South Korea and Taiwan - 31st January (Day 6)

Trev, Andy and I (Ian opted out of the mornings birding) were up at a very early 04:30 in the dark and after driving through the streets of Soryong we took a small boat at 05:15 a short way across the Geum River mouth to Yubu Island. We waited in the dark for almost two hours until daylight and as the tide began to fall, soon after day break, large numbers of birds began to appear. There were many Eurasian Oystercatcher (of subspecies osculans which may be split as Far eastern Oystercatcher) plus large numbers of Gull with good numbers of Black-tailed Gull, abundant Herring (Vega) Gull, six Slaty-backed Gull and the highlight nine Relict Gull (eight 1st winter and one 2nd winter). We needed to head off the island at 09:00 before the tide was too low to get the boat back to collect us. It felt far too soon as the birding was fantastic although as the tide was falling the extensive sand-flats meant the birds were becoming more distant. My eBird list for Yubu Island can be viewed here.

We then headed back to the hotel packed and began the three hour drive north to the Han River at Chungju-si. A short stop en-route on a slipway of Highway 15 near to Sanwol-ri produced eight Daurian Jackdaw and 75 Rook of the subspecies pastinator, my eBird list for the stop can be viewed here.

Black-tailed Gull and single Vega Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Eurasian Oystercatcher - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Eurasian Oystercatcher, Black-tailed Gull, Relict Gull, Vega Gull and Mongolian Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Relict Gull, Black-tailed Gull and Mongolian Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Slaty-backed Gull, Mongolian Gull, Black-tailed Gull and Eurasian Oystercatcher - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull and Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull and Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull and Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull and Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Mongolian Gull and Great Cormorant Black-tailed Gull and Relict Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Black-tailed Gull and Black-tailed Gull - Yubu Island, Geum Estuary, Soryong-Dong

Daurian Jackdaw - Sanwol-ri, Gunsan, South Korea

Daurian Jackdaw - Sanwol-ri, Gunsan, South Korea

Rook - Sanwol-ri, Gunsan, South Korea

We arrived at the Han River at Chungju-si at 13:15 and spent the afternoon checking the river for Scaly-sided Merganser, views here can be very good but unfortunately today the 16 birds we saw were a little distant. However, the birding was good with many species seen the highlights being Falcated Duck, Long-tailed Rosefinch, Hen Harrier and Azure-winged Magpie. My eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here.

Smew - Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

White-tailed Eagle - Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

Long-tailed Rosefinch - Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

Jay of subspecies bambergi 'Brandt's Jay'.- Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

Jay of subspecies bambergi 'Brandt's Jay' - Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

Scaly-sided Merganser - Han River, Chungju-si, South Korea

We finished our birding here at 15:30 and headed back to Seoul. After saying our goodbyes to Nial we headed for our apartment rooms in a slightly dodgy hotel near to the airport in Seoul. We had our final dinner in a Korean restaurant in the hotel basement.

List of Birds Recorded in South Korea
We recorded 124 species in South Korea of which 13 were ticks for me (shown in bold).

Japanese Quail
Common Pheasant
Whooper Swan
Bean Goose (Taiga)
Bean Goose (Tundra)
Greater White-fronted Goose
Lesser White-fronted Goose
Common Goldeneye
Smew
Goosander
Scaly-sided Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Common Shelduck
Common Pochard
Tufted Duck
Northern Shoveler
Baikal Teal
Falcated Duck
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Chinese Spot-billed Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Common Teal
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Horned Grebe
Black-necked Grebe
Rock (Feral Pigeon) Dove
Oriental Turtle-dove
Common Coot
Hooded Crane
Oriental Stork
Eurasian Spoonbill
Black-crowned Night-heron
Grey Heron
Great White Egret
Little Egret
Great Cormorant
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Grey Plover
Northern Lapwing
Eurasian Curlew
Ruddy Turnstone
Dunlin
Solitary Snipe
Green Sandpiper
Common Greenshank
Saunders's Gull
Black-headed Gull
Relict Gull
Black-tailed Gull
Mew Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Arctic (Mongolian) Herring Gull
Slaty-backed Gull
Glaucous Gull
Eurasian Eagle-owl
Cinereous Vulture
Hen Harrier
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Northern Goshawk
White-tailed Sea-eagle
Steller's Sea-eagle
Japanese Buzzard
Common Kingfisher
Grey-faced Woodpecker
Black Woodpecker
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
White-backed Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Common Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Bull-headed Shrike
Chinese Grey Shrike
Asian Azure-winged Magpie
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Magpie
Daurian Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Large-billed Crow
Coal Tit
Varied Tit
Marsh Tit
Eastern Great Tit
Chinese Penduline-tit
Eurasian Skylark
Zitting Cisticola
Brown-eared Bulbul
Dusky Warbler
Long-tailed Tit
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Eurasian Nuthatch
Northern Wren
Naumann's Thrush
Dusky Thrush
Fieldfare
Daurian Redstart
Goldcrest
Bohemian Waxwing
Japanese Waxwing
Siberian Accentor
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Red-throated Pipit
Buff-bellied Pipit
Japanese Wagtail
White Wagtail
Brambling
Hawfinch
Long-tailed Rosefinch
Pallas's Rosefinch
Eurasian Bullfinch
Oriental Greenfinch
Eurasian Siskin
Lapland Longspur
Chestnut-eared Bunting
Meadow Bunting
Yellow-throated Bunting
Ochre-rumped Bunting
Reed Bunting
Pallas’s Bunting
Rustic Bunting
Black-faced Bunting

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)

South Korea

26th January (Day 1 and 2) – International flight then Han River area.

28th January (Day 3) – Songdo Tidal Flats and Korea National Arboretum.

29th January (Day 4) – Seosan Reclamation.

30th January (Day 5) – Seosan Reclamation then Geum River.

31st January (Day 6) – Yubu Island, and Han River.

Taiwan

1st February (Day 7) – Fly Seoul (South Korea) to Taipei (Taiwan) then Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

2nd February (Day 8) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

3rd February (Day 9) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

4th February (Day 10) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve.

5th February (Day11) – Dasyueshan Forest Reserve then Huisin Forest Reserve.

6th February (Day 12) – Huisin Forest Reserve then Blue Gates Trail.

7th February (Day 13) –  Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area.

8th February (Day 14) – Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area then Firefly Lodge.

9th February (Day 15) – Alishan.

10th February (Day 16) – Alishan, Kenting National Park and Pintung University. 

11th February (Day 17) – Pingtung University then international flight.

Mongolia - 21st May (Day 14) - Terelj National Park and Gachuurt

After a great nights sleep in a bed at the Ulaanbaatar Hotel 2 in Terej National Park we were up at 05:00 to a very cold and frosty morning. Birding the woodlands near to the hotel it was quickly evident that most of the migrants from yesterday had departed and largely we were left with the breeding species. A quick check of the bushes near the rubbish dump produced no Siberian Rubythroat unlike yesterday but a single male Common Redstart showed well. Waking into the forest a pair of Goosander fed along the river. A bit of pishing near to some willow scrub produced a few Willow Tit and then a call which I knew immediately was an Azure Tit, I called Barry and Jon over and we were soon getting great views of this fantastic bird. The rest of the morning produced a range of nice species but no hoped for White-backed Woodpecker, we saw Grey-faced Woodpecker, Lesser spotted Woodpecker, Wryneck, Lesser Whitethroat and Brown Shrike.

After breakfast at 08:00 we birded an area of Birch forest a short way up the road but it was fairly slow going and we saw only Two-barred Greenish Warbler, Pine Bunting, Taiga Flycatcher and a singing Red-flanked Bluetail.

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Azure Tit - Terej National Park

Great Tit - Terej National Park

Willow Tit - Terej National Park

Grey-faced Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Wryneck singing from the top of an Ash tree - Terej National Park

Wryneck - Terej National Park

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker - Terej National Park

Brown Shrike - Terej National Park

Goosander - Terej National Park

Goosander - Terej National Park

Red Squirrel - Terej National Park

Carrion Crow of race orientalis - Terej National Park

Chough - Terej National Park

Redstart - Terej National Park

Birch forest at Terej National Park

Birch forest at Terej National Park

Bird's-eye Primrose Primula farinosa, or a species similar to this - Terej National Park

Siberian Chipmunk - Terej National Park

We then drove back towards Ulaanbataar and up the valley to Gachuurt where we visited earlier in the trip for a final look for Siberian Jay. As we drove through the valley we stopped for Rook which here is of the subspecies pastinator and a potential split as Eastern Rook, other than a feathered face in Eastern Rook the differences between the two appear very marginal. A short way up the road a pair of Stonechat were eventually identified as Stejneger's Stonechat but they were not especially obliging.

Rook of subspecies pastinator - Gachuurt 

Stejneger's Stonechat - Gachuurt 

We arrived at our campsite and found the tents already erected and after dropping our bags to the tents we spent a little time birding the clearing and the adjacent area of damp scrub. Here were a few Black-faced Bunting, Yellow-browed Warbler and Two-barred Greenish Warbler plus a rather spectacular dark Red Squirrel.

Campsite at Gachuurt

Campsite at Gachuurt

Pasqueflower Campsite - Gachuurt

Pansy - Gachuurt

Red Squirrel - Gachuurt

Our optimism that we may see Siberian Jay due to a GPS reference that Tumen had obtained soon dwindled as we realised that the positioning was from last year! Regardless, we drove up through the forest to the conifers and slogged up the hill to the GPS reference and there were no jays. In fact, it was extremely slow going with just Siberian Chipmunk, Pallas's Pika and Willow Tit to keep us interested - our enthusiasm soon wained. We decided to cut our losses and head back to the campsite, a jay-like call as we defended produced some excitement but lead us to a stunning Nutcracker which showed extremely well in the evening light.

Siberian Chipmunk - Gachuurt

Pallas's Pica  - Gachuurt

Nutcracker - Gachuurt

 Pine Forest - Gachuurt

 Pine Forest - Gachuurt

Rod enjoying the view at Gachuurt

Back at the campsite a beer was very welcome as was a stunning Ural Owl which showed well at dusk around the clearing. The temperature dropped and a session on the vodka warmed the body and facilitated sleep in the now freezing temperatures.

Ural Owl around our campsite at Gachuurt

Ural Owl around our campsite at Gachuurt

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight then Ulaanbaatar to Mungum Sum
Day 3 -  Mungunmorit and Gachuurt area
Day 4 - Drive to Dalanzadgad
Day 5  – Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 6 - Gurvan Saikhan National Park
Day 7 - Gobi Desert and Khongor Sand Dunes
Day 8 – Gobi Desert to Bogd
Day 9 - Baga Bogd Mountain and Kholboolj Lake
Day 10 - Kholboolj Lake and Barig Mountain
Day 11 - Barig Mountain and Sangiin Lake
Day 12 (Part 1) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 12 (Part 2) - Sangiin Lake and Bayan Lake
Day 13 - Hustai National Park and Terelj National Park
Day 15 and 16 - Gachuurt Area, Tuul River and International flight