"Historical post" - Jeju Island, April 2011

Looking east towards Sanbangsan, Halla Mountain hovers behind

Chinese Pond Heron Ardeola bacchus

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus

White-backed Woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos quelpartensis
(Jeju subspecies, and provincial bird)

White-shouldered Starling Sturnus sinensis with White-cheeked Starlings Sturnus cineraceus

Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus

Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola

Grey-capped Greenfinch Chloris sinica

Southwest Jeju Island, April 26, 2011
  An early morning drive to the southwest coast produced some interesting spring birds, with 73 species seen today. Black-winged Stilts have arrived, with a total of a dozen seen at several different locations. Wood Sandpipers are also in evidence on Jeju with about 50 seen, in a wide range of wetland habitats. A dozen Whimbrels, and a similar number of Marsh Sandpipers were seen scattered along the coast and flooded fields. Cattle Egrets have returned to Jeju in force, and several Black-throated Loon still remain off the coast. A few hundred winter ducks linger still at the Yongsu reservoir.
  On a wooded hill on the southwest coast, perhaps a dozen Grey (Japanese) Thrush were heard, but proved very elusive to see. A half-dozen vocal Eastern Crowned and Arctic Warblers were seen, along with an Asian Stubtail. Also on this hill were several Narcissus and Asian Brown Flycatchers, and a Chinese Pond Heron. Best of the day was a White-shouldered Starling found with a murmuration of about 50 White-cheeked Starlings.
  A farmer’s field near Seogwipo held several Yellow Buntings. In a nearby park, several Tristram’s Buntings and a White-backed Woodpecker were seen. Still no Flycatchers or migrating Thrushes seen in Seogwipo yet.

Mara Island

The Mara ferry

Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina

female Grey-backed Thrush Turdus hortulorum

Little Bunting Emberiza pusilla

Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus

Eurasian Siskin Spinus spinus

Korean Bush Warbler Horornis borealis

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus

Mara Island, April 16, 2011
  Some interesting birds on Mara-do, Korea’s southernmost point, on a hot day made hazy with yellow dust from China. A dozen Siberian Stonechats, several Eurasian Siskins, at least two dozen Brambling, seven Red-throated Pipits, a female Grey-backed Thrush, and handfuls of Grey (Japanese) Thrush, Little Bunting, Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Narcissus Flycatcher, Far Eastern Cisticola, and Red-flanked Bluetail were the highlights.
  At Yongsu reservoir, a Pacific Golden Plover, several Falcated Teal and Pochard, and good numbers still of Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, Spot-billed Duck, and Coot, with about 50-100 of each seen.
  It’s been pretty quiet still in Seogwipo parks this month, with birds such as Brown-headed Thrush, Ashy Minivet, Yellow-browed Bunting, Narcissus, Blue-and-White, and Asian Brown Flycatchers yet to arrive. For the past two years, these birds have been relatively easy to find in several Seogwipo parks starting in mid-April.
  In a Seogwipo farmer’s field, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, Red-throated Pipits, and Siberian Stonechats are good signs of spring.

(*Note: This is a “historical post.” Whereas I started birding in Korea in 2005, this blog has only been active since early 2012 - these posts are an attempt to consolidate my early birdventures from the various blogs and websites where they reside, largely from the “Archived Bird News“ section of Birds Korea’s excellent website: http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-Birdnews-archive.shtml. Find more historical posts by clicking on the "Historical posts" tab at the bottom of this post.)

Mara-do article, April 2011

Researcher banding a Grey (Japanese) Thrush Turdus cardis

Bare bones 'research station'

Researcher banding a Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana

Clots of tourists surge onto Mara-do

 I visited Mara-do on April 9, 2011, and while there, encountered a small research team banding migratory birds. I chatted with them and they let me help out a bit. Their technique differed in a few ways from what I saw at the TCBO last year, I wish I'd paid a bit more attention at the time. Not sure how or why, but I ended up writing a piece on it for a local expat newspaper, which was published a few weeks later. The final product that ended up in The Jeju Weekly strayed a tad from what I’d originally written, I believe, and they did mangle up some bird names. In any case, here’s the piece, for those too lazy to click the link:
(http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=1544)

Mara Island proves important in study of migratory birds - Korea's southernmost land mass needs to balance development with conservation
  About seven kilometers off Jeju’s southwest coast, as the proverbial crow flies, lies Marado, South Korea’s southernmost bit of real estate. As such, it is an ideal spot to find and study migrating birds. During the spring, waves of exhausted birds coming mostly from Southeast Asia land on tiny Marado, desperate to rest before continuing their journey north to their Siberian breeding grounds.
  Kim Eunmi of the Jeju Wildlife Research Center has been conducting research since 2005 on the migratory birds that use Marado as a stopover. I’ve run into Kim or her researchers several times on Marado, while they were catching birds with large nets, then measuring and putting leg rings on the birds before releasing them. I recently caught up with Kim via email to discuss her research.
  Ringing the birds is an important tool for bird researchers, as it lets them know where certain species that use Jeju as a migratory rest-stop spend their summers breeding as well where they winter down south. The research team on Marado has not only re-confirmed Jeju’s importance as a vital stepping stone for migratory birds, but it has also helped discover several extremely rare or newly-discovered birds for Korea.
  The Blue-winged Pitta, discovered in May 2009, and the Fujian Niltava, found in November 2010, are two important Korean firsts that were found by Kim’s research team on Marado. Other birds rare in a Korean context spotted by the team include the Brown Booby, Pied Wheatear, Rosy Pipit, Japanese Murrelet, Isabelline Wheatear, White-throated Rock Thrush, and the Black Bittern. While some of these rarities are vagrants that lose their way or are pushed north by storms, others may be expanding their range for reasons like habitat loss and climate change. The data provided by the research teams can be important pieces of a bigger picture for bird researchers in the region.
  Kim lists habitat loss as the biggest issue facing migrating birds in Korea and indeed the world. A shameful example of habitat loss can be found on the west coast of mainland Korea. The Saemangeum tidal flat, once an integral stopover point for migrating seabirds, has been “reclaimed” (destroyed) by developers. Habitat loss on a smaller but no less harmful scale is also underway on the heavily tourist-orientated Marado as increasing numbers of tourists and the facilities that service them encroach on the small areas that remain suitable for birds.
  The issue of developers on Jeju tearing up natural habitat to make way for golf courses and tourist trails is a contentious one, as there needs to be a balance struck between profits and conservation. In the meantime, Kim and her small team will continue to sit amongst the dwarf pines on Marado, quietly building up critical data on Jeju’s smallest tourists.

"Historical post" - Jeju Island and Seoul area, March 2011

Sanbangsan viewed from Hwasun cliffs

Looking slightly east of the same view, my white bathtub scooter visible

Sanbangsan

Yongsu reservoir

Eurasian Hoopoe Upupa epops

Baikal Teal Anas formosa

Northern Pintail Anas acuta

Seogwipo riverside park, March 31, 2011
  Hoopoe - the ultimate rock n roll bird. I've run into these pretty rarely over the years, and have never been able to get a decent picture. I secured this shot by doing a ridiculous special forces power roll onto my belly to get a clear view. I am strange. This Hoopoe made my day (easily amused), and it's another good sign that spring migration is under way. Hoops!

Eurasian Curlew Numenius arqata

Hwasun Beach, March 21, 2011
  Spotted this Eurasian Curlew at Hwasun Beach. First lifer of spring for me, super-cool. I still need that Far Eastern Curlew that my buddy Matt French spotted without me last year. I'll get it. Hwasun Beach, by the way, has been thrashed by bullshit construction. I'll rant about it soon. I'm gonna bird every day of the week this spring. Birdwatching is the new punk rock.

'funny' Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea

Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus

Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

Seogwipo riverside park, March 10, 2011  
  The Grey Wagtail with 'funny' partial leucism on the wings hung around for a few days. This park always hosted great birds, especially on migration, due to the relatively natural riverbanks - unfortunately a rarity in Korea.

Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus

Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides

Yongsu reservoir, March 5, 2011
  Unfortunately I can't find my notes for this day, but I think I drove out there on my scoot and froze my fingers off in the hopes of seeing a Mute Swan, but dipped hard.

Solitary Snipe Gallinago solitaria 

Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans

Pallas's Rosefinch Carpodacus roseus

Eurasian bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Gwangneung Arboretum, Seoul, March 1, 2011
  On a brush-covered hill I encountered about six griseiventris Eurasian Bullfinch, and twice as many Pallas's Rosefinch. Also found along the paths were handfuls of Yellow-throated Bunting, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Marsh, Great, Coal, Varied, and magnus Long-tailed Tits. Later in the day I found a dead Hawfinch that had collided with a massive greenhouse. A half-dozen Rustic Buntings moved through the brush nearby.   

  Behind this same greenhouse, I heard the strangest loud sounds coming from the woods. From a distance I thought it was crows mobbing another bird, but as I got closer it sounded like a pack of 30 agitated monkeys, turkeys, and/or Kookaburras! I tried to locate the source of the racket, but it moved quickly through the woods before suddenly stopping. My best guess is a pack of mobbing Eurasian Jays. A Black Woodpecker was heard but not seen.

  Just before leaving I finally got some great views of a stationary Solitary Snipe in a quiet spot on a stream.

(*Note: This is a “historical post.” Whereas I started birding in Korea in 2005, this blog has only been active since early 2012 - these posts are an attempt to consolidate my early birdventures from the various blogs and websites where they reside, largely from the “Archived Bird News“ section of Birds Korea’s excellent website:http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-Birdnews-archive.shtml. Find more historical posts by clicking on the "Historical posts" tab at the bottom of this post.)

"Historical post" - Jeju Island and Seoul area, February 2011

Red-flanked Bluetail Tarsiger cyanurus

Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago at the top of Jeongbang Waterfall, which flows into the Pacific

White’s Thrush (Scaly Thrush) Zoothera aurea

Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus

Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus

Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus

Seogwipo riverside park, February 23, 2011
  Strolls through my fave Seogwipo park always grounded me - my happy place. I picked up quite a few interesting sightings there over the years, including, off the top of my head, a Zappey’s Flycatcher, a group of Scaly-breasted Munias, a White-shouldered Starling, and all manner of sexy Emberiza buntings and Turdus thrushes on migration. Here’s what I flippantly wrote at the time on my non-birding blog:

These well-camouflaged fellas/felletes are only found on Jeju in the winter, and not on the mainland. That makes them my special little friends.

Surreal Shiwa

Common Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus

Tundra Bean Goose Anser serrirostris and Greater White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons

  I always managed to sneak in some birding on my mainland trips, and my early February foray was no exception. Here’s what Tim wrote for the Birds Korea website:

Bird News from Tim Edelsten and Matt Poll, Shiwa, February 4, 2011
  Very overcast, dull and largely frozen. Of most interest among 44 species were large numbers of waterfowl, including conservative counts of 1300 Goldeneye, 1100+ Greater Scaup, 1030 Mallard, 950 Common Pochard, 820 Spot-billed Duck, and 300+ Tufted Duck.
  Birds of the shallower water were however in very small numbers however, presumably due to the many fishermen that have recently begun to use this area- for example only 2 Pintail, 20 Falcated Duck, c.10 Teal.
  Some 300+ Bean and Greater White-fronted Geese were likewise regularly put to flight by disturbance from microlights, hang-gliders and kite-flyers.
  Other enjoyable sights today were e.g. 3 White-tailed Eagle, an Upland Buzzard, 13 Whooper Swan, a Hen Harrier, a Northern Goshawk, 31 Coot, a handful of Common & Pallas's Reed Bunting, and most encouragingly a flock of 52 (predominantly Naumann's) and Dusky Thrushes.

  And, embarrassingly, here’s what I wrote at the time:
  Did some birding at Shiwa (a surreal wasteland) with a bird buddy when I was up in Seoul. Took almost two bloody hours on the subway (aka shittyway) to get there, then another eternity to find/lie to the rental car dealer. The yellow dust was shitty. The birds were all being scared off by shitty paragliders and shitty recreational fishermen. That's birding though, and it was still cool. The weather today was shitty.

(*Note: This is a “historical post.” Whereas I started birding in Korea in 2005, this blog has only been active since early 2012 - these posts are an attempt to consolidate my early birdventures from the various blogs and websites where they reside, largely from the “Archived Bird News“ section of Birds Korea’s excellent website:http://www.birdskorea.org/Birds/Birdnews/BK-BN-Birdnews-archive.shtml. Find more historical posts by clicking on the "Historical posts" tab at the bottom of this post.