Recent pasts and hazy futures

Jetlagged coffee-sipping/cat-sitting in Jeju City while the torrential
 rains pour down outside – peak cozy achieved

Aftermath of the great rainihilation/foaming shoe incident

Food options on Gapa Island were…tricky at times. One day I ate a pogo (corn dog) for all three meals. The woman at the shop felt so sorry for me, she gave me… 

…a free coffee ("Service!")

The following day on Gapa the only thing I ate was this massive pajeon. It was
 filling and tasty, albeit a tad heavy on oily octopus legs for my taste.

I crossed paths with this dapper squire on Gapa last spring. I regret not talking to him, but I understand that he had an important marshmallow gumdrop harvest to attend to.

My old favourite hang in Seogwipo (“The Office”)

Foggy Jeju hills

I'd forgotten how fun it was to live out of a perfectly packed backpack
(for a while at least)

Best bus pass ever

The legend of…

…Cheonjiyeon Falls

Spring in…February?

Much too early for park reading weather

Or...memories of spring, melting winters...

  Time flies, it’s true what they say. A short year ago I was busy plotting my nutty Korean spring fling. It feels like it was yesterday, no joke. I re-read all my spring posts in a daze the other night, which re-charged my adventure batteries by about 6%. I picked up another 4% by combing through some phone pics from the trip (here are a few). I wonder if I’ll ever get to experience another Korean spring? Will I one day get a proper look at a Ruddy Kingfisher? Stay tuned, I guess.

  In other news, it’s 15 degrees and sunny out in Montreal, on February 27th. The forecast shows unbroken above zero (mostly double-digit) highs from here on out. The only snow left is hiding in the shadows, and the outdoor rink on the corner has almost fully bled out into the gutters. Just 20 short years ago, the outdoor rink was skate-able from early December right on through to mid-March, with few exceptions. I doubt if there were two weeks of solid ice this year.

  If this is what February is like, I’m terrified to imagine what April will bring, let alone the hellfires of August. I wonder if birds will be migrating north early, only to find that favourite food isn’t available yet.

  In other other news, I’ve got a couple of birding-related writing projects that are baking away, and the oven is about to ding.

Gapa Island, May 11-12, 2023

Black-winged Cuckooshrike Lalage melaschistos

Black-winged Cuckooshrike Lalage melaschistos

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher Ficedula zanthopygia

Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni

Welcome to Disney World

The Moorhen tree

Looking north at dawn

A haenyo diver

Later, Gapa

Gotta love that first ferry off

May 11

  The 11th was pretty quiet on Gapa, but ended with a kaboom. On the north side, as I was headed into an overgrown yard by an abandoned house, a shrike-sized bird flushed over the house. I got a glimpse of a medium grey back, with darker wings, and a longish dark tail. I think I know what this is, and it would be a long-awaited lifer. Remember to breathe, and move slowly. I crept around to the other side of the house, and peeked the corner. The bird flushed from low to high, and I got a bino view. Black-winged Cuckooshrike! I fired off a dozen shaky-handed pics through the branches in the foreground, and got a couple of passable record shots.

  As with the Baikal Bush Warbler, the date and location for this sighting seem earlier, and much further south than most other records I’ve been able to find for South Korea. The records I’ve seen are all from May 21 or later, and are from Baengneyong and Socheong Islands. I wonder if both of these odd Gapa sightings have something to do with last week’s massive rain system...or were they perhaps more recent arrivals?

  Odd to see at dusk was a Moorhen skulking in a potted tree in someone’s yard – a testament to the lack of leafy habitat on the island. What else? Two Taiga Flycatchers were still on the island, but it was getting quieter all day.

May 12

  On the 12th, it was very unbirdy on a final go-around of the island at dawn. The Black-winged Cuckooshrike was refound at about 6am. It was showing much better – perched prominently near the school, in the island’s centre. It really presents as a ‘plain’ bird at a distance (and minivet-like).

  In spite of some solid spring variety and excellent surprises, it was a relief to leave Gapa-do. The place is largely unbirdable for much of the day due to it being jammed nuts-to-butts with tourists. Between 9am and 4pm, they spread around and clog every little artery on the island, like an omnipotent neon blob. You may as well try to go birding at Disney World.

  And the place just felt birded out for the moment. There may be some interesting stuff blowing in with the winds this weekend, but all in all, ça vaut pas la peine. But I reckon my Gapa gambit paid off. I wanted to avoid being on tiny Mara Island for a few days with the local crew of Korean birders. I wanted my own island, ha ha, and I got it for better or worse.

  Nothing from the boat back.

  Chilling in Seogwipo at the moment. Headed north in a few days, to continue the island-hopping.

Gapa Island, May 10, 2023

Black (Japanese) Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

Black (Japanese) Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone atrocaudata

Baikal Bush Warbler Locustella davidi

Baikal Bush Warbler Locustella davidi

Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
with Chestnut Bunting Emberiza rutila

male Chestnut Bunting Emberiza rutila

female Chestnut Bunting Emberiza rutila

Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys

Yellow Bunting Emberiza sulphurata

Chestnut-eared Bunting Emberiza fucata

Tristram’s Bunting Emberiza tristrami

Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni

Dusky Warbler Phylloscopus fuscatus

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

Asian Comma Polygonia c-aureum

Looking towards Mara Island at dawn

Halla Mountain looms at dawn

Baikal Bush Warbler spot

find the Black Paradise Flycatcher holding court

Smog gets in your eyes

  The day started fairly slowly, with not much turnover on a dawn circuit of the island. As I was headed back to my minbak (guest house) at about 8:30am for a coffee (and to scour the smog off my face), I took a detour to some wooded cliffs on the southwest coast, in the shadow of windmills whose blades have turned their last. I’d checked the spot twice already that morning, and the sun was already lashing down with malice, but I decided to check it one more time, as it was relatively close to my minbak. And maybe I heard something in the wind, whispering my name, ha ha.

  Halfway down the row of low pines and scrub, I heard an insect-like buzzing. It was a sound I’d heard before. But not in person – on Xeno-canto. In preparation for this trip, I had time to kill, so did a bit of research on what sort of birds could stray to Korea on migration. So I had a decent idea on what was buzzing in the bushes. I flopped into the grass and staked the spot out. Within 10 minutes, I caught a brief bino glimpse of an uber-skulky LBJ. I saw a white eyebrow, and, holy crap, the hint of a black necklace. This confirmed my suspicions – Baikal Bush Warbler! I was not going to leave until I documented the record. I got a sound recording easily enough (Click here to listen), but it took almost 45 minutes before the bird poked its head out from the deep gloom, into a sun-dappled area of the bush that was slightly less gloomy. I aimed my camera at the gap and leaned on the shutter button, and just sprayed and prayed. The bird vanished after less than ten seconds. Thanks be to Odin, my dumb, heavy camera managed to catch a couple of record shots.

 

  The Baikal Bush Warbler breeds in North Korea, and is a rare migrant to offshore South Korea, but is possibly overlooked. There aren’t many national records, perhaps less than 20. This one seems a bit early – May 19 is the earliest previous record I could find. It’s also notable for how far south this bird was. This was apparently the 2nd Jeju record, and all the previous sightings I’ve seen have come in the far northwest of South Korea, on Baengnyong and Socheong Islands. Anyway, I’ve never been happier about such crappy pictures, heh heh.

  Otherwise, there was a solid variety of buntings (Tristram’s, Yellow-browed, Chestnut, Yellow, Chestnut-eared, Little, and Black-faced) and flycatchers (Yellow-rumped, Narcissus, Mugimaki, Taiga, Asian Brown, and Black Paradise) on Gapa. Between 6am and 6pm (with two breaks), 46 species were logged. Black-naped Oriole (my Korean spark bird!), possible Pin-tailed Snipe, and more singing Styan's Grasshopper Warblers were also of note.

  The two Black Paradise Flycatchers were spotted on opposite sides – one on the north-side rallying spot, one in the south. The one in the north looked like it was holding court in a grown-over yard. It was perched in the centre, on a throne-like branch in the centre of a leafy amphitheatre. A motley court of 6-7 different species was perched around the P-fly, seemingly gathered in silent reverence. OK, enough anthropomorphizing for now. This particular overgrown housing lot has held a load of rallying migrants, but none as cool as a P-fly. But the following day I would get a far better bird there. Stay tuned.