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| Mugimaki Flycatcher Ficedula mugimaki |
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| Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa latirostris |
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Common Myna Acridotheres tristis
(Non-native - probably ship-assisted) |
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| White Wagtail Motacilla alba leucopsis |
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| Seotal Oreum |
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| Namwon |
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| Namwon |
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| Seogwipo |
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| Seogwipo |
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| Seogwipo |
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| Japanese gun emplacement, Seotal Oreum |
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| Hog wild |
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| My favourite restaurant since 2008 |
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| Mike, 2015 |
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| Mike, 2023 |
The grand Jeju Island circumnav, May 6, 2023
Went for a long-ass day clock-wise round the island with my old birding buddy Mike on the 6th. Our first birding trip was at Hado, way back in January of 2009. We met at 4am for some reason, then drove out to a spot known to be home to crepuscular delights. We picked carefully down a trail in the pre-dawn blackness, but were soon greeted with a shocking situation. Several large speakers (spread out at intervals of 50 feet or so) were blaring K-pop music out into the hills, at a tooth-clattering volume. In the dark, we couldn’t make out what kind of building the speakers were associated with – could have been a golf course, or maybe a minbak (guest house). Whatever the case, I can’t comprehend who the hell would find it necessary or appropriate to blast music into the hills at 5am. If there’s no one there – why play loud music at 5am (and presumably 24 hours a day)? If there are guests staying there (sleeping) – again, why play loud music at 5am? I doubt if any interesting breeding birds would stick around in an area where they surely would not be able to hear one another. Ridiculous.
We hit spots in Songdang-ri (in from the east coast), Namwon-eup (southeast of the island), Seogwipo (southside), Ilgwa and the Seotal Oreum (southwest coast). Most spots we visited were relatively quiet, given the time of year. The torrential rains that pounded the island for a few days may be partly to blame. What else? I thought I saw a Black Drongo perched on a roadside wire near Jungmun, but by the time we got turned around, the bird was gone. Ah well. Anyway, was great to catch up with the singular Mike-inator.
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