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.

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.