Birds from a long hot summer pt.II

Chuja Island

Chuja Island

Snipe sp. 

Snipe sp.

Snipe sp.

Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

Streaked Shearwater Calonectris leucomelas

White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopus leucotos

Far Eastern Skylark Alauda japonica

Far Eastern Cisticola (Zitting Cisticola) Cisticola juncidis

Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Eastern Great Tit Parus minor

  Last week saw me re-visit Chuja-do, an island roughly halfway between Jeju and the mainland (and relatively close to Gageo!). I didn't see much from the ferry other than about a dozen Streaked Shearwater. Chuja-do itself was fairly quiet, with a handful of Pacific Swifts seen from atop a hill, and a confusing dead snipe found nearby.
  If I'm honest, I'm pretty awful when it comes to IDing snipes on sight - I rely more on flushing behaviour when it comes to snipes. I took some images of the wing and tail in an attempt to better familiarize myself with the key features to look for, but I fear I'd need a month-long intensive snipe course to fully be comfortable with IDing snipes in the field.
  On a trip out to the west coast I spotted a Far Eastern Cisticola, a Little Ringed Plover, and several Far Eastern Skylarks in a productive patch of farm fields.
  Closer to home, I've recently found a nice quiet spot with at least three confiding White-back Woodpeckers (the official bird of Jeju), and I've been hearing both Lesser and Oriental Cuckoos relatively close to downtown Seogwipo.
  Birds Korea have recently updated their amazing gallery, with quite a few new images and videos. Do yourself a favour and check it out: http://www.birdskorea.org/Gallery/BK-GA-Gallery-Introduction-2013.shtml

Birds from a long hot summer

 

Black Wood Pigeon town

A reliable spot for Greater Spotted Eagles...

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius

Young Brown-eared Bulbuls Hypsipetes amaurotis waiting for food

Pacific Reef Egret Egretta sacra

Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis parent with food

Me first!

Japanese Bush Warbler Horornis diphone

Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha

  It has been record-breakingly hot and humid here on Jeju over the past month. Water levels are at dangerously low levels across the island, and farmers are suffering. As for birds, I've seen a decent array of young birds in different stages of fledging, when I'm not blinded by sweat. Young Pheasants are bigger than pigeons already, and I've been watching juvenile Brown-eared Bulbuls grow at an impressive rate.
  A few weeks ago I spotted two Black Wood Pigeons clacking through a nice-looking stretch of coastal forest, but they've remained elusive since then.
  In my ramblings around my old stomping grounds, I've been disturbed by some of the habitat loss that has occurred over the past two years, more on this soon.

Flashback to Baekryeong Island May 21-24

Awesome beach

Burned-out armoured vehicle on the west coast where we spotted the Slaty-blue Flycatcher

Dr. Moores: he never tires, so do try and keep up

Sunset over a massive reservoir

Bomb shelter

Mind the landmines

Endless 'unbirded' habitat in a prime location

All aboard the Democracy 5!

Lanceolated Warbler Locustella lanceolata

Ruddy-breasted Crake Porzana fusca

Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

Asian Paradise Flycatcher Terpsiphone paradisi

  I fear I've left a pretty patchy record here of my April-May Yellow Sea birding jaunt. Here's a bit from the end of my awesome spring, a trip report written by the inimitable Dr. Nial Moores, a gentleman I had the pleasure of crossing paths with on several islands this spring.
  It was an incredible experience birding such a great bit of underbirded habit, which happens to lie north of the 38th parallel, within sight of the North Korean mainland. As such, it is the most heavily-fortified bit of real estate I've ever seen. Two foreigners bristling with optics and tromping around military bases attracted unwanted attention a few times. But what's a couple of accusations of espionage in the name of spring birding?
  Dr. Moores covers the highlights better than I ever could, so read away! http://www.birdskoreablog.org/?p=9009
  Ah, and here's a pic of a tiny Lanceolated Warbler that I 'cornered' in a small depression. It just sat there, perhaps five feet away, eyeballing me. Great encounter, and one I was lucky enough to get my camera out for, as we had to keep cameras out of sight most of the time. As for the horrible quality of any other bird images I captured, I blame the dusk.

Slow few weeks on Jeju / west coast bikin n birdin

Another road to nowhere

Yongsu Reservoir, west coast

Near Yongsu

Nice-looking Jacana habitat - if it wasn't surrounded by Olle Trails

Seotal Oreum - great for migrants in spring, especially thrushes and buntings

Altreu arifield - relic Kamikaze bunkers, and a great spot for Little Whimbrel and Oriental Pratincoles in spring

Southwest coast, looking east past Sanbangsan

Typical Japanese Paradise Flycatcher habitat

  Pretty quiet around Jeju lately, although I have found three new Japanese Paradise Flycatcher spots, in muggy valleys on the southern slope of Halla Mountain (South Korea's tallest peak) over the past couple of weeks. 
  I went on a ramble round the west coast last weekend in hopes of finding the fabled breeding grounds of rare species known to breed on Jeju in the past, such as Painted Snipe and Pheasant-tailed Jacana. No luck - it's a pretty big haystack to be rambling around.
  I did find some suitable lily ponds, but unfortunately these were much too close to sources of regular disturbance, like fishing spots and the ever-expanding Olle Trails. Looks like I need to gather some more intel...

A weekend filled with Japanese Paradise Flycatchers

Hopefully this habitat will remain relatively undisturbed

female Black Paradise Flycatcher (Japanese Paradise Flycatcher) Terpsiphone atrocaudata

female Black Paradise Flycatcher (Japanese Paradise Flycatcher) Terpsiphone atrocaudata

female Black Paradise Flycatcher (Japanese Paradise Flycatcher) Terpsiphone atrocaudata

male Black Paradise Flycatcher (Japanese Paradise Flycatcher) Terpsiphone atrocaudata

male Black Paradise Flycatcher (Japanese Paradise Flycatcher) Terpsiphone atrocaudata

Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus chick

Pacific Reef Egret Egretta sacra

Yellow-rumped Flycatcher Ficedula zanthopygia

Bird news from Matt Poll and Mike Balfour

Jeju Island, June 23, 2013

  It is great to be back on Jeju, although a lot of construction/destruction has been going on over the past two years. At a site on Halla’s southern slope formerly home to Fairy Pitta, noisy construction to widen a path for ‘Olle trail’ hikers, coupled with an idiotic speaker blaring music in a once peaceful forest were the only sounds heard today. Nearby, thankfully there remains a quiet corner of habitat still productive for Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, with two males seen squabbling, while a female was quite confiding. It came to within ten feet of us, calmly watching the watchers for several amazing minutes. Also seen in this area were a female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, a noisy Peregrine Falcon, Yellow-throated Bunting, plentiful Japanese White-eye and Grey-capped Greenfinch, several Lesser Cuckoo, a White Wagtail, Long-tailed Tits, and several comically clumsy Common Pheasant chicks. 

 Back in Seogwipo’s harbour, a stately Pacific Reef Egret stalked prey surprisingly close to a large number of tourists.

Shorebird flock at Yubu-do

 

Dawn at Yubu Island

  I've been busy settling back in on the singular Jeju Island. It's been quiet as far as birds go, but I did hear a Fairy Pitta (!!) calling outside my window last week, which is promising. Probably on its way to nearby hills. Temporary lack of a vehicle and near-daily rain have so far meant I haven't been able to snoop around some of my secret Pitta/Para-Fly valleys, but I'm hoping that will soon change.

  This video was taken in mid-May at Yubu-do, a surreal little island off Gunsan, while on a mission to see how many critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpipers were about. We saw several, which is impressive when you consider that there are perhaps only 150 individuals left worldwide. This year's Birdathon was especially meant to help raise money and awareness for Spoonies. http://www.birdskorea.org/Support_us/BK-SU-Birdathon-2013.shtml 
  I have a large backlog of photos and reports from my amazing spring in the Yellow Sea, I'm hoping to properly sort through it and post it up soon.