Holiday birding on Geoje

Warbling (Japanese) White-eye Zosterops japonicus

Eastern Great Tit Parus minor 

female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus

Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula ('griseiventris-type') 

Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula (rosacea)

Chinese Penduline Tit Remiz consobrinus

Chinese Penduline Tit Remiz consobrinus

Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus

White Wagtail Motacilla alba

White Wagtail Motacilla alba

Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope with 
Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

Eurasian Teal Anas crecca

Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

Common Gull Larus canus

Korean Water Deer Hydropotes inermis (check the fangs!)

  It's been a quiet week on the isle. Today I went back to 'Black Wood Pigeon Island' in hopes of a midwinter surprise, but it was quiet. Even a two-hour stakeout of 'The Glory Bowl' revealed no sign of Long-tailed Shrike or Light-vented Bulbul. A confiding flock of nearby Chinese Penduline Tits always makes my day.

Nakdong, Dadaepo, and Junam Reservoir, December 23, 2012

Looking in different directions...

Gimhae, the day before

'Scenic' Gimhae

Dead cormorant

Skeletal cormorant

Squadron of cormorants at dawn

Swan Goose Anser cygnoides

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus

immature Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus

White-tailed Sea Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla

Brambling Fringilla montifringilla

  It was a great day of birding with friends new and old, and close to 75 species seen. A frigid, windy dawn and several great species awaited us at the Nakdong River. A distant, shimmering scope view of two Steller’s Sea Eagles was a great way to start the day - their stocky and imposing presence was evident even at a distance. Also along this stretch were several Eurasian Curlew, a Eurasian Oystercatcher, and a healthy assemblage of gulls.
  Closer to Dadaepo, a Light-vented Bulbul was spotted mixed in with a large flock of Brown-eared Bulbuls roiling through the treetops. This represents the first record of Light-vented Bulbul for the Busan area, more evidence of a species steadily colonizing the ROK. Dadaepo was fairly quiet, with several Eurasian Bullfinch and Pale Thrush in evidence.
  At Junam, we quickly spotted nine Swan Geese, a great sight to watch as they broke through ice in the fields to feed. Also of note at Junam were nine White-naped Crane, two White-tailed Sea Eagle, and several rotund Brambling.

Pig-headed

  Magpies will eat anything.

Geoje birds over the past few weeks

Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus

 Eurasian Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula (rosacea - more on Bullfinches soon)

Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus

Tree Sparrow Passer montanus

Eurasian Magpie Pica pica

female Northern Pintail Anas acuta 

male Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (coming out of eclipse plumage)

Dead duck

Northern Lapwing Vanellus vanellus - meow!

  It's getting coooooold! The winter ducks are starting to arrive in force on the saltwater canal near my apartment - mostly Spot-billed, Eurasian Wigeon, and Eurasian Teal. I've noticed at least a dozen Little Grebes on this same canal - they seem to be much more plentiful than last year.

Naumann's Thrush - December 2, 2012

Naumann's Thrush Turdus naumanni

  I used to see these birds quite often in Ilsan (west of Seoul) in the winter of 2007-08, but they're not very common this far south, as far as I know. Naumann's Thrush was recently split from Dusky Thrush Turdus eunomus, which are fairly common here in winter. I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to see the impressive orange belly-scaling on this individual, as the encounter was short, and Turdus thrushes are notoriously skittish. This one appeared to be a 1st winter female.

Red-billed Starling - December 2, 2012

Red-billed Starling (Silky Starling) Spodiopsar sericeus

  Here's another Chinese bird that was almost never seen in Korea just a decade ago, but has been making inroads on the peninsula. It's listed as a rare migrant to Korea in the Brazil book, but the story goes deeper than that. They've been breeding on Jeju for a few years now, and some may winter in Korea in small numbers. I'm not sure if this one was a late southward migrant (some migrate through nearby Tsushima) or a winter visitor, but it definitely seemed freshly in if I had to guess. It was on its own, and it seemed lethargic and nervous. It was being mobbed by, once again, Brown-eared Bulbuls. Oh, and I found it a short four minute walk from my front door - don't neglect your own patch, folks!

Battle of the Bulbuls

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis - sans tail

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis - newcomer to Geoje

Light-vented Bulbul Pycnonotus sinensis

Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis, a successful colonizer making life hard for other would-be colonizers

  I went back to the Light-vented Bulbul spot today, and the place was boiling with activity. One of the two Light-vented was missing its tail, I'm guessing as a result of an attack from the pack of resident and aggressive Brown-eared Bulbuls. The Brown-eared Bulbuls had sentries all around the treeline, and attackers swooped in every few minutes to nip at and scold their Chinese cousins. The Light-vented with the good tail would lead the tailless one to a clump of bushes where it would hide, while the tailed one stayed up top on high alert. I watched the battle rage for the better part of an hour, it was thrilling!
  Brown-eared Bulbuls only started colonizing Korea about 70 years ago (I think!), and now they can be found pretty much everywhere. The Light-vented Bulbul appears to be in the early stages of colonizing South Korea from China, with the first national records coming less than 10 years ago. They're common now on Yellow Sea islands, and over the past couple of years they've been spotted as far east as the Gureyong-po peninsula, and now as far south as Geoje.

Long-tailed Shrike - December 1, 2012

Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach

Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach

Ninja-like fieldcraft, heh heh

  The Long-tailed Shrike is a very rare winter visitor to southern South Korea, and I finally managed to track this plump individual down (first spotted by Stephen Judd two weeks ago). I saw it from pretty far off, but it was pointless chasing it around the hills, so I picked a spot in the weeds where I had a good view of a likely-shrikely mess of brush and waited. Lucky me, the shrike came right to me! Good times.

Epic east coast pelagic trip - November 24-25th, 2012

Of course we hit a bird...

Going auking within sight of North Korea

Good to see the Birds Korea crew again

Pacific Loon Gavia pacifica

adult Eurasian Coot Fulica atra

first winter Eurasian Coot Fulica atra

Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla

Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata

Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea

Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea

Chinese Nuthatch Sitta villosa

Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica

Siberian Accentor Prunella montanella

Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides (wiegoldi subspecies)

  This past weekend I was lucky enough to take part in an epic pelagic trip on the east coast with fellow Birds Korea members. It was great to be with all the guys again, a motley crew to be sure! It was especially great to soak up the endless supply of bird wisdom that Dr. Nial Moores possesses. It's humbling to bird with such a master!
  It was a weekend filled with great birds, good company, and very little sleep. The trip got off to an inauspicious start as a passing truck hit a bird and it bounced off our van, leaving a gruesome blood stain down the side. Since it happened in the pre-dawn darkness, we were concerned it was perhaps a Ural Owl! Or perhaps a Crested Shelduck, hahaha.
 The boat trip from Daejin was a treat, and we got great long views of Ancient Murrelet and Rhinoceros Auklet. The Dr. spotted a mysterious, large dark shearwater-type bird, which put everyone on high alert. I snapped off some shots but unfortunately none came out due to the extreme far range and heaving boat. I won't even reveal what we speculated it could have been... 
  Our boat, which was close to the border with the North Korea and maneuvering erratically in search of birds (and packed with foreigners bristling with optics) quickly attracted the attentions of a coast guard cutter. It shadowed us for an hour, and was eventually joined by a navy destroyer. I wonder how many beeping weapons systems were trained on us as we gleefully took pictures of Rhinoceros Auklets?
  It was good to catch up with birds I don't get to see very often, like White-tailed Sea Eagle, Siberian Accentor, Long-tailed Rosefinch, and especially Chinese Nuthatch, which is having a major irruption in Korea this winter.
  Right, it's off to bed, I'm still exhausted.