The Deskbound Birder: South Korea and Taiwan

Thursday 30 January 2020

South Korea and Taiwan - 30th January (Day 5)

We started the day back at Area A of the Seosan Reclamation mainly with the hope of getting better views of Amur Leopard Cat at dawn which Trev missed yesterday. On arrival, and in the same place as yesterday, was a Leopard Cat hunting in the open and we all managed to get great views this time around. Driving on, Trev picked up more eye-shine and a second Leopard Cat. After watching thousands of White-fronted Goose and Been Goose flighting from their roost on a roadside lake we spent the rest of the morning birding a reed-lined embankment through Area A where the highlights were six Baikal Teal, great views of Pallas's Reed Bunting, Zitting Cisticola and a rather fleeting view of Ochre-rumped Bunting. My eBird checklist for the causeway area can be viewed here.

Pallas's Reed Bunting - Seosan Reclamation (Area A), South Korea

Black-faced Bunting - Seosan Reclamation (Area A), South Korea

Zitting Cisticola - Seosan Reclamation (Area A), South Korea

It was time to get on the road and after scanning from the road bridge where we obtained distant views of the same Pallas's Sea-eagle as yesterday and counted at least 24 Black-necked Grebe we began the 1.5 hour drive south-eastwards to Seocheon. My eBird checklist for the bridge can be viewed here.

Great-crested Grebe - Seosan Reclamation (Area A), South Korea

Pallas's Sea-eagle - Seosan Reclamation (Area A), South Korea

We arrived in the Seocheon area at around 13:00 and headed straight for the main area for our target. A dark Peregrine of the subspecies calidus showed well perched atop a telegraph pole alongside the road. We wound our way along narrow concrete tracks flanked by small scale rice paddies. We arrived at the bund marking the northern bank of the Geum River and slowly edged our way up it. The river came into sight and in front of us was the amazing scene of at least 450,000 Baikal Teal in one seething flock in the middle of the river. This flock representing a large proportion of the global population of this species highlighting how vulnerable this species. We spent around 30 minutes with this flock as it swirled around the river, the noise generated being reminiscent of a distant jet engine. My eBird checklist for the location can be viewed here.

Peregrine of subspecies calidus - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

We then headed west along the river and after a pot-noodle lunch from a local store we birded a couple of spots alongside the river close to the town of Dangseon-si. There were good numbers of duck, wader and gull here, the highlights being Saunder's Gull and an adult Glaucous Gull. My eBird checklists for these locations can be viewed here and here.

Whooper Swan - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Saunder's Gull (1st winter) - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

We then headed north-west of Seocheon towards the small village of Dasa-Ri where a shallow tidal bay supported large numbers of waders, wildfowl and gulls. The overall appearance of the bird community could have been any mudflat in the UK with Eurasian Wigeon, Common Shelduck, Curlew and Black-headed Gull. It was only with close study of the gulls that it was clear we were not in the UK with Black-tailed Gull, Common Gull of the subspecies kamtschatschensis, Lesser Black-backed Gull of the subspecies taimyrensis, Vega Gull and Mongolian Gull - this really was a gull nerds paradise. But again, there was no sign of the hoped for Relict Gull.

Shelduck, Wigeon and Black-headed Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Common Gull of subspecies kamtschatschensis - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Black-headed Gull and Common Gull of subspecies kamtschatschensis - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Common Gull (1st winter) of subspecies kamtschatschensis and Black-tailed Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Mongolian Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Mongolian Gull (1st winter) - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Vega Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Lesser Black-backed Gull of subspecies - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Lesser Black-backed Gull (left) of subspecies taimyrensis and two Mongolian Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Black-tailed Gull - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Black-tailed Gull (1st winter) - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

After spending some time looking for Swan Goose in the rice paddies with no success we headed back to the Geum River just in time to see the flock of Baikal Teal head out for the night to forage, surely one of the most spectacular sights in the natural world.