The Deskbound Birder: Scaly-sided Merganser

Showing posts with label Scaly-sided Merganser. Show all posts

Friday, 31 January 2020

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, 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

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

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

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.

Friday, 11 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 11th November (Day 8)

Wuyuan turned out to be a party town and despite the most comfortable bed of the trip at the Huayi Hotel sleep was interrupted by blaring horns and shouting right through the night. Breakfast was of Dim Sum and noodles with coffee in a small restaurant at 06:00 and by 07:00 we were in the field. Our first stop was in the small village of Kengkou where we wandered onto the bridge over the River Xiu. It was fairly misty and visibility was no more than 500m but fairly quickly we picked up two female Scaly-sided Merganser feeding in the rapids on the river, they were fairly distant and views were not great. A small group of Masked Laughing-thrush responded well to the tape and came in close to the bridge showing their black masks well. Next we picked up three Long-billed Plover feeding on one of the shingle islands on the river, reminiscent of a large Little-ringed Plover with a less prominent eye-ring and a long bill. Next we found four buntings feeding beneath the bridge, these consisted of two Black-faced Bunting and two Yellow-browed Bunting. Other birds we recorded here included Red-billed Starling, Red-billed Blue-magpie, Common Kingfisher, Plumbeous Water-redstart and Oriental Magpie Robin.

Yellow-browed Bunting - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Red-billed Blue-magpie - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Long-tailed Shrike - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Oriental Magpie-robin - Kengkou, Wuyuan

We then wandered through the small town of white-washed buildings, narrow streets and locals gathering to grind sweet potatoes. A trail extended out of the village and followed the river passing through crop field of cabbage, pat-choy and corn before passing into an area of short woodland and scrub with an abundance of bamboo. Collared Finchbill, Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler and Rufous-capped Babbler showed well while Olive-backed Pipit were abundant. We quickly bumped into our first mixed species flock which was led by Grey-sided Fulvetta (a possible split as Huet’s Fulvertta) and also contained Red-billed Leiothrix, Grey-sided Babbler and Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler. A short way along the trail a male Silver Pheasant was on the trail but quickly flushed on our approach. And then a Moustached Laughing Thrush which showed well along the tril, this species was a bit of a surprise species as it should be higher than the current site. We spent around two hours in this woodland, birding was quite tough going as the vegetation was thick right up to the trail but was very enjoyable, we also recorded Greater/Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush, Crested Goshawk, Rufous-capped Babbler, Chestnut Bulbul, Tristram’s Bunting and Japanese White-eye (fly-over birds).

Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Perny's Squirrel - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Moustached Laughingthrush - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Grey-sided Fulvetta (possible split as Huet's Fulvetta) - Kengkou, Wuyuan

The forests at Kengkou, Wuyuan

Darter species - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Collared Finchbill - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Maritime Striped Squirrel - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Long-tailed Shrike - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Kengkou, Wuyuan

Yam Market - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Kengkou, Wuyuan

Yam Market - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Lady at Yam Market - Kengkou, Wuyuan

After the forest we returned to the bridge for better views of the Scaly-sided Merganser and picked up five very distant birds, a male and four females. After speaking to the driver we headed along a paved road running parallel to the river to try to get closer. We drove around 1km and then walked the final 300 or 400m along a trail through the scrub to come to a small view point overlooking the river. The merganser’s were still around 300m away but as we watched they eventually made their way up river and past us showing very well. There were in total 12 birds, three males and nine females. The males stunning with green heads, double spikey crest and a bright red bill tipped yellow.

River Xiu - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Scaly-sided Merganser - Kengkou, Wuyuan

Satisfied we returned to the car and drove 45 minutes to Xiao Qi arriving at 13:55 here we quickly found our target, the diminutive Pied Falconet, a family party of six. These were visible from the roof of a restaurant and after enjoying good views we had lunch with a celebratory beer and began our journey south-west to Nanchang at 15:15. The journey took around four hours and we passed through wooded hills and open rice paddies before arriving in the town at 19:00. We stayed in the fabulously named Galactic Peace International Hotel in Nancheng.