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 - 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Baikal Teal - 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 GullCommon 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 - 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

Vega Gull - 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 - Dasi-Ri, Seocheon, South Korea

Black-tailed Gull (1st winter) - 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.

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea

Baikal Teal - Geum River Area, Seocheon, South Korea


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

South Korea

Taiwan