Igidae, Busan, November 17, 2012

Good spot for a picnic

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

adult winter Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

juvenile Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus

male Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

Warbling (Japanese) White-eye Zosterops japonicus

Goldcrest Regulus regulus

Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica

Eurasian bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula 

Bipalium (Hammerhead Worm) Bipalium kewense

Bipalium (Hammerhead Worm) Bipalium kewense

  I woke up very early a couple of weeks ago to check out Igidae - it was 5am on a dark, rainy and cold Saturday morning - the kind of situation that makes one wonder if birders really are touched in the head. Anyway, the rain finally tapered off as the sun rose over this forested bit of land jutting into the sea, and it actually turned into a great, crisp autumn day to go birding.  
  Things started well as I dipped on a Long-tailed Shrike that had been hanging out near some apartments. My favourite bird of the day ended up being a worm! I spotted several 'hammerhead worm' (Bipalium) working the trails in the early morning. These flatworms feed on snails and earthworms, and have the ability to regenerate into two worms if cut in half. Very cool.
  Overall it was a day filled with small birds, and I got some great long looks at Goldcrests and Eurasian Bullfinch, among others. I was hoping to spot something crazy like a Yellow-bellied Tit, but it wasn't meant to be.
  In other news, a Brown Booby was spotted at a major touristy beach in Busan. It looked pretty disheveled in the picture. Looking at the range maps for this bird, I have to wonder why it isn't spotted (noticed?) more regularly along Korea's southern coast.

Light-vented Bulbul (!!) - November 22, 2012

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis

  To say it's been a good birding week is the understatement of the year! I headed out on one of my luxurious 3-hour lunch breaks in search of a Long-tailed Shrike that visiting birder Stephen Judd recently spotted out on the east coast. I didn't manage to catch up with the shrike, but the area had a great 'birdy' feel to it. I decided to check out a scrubby agricultural area on the way out and I'm sure glad I did. I quickly spotted two gleurp-gleurping Light-vented Bulbuls!
  This is a bird that was only first sighted in Korea over the past decade, but appears to be busy colonizing the Hermit Kingdom, with breeding suspected on Socheong-do in the Yellow Sea. It's not really the sort of bird you'd expect to find in the southeast of mainland Korea. Well I guess Geoje IS an island, but it's still a pretty darn rare bird round these parts, so I must have done something to please the birding gods!

Japanese Robin (!) - November 20, 2012

spot the Japanese Robin Erithacus akahige

Japanese Robin Erithacus akahige

  I spent a wonderful few hours of crisp birding in a quiet valley near Gohyeon. The valley has been quite productive for birds over the past month, probably due to its remoteness and consequential very light foot traffic on the trail. After a relatively quiet trip back down the trail, I spotted a small dark bird flutter from the stream up to the bank. I first assumed it was yet another Eurasian Wren, but it was noticeably quiet, and something about it didn’t add up. I got a look at it with the binos and was more than pleased to realize that I’d finally crossed paths with a gorgeous but shy Japanese Robin. I'd been hoping to see one of these exceedingly rare and skulking birds for years! I'm surprised I got a picture at all considering the low light and the fact that I was shaking with excitement! Good bird.
  The wacky part about it is that I woke up at 5 a.m. this past rainy and cold Saturday to head to Igidae, Busan in the vain hope of seeing this bird. No luck. Then today I saunter through a valley embarrassingly close to my apartment on my lunch break and see one! That's how the bird gods work I suppose...

Eyebrowed Thrush - November 11, 2012

Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus obscurus

  After having a planned Saturday trip to a nearby offshore island scuttled by extremely high winds, it was good to get out and get a full day’s birding in at ‘Grey Bunting Mountain’. On the way, I heard several Chinese Penduline Tits calling from a reedbed.
  Aside from the expected forest mix of tits and woodpeckers, with several Goldcrests mixed in, I spied my first Red-flanked Bluetail of the winter, a shy female tail-flicking near the peak.
  Soon after this, I heard several thrushes calling from deeper in the woods, and their calls sounded a bit thin and different from the Pale Thrushes I encounter there regularly. I made my way to a remote gravesite fringed with fruiting berry trees and hunkered down. I put my camouflaged rain poncho over my head, and covered my face with a camouflage scarf. I covered my legs with fallen pine branches and waited. I wasn't messing around, ha ha.
  About 45 minutes later, six Eye-browed Thrush returned and casually fed on the berries for ten minutes. A special birding moment, and a real treat to watch! (Best latin name ever, too)

Winter Ducks

male Eurasian Teal Anas crecca

female Eurasian Teal Anas crecca

Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

female Greater Scaup Aythya marila

  The saltwater canals, harbour, and rice fields around Gohyeon are filling up with winter ducks. The vast majority are Eastern Spot-billed Ducks, several hundred strong. Nothing crazy yet, but I'll keep picking through those rafts in hopes of finding something out of place.

Eurasian Spoonbill - November 8, 2012

Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia with Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia

Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia with Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

  Earlier in the week I took a chilly ride out to the west coast, and spotted a lone Eurasian Spoonbill resting in a reedy lagoon in the company of two dozen Grey Herons. Awesome bird!

Eurasian Wren - November 6, 2012

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes dauricus

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes dauricus

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes dauricus

Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes dauricus - Ilsan, February 2008

  I discovered at least eight of these rotund little birds today on a refreshing walk through a windy river valley this afternoon. Always a fun bird to watch as they zip around the forest floor like rodents. Their call is similar to that of a Japanese/Korean Bush Warbler, only 'wetter'. These winter migrants (a small number apparently stay year-round in Korea, but I've only ever seen them in winter - hence the clever former name 'Winter Wren') were quite confiding as they chased each other around the stream-beds. Scuffling over prime territory maybe?
  I also spotted some Goldcrests today, which is always a good thing.

Geoje lately

Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus with Long-billed Plover Charadrius placidus

Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus

Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus

female White Wagtail Motacilla alba

male White Wagtail Motacilla alba

Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major

White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos

Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthera webbiana

male Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus

Varied Tit Sittiparus varius

Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus

Korean Water Deer Hydropotes inermis

 Here are some of the birds and critters I have spotted on Geoje over the past few weeks. The Eastern Buzzards I've been seeing lately have largely had rufous throats. Something I have also noticed is that I only see Long-billed Plovers in the winter here, but they are supposed to be resident. Perhaps they are undertaking some kind of small-scale seasonal migration within the country?

Junam Reservoir - November 3, 2012

Geese over Junam

Pants covered in tokebis ('goblins')

Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus with Eurasian Magpie Pica pica

Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus

Eastern Buzzard Buteo japonicus

Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis

White-naped Cranes Grus vipio

White-naped Crane Grus vipio

  The weather is getting crisp these days, and it's definitely starting to feel like winter, bird-wise. My buddy JP and I headed up to Junam bright and early on Saturday to see what was about.
  Unfortunately we didn't run into the Eastern Water Rail that was spotted there recently, but the reservoir didn't disappoint. On the ride out we spotted a feeding Eastern Buzzard getting harassed in turn by another buzzard, a Hobby, and a Magpie.
  On the reservoir there were at least 500 Bean and Greater White-fronted Goose, and a lone Lesser White-fronted Goose. Three White-naped Cranes were a treat, even at a distance. Other birds of note for the day were several Hoopoes, some Far Eastern Skylarks, as well as a mystery owl we heard but didn't manage to spot.