, the hills beyond the reservoir were quiet in the mornings. Perhaps the entire neighbourhood of domino apartments around the reservoir, and new motorway were also not there ten years ago, and it was relatively quiet rural land. And perhaps the Ruddy Kingfishers have pushed deeper in the ever-shrinking Korean countryside, in search of a true ‘morning calm.’

  Several Fairy Pittas were heard singing from distant valleys beyond the reservoir, and it was nice to see my first Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Vinous-throated Parrotbills, and Eurasian Jays of the trip. The birds of the forest all seemed busy building and tending to nests.

  In the afternoon of May 27, I met up with local birder Jin-Hung Lee, and we drove out to Gusi Beach on the west coast - a one-hour trip that would have taken me almost four hours and several bus transfers to do on my own. We searched for recently reported Chinese Crested Terns, but our time there was limited, and we were not successful. There are only about 200 individuals left (in the world), so it would have been a treat to see one. Next time, let’s hope.

Onward tomorrow.

Gageo Island, May 25-26, 2023

Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola

Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola

Forest Wagtail Dendronanthus indicus

Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus

Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus

Tristram’s Bunting Emberiza tristrami

Yellow-breasted Bunting Emberiza aureola

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitaries

Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus

Kitty camped out where tired migrating birds make landfall

Japanese Keelback Amphiesma vibakari
 killed by a cat

Lighthouse at 3-gu (built in 1907)

Gageo's main harbour at 1-gu

Nightly shiksa at Jeil Pension

Homeboy whacking golf balls off Peregrine cliffs

May 25

-->57 species, but it didn’t feel like it, if that makes any sense.

-->A stunning male Citrine Wagtail in the dump at dawn, seen later towards dusk in the same spot.

-->A Forest Wagtail spotted on a shaded bit of road above the power plant. Been ages since I’ve seen one, and that was only a quick in-flight look. I spent an enjoyable 10 minutes watching it walk around quietly on the sun-dappled road, before it flitted into the…forest. Best wagtail ever?

-->More Richard’s Pipits, in both 1- and 2-gu.

-->Two Middendorf’s Grasshopper Warblers still singing in the quarry.

-->A cat was seen almost catching a White-cheeked Starling in the harbour.

-->Another cat was seen chasing a Black-faced Bunting in the harbour.

-->Several cats were staked out around the dump, where the wagtails gather.

-->The Chestnut-eared Bunting lingers in the dump.

-->A tiny warbler (?) was seen in the quarry – Asian Stubtail size or smaller, but it wasn’t solid brown, it looked lighter brown with darker markings and warm tones. Scratching my head. The looks were fast, and it didn’t vocalize, and the main impression it left was just how tiny it was. Will have a flip through my guides/brain.

-->A female Red Turtle Dove near the police station.

-->A dude was whacking golf balls against the cliffs in the quarry, where Peregrine Falcons hang out (and possibly nest?), and shorebirds and egrets patrol the beach below. The beach at the base of the cliff was littered with golf balls. How odd.

In 2-gu:

-->A male Red Turtle Dove at the northernmost tip of town (same one from 1-gu?).

-->A Fairy Pitta singing from the mountainside just outside 2-gu. Shortly after, two were heard singing from opposite 2-gu hills. On the way back towards 1-gu, two more (?) Fairy Pittas heard singing from a steep valley, and then another above 1-gu. So, accounting for birds moving around, 3-6 Fairy Pittas singing in the Gageo hills. Awesome! (Click here to hear recording)

-->A singing Lanceolated Warbler was heard.

-->A Kamchatka Leaf Warbler was seen (Looks just like an Arctic Warbler), and heard calling and singing on the road near 2-gu (Click here to hear recording).

-->A litter of kittens was seen – future bird killers. The mother cat had just finished killing a small Japanese Keelback.

-->A male Tristram’s Bunting.

-->Great to see about 10 Yellow-breasted Buntings.

May 26

  Got woken up by the screams of a Grey-headed Lapwing circling the main harbour – nice! I later caught up with it in the dump, and even later in the quarry (assuming there was only one). Helluva bird! I got my first on Gageo ten years ago. It was one of those moments where I saw the bird for the first time, and it looked just like its illustration in the field guide. I yelped “Grey-headed Lapwiiiiing!” to Robin Newlin, who was with me at the time, and he went loping after it.

-->Oriental Dollarbirds and Tiger Shrikes were everywhere on my last go-around, with perhaps as many as a dozen of each.

-->A male Red Turtle Dove still near the dump. What explains the male I saw in 2-gu? The same bird relocating, or a third bird?

-->A Fairy Pitta heard singing above 1-gu, as well as near 3-gu. One wonders if they breed on Gageo – plenty of dark, steep, inaccessible valleys for them…

  My original plan was to ride out Gageo until Tuesday to see what this last burst of southerlies brings in, but plans change. The forecast for Gageo is now for a lot of rain until Tuesday, and I was warned that there may very well be no ferry on Saturday (and then for a few days after that) due to wind. So I threw my bindle together and caught the last Pink Dolphin to Mokpo. I’m in Gwangju now, with plans to search for Ruddy Kingfishers in the hills for the next few days.

Gageo Island, May 24, 2023

Middendorf’s Grasshopper Warbler Locustella ochotensis

Middendorf’s Grasshopper Warbler Locustella ochotensis

Chinese (Swinhoe’s) Egret Egretta eulophotes

Chinese (Swinhoe’s) Egret Egretta eulophotes

Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus

Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus

Very bad kitty

  During a brief lull in the incessant rumbling and crashing in the quarry, I heard two Middendorf’s Grasshopper Warblers singing in a pitifully small slice of trees. I waited around in the vain hopes of a glimpse of one of these super skulkers, when a blur of orange swept through my peripheral vision. To my horror, a cat charged at the bushes and flushed one of the Middendorf’s. I watched in slow motion as the cat leapt through the air and came millimetres from swatting the bird from the air. I shooed the cat away quickly, and the Middendorf’s fluttered down onto a fence. It perched in the open for about ten seconds, stunned, before melting away again into the undergrowth. Not the way I wanted to get good looks at this scarce migrant (Sound recording here).

  Gageo Island is very catty these days. Loads of cats, all over, crouched in ambush positions wherever tired migrating birds come in. It didn’t used to be like that. I can’t remember seeing any cats at all back in 2013.

-A Chinese Egret at the small beach by the quarry.

-Several Richard’s Pipits around the quarry, identifiable by their husky House Sparrow chirp.

-The pair of Red Turtle Doves is back at the dump.

-Radde's and Dusky Warblers both skulking around town - fun to try to sort them out...

-A Chestnut-eared Bunting at the dump, my first for Gageo.

-The island feels cleared out. Fingers crossed for tomorrow, as the winds are shifting…

Gageo Island, May 22-23, 2023

Red Turtle Dove Streptopelia tranquebarica

Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax

Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica

Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica
(Spot the Barn Swallow)

Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica

White-shouldered Starling Sturnia sinensis

Red-billed (Silky) Starling Spodiopsar sericeus

Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis macronyx

Blyth’s Pipit Anthus godlewskii

Richard’s Pipit Anthus richardi

Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala

Chinese Grosbeak Eophona migratoria

Chinese Grosbeak Eophona migratoria

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis

Grey-faced Buzzard Butastur indicus

Pacific Swift Apus pacificus

2-gu

The road out of 2-gu that turns knees to bonedust

Road to the antenna

Shady-ass stairs in 2-gu

May 23

  A small passerine that perched on a wire above town had me well confused. My first instinct was Russet Sparrow, based on size and jizz, but the lighting was brutally bad – backlit and murky. I got some record shots before it took off, circled the harbour twice, then headed north over the ridge. I had to boost the brightness and saturation later to try to make out useable details on the bird, and that was my fatal mistake. Fiddling with the colour settings like that left me with an impossible bird. In the end, with a little help from my friends, I circled back around and settled on Russet Sparrow. Moral of the story? I dunno, don’t monkey with colour settings then try to ID a bird from a grainy pic? Don’t bird in the fog? Get more sleep?

  In that same fog, at least 250 Red-rumped Swallows swarmed around the dump and perched en masse, before taking to the air again, creating a massive Swallow-nado above town, that rose higher and higher, before dispersing.

  Mixed in with this flock were about a dozen Asian House Martin, as well as a Sand Martin that looked suspiciously pale in flight. I got a few images, but they were crap due to the same hazy overcast, so I’ll have to leave that one alone for now.

Also:

-Red Turtle Doves and Black Drongo continue in the dump.

-A few Oriental Honey and Grey-faced Buzzards drifting over the island.

-Lone Eurasian Magpie in the main town.

-A Brown-eared Bulbul fooled me into thinking it was an Ashy Drongo.

-Several Middendorf’s and Styan’s Grasshopper Warblers heard on the road to the antenna. Further up that road, nothing much, as the wind was very strong.

-50 species on the day.

May 23

  I began the long walk to 2-gu as the sun rose. It’s 30 minutes of steep hill, then an hour of less steep hills, then another 30 minutes of steep hills. And then you do it all again on the way back. For Montrealers, it’s like walking from Vendome Metro up to the Westmount Summit and back…twice. But hey, life is short – turn your knees into bonedust if it means birding Gageo 2-gu on a fine spring morning, I say.

  Not a huge turnover today, and the winds are out of the north. Will put up with a couple of days of doldrums, as the winds should be blowing out of the south again by Thursday.

  More Middendorf’s and Styan’s Grasshopper Warblers singing from many stands of bamboo from the power plant all the way into 2-gu.

  On the road to 2-gu, I flushed a bird that looked like a small, plain thrush. The back and rump showed warm brown tones as it flew, and I caught a glimpse of a strong supercilium and dark flanks. Then a couple of odd ‘up and down chirpy calls’ followed by a guttural tisking was heard from the scrub where the bird flushed. I later listened to calls online, and Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler matches up well with what I heard, as well as saw. Hopefully I can get a better look before I leave.

-The Black Drongo and Red Turtle Doves appear to have moved on.

-A White-shouldered Starling on the road to 2-gu.