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| Crested Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume |
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| Crested Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume |
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| Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis |
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| Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis |
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| Tiger Shrike Lanius tigrinus |
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| Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus |
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| Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla |
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| Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala |
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| Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala |
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| Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus |
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| Oriental Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis |
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| Oriental Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis |
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| Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus |
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| Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos |
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| Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis daurica |
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| Pacific Swift Apus pacificus |
May 16
From the ferry, which had a big lovely open deck to scan from, about a dozen Streaked Shearwater, and half that number of Crested Murrelets. I would have expected Ancient Murrelets, as in the past from this ferry. Perhaps Crested Murrelets breed on some of the islets between Jeju and Chuja?
As has been the case with every day in Korea so far, it was smog hazy all day. Only a couple of hours around Shinyang 1-ri in the late afternoon, checking in on some habitat I birded last time. Surprise surprise, a lot of it was in the process of being ripped up by worker ants.
Avian highlights included Greater Short-toed Lark, Tiger Shrike, Oriental Honey Buzzard, two Oriental Dollarbirds, and Eurasian, Lesser, and Northern Hawk Cuckoos.
May 17
The bird of the day started as a mystery in the murk. Shortly after dawn in Shinyang 1-ri, in a thick fog/smog, a pipit flushed from the grass beside the main harbour and up into a tree. It was hard to make out through the haze, so I crept as close as I dared. It eventually dropped into a weedy field, but remained fairly confiding. Something about it struck me as ‘off’ from the Olive-backed Pipits I’ve been seeing so far. I got a few record shots through the fog, before it flushed in the company of a nervous Little Bunting. I’ve never seen a Tree Pipit before, but I was getting those vibes.
The strong markings behind the eye were good for Olive-backed, but those can also show in Tree Pipit. Some other features that had me thinking Tree Pipit were the hint of a buffy wash to the chest, the way the heavier chest streaking gave way to very fine streaks on the flanks, a mantle that seemed more heavily streaked than the average OB, and softer facial features than OB (weaker eye ring and supercilium).
I puzzled over images online (unfortunately the pipit illustrations in the Brazil guide leave a lot to be desired…really starting to regret bringing it along, largely because of how heavy it is) so long that I wondered if I’d just wished all the subtle plumage variations into being, and it was just a bog standard Olive-backed Pipit playing tricks on my smog-addled mind.
I passed the hazy images on to Tim Edelsten, and he agreed with Tree Pipit, due to the features I mentioned, and several field marks I didn’t know about. Neat! Thanks, Tim.
Notes:
-Socked in with fog all morning, and increasingly muggy hot throughout the day.
-Did three separate circuits of Shinyang 1-ri, with rest/hydration breaks between.
-Fooled repeatedly by Bull-headed Shrikes.
-Almost no more flycatchers about – only two Asian Brown Flycatchers.
-On the bunting front – only Little and Black-faced Buntings remain in the scrub.
-Chinese Pond Heron next to a tiny pond.
-Still some Rufous-tailed Robins trilling in the hills.
-I’d forgotten how much character the raspy chuckle of the Oriental Dollarbird has.
-Ditto for the lunatic rebel yell of the Lesser Cuckoo.
-Hiked some lovely ridges I’d never gotten to on past trips.
-A pair of hikers asked me “What is your subject?” pointing to my optics. “Birds,” I replied, but quickly wished I’d growled “CHAOS!” instead.
-I followed a black cat home – what are the luck implications of such an act?
-Been eating well – getting my full daily allowances of vitamin sugar and vitamin salt. Eh it’s all good when you sweat it all out, right?
-The constant scraping and grumbling in the harbour reminded me to never bet against the stock price of concrete in Korea.
-The locals on Chuja seem less friendly/genuine than I remember.
May 18
Instead of catching the morning ferry north to Usuyeong and points north, all Chuja ferries were cancelled due to high winds and rain. D’oh! All good, I planned stretchiness into my schedule for just such events. Let’s see what these winds bring in the afternoon when the rain lets up (#ryukyurobin). I was in need of a little rest anyway.
A two-hour slog in the afternoon rain produced just 18 species. Windy as all get-out. Some dude has these poor dogs chained up in his empty yard full of garbage, and they usually see me from a long way out. They start barking when I’m 500 metres down the valley road, and don’t stop until I’m over the crest. This time, in my silly-ass poncho, I thought I’d test them a little. One of them let out a little bark when it first saw me. Then, I lifted my poncho arms up and scrunched my boonie-hat-wearing head down, and just became a big pointy shape. The dogs didn’t bark. I got closer and closer, changing the angle of the sails under my arms from time to time. The poncho was making a loud repetitive slapping sound in the wind. I got even closer, and instead of barking, all three dogs retreated into their houses, wide-eyed and silent. Cool.
As I was making my way down a mountain path behind the church, a bird came whipping in off the sea, and passed in front of me. I got a quick eyeball look at the unmistakable silhouette of a kingfisher – all beak, short tail, fat in the middle. It was bigger than a Common Kingfisher, and in the dim backlight, it presented as uniformly dark, with perhaps a purple tinge. It disappeared into the foliage, and seemed like it wanted to keep going up and over the ridge.
Uhhh…did I finally just see my first Ruddy Kingfisher? Gosh, I hope not. Not that way, that’s not how I pictured it. I still have plans to hit up some reliable mainland Ruddy spots. Don’t do me like that, Ruddy Kingfisher. The first time I see one, it better be lit by an angelic sunbeam piercing waxy sub-tropical foliage at dawn, causing the bird to glow like stained glass. Or like ET’s heart. That’s how it’s gonna go down. Not some sketchy blurry vizmig in the rain. Heh heh.
May 19
Nothing new on the final dawn go-around, plenty of Pale Thrush around. Nothing from the boat to Usuyeong, which offered little visibility from salt-encrusted windows. Saw my first Azure-winged Magpies of the trip in sleepy Usuyeong.
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