South Korea and Taiwan - 28th January (Day 3)

We were up at the civilised time of 06:30 and after a quick coffee we travelled a short distance through the sprawl of Incheon to the tidal flats of Songdo, also known as the Gojan Tidal Flats. The intertidal areas here are being rapidly reclaimed for development and this is a fast disappearing habitat despite being a Ramsar site, unfortunately this blatant disregard for protected sites and important habitats appears to be common in South Korea. Here, standing alongside the busy highway we recorded large numbers of familiar waders including Eurasian Curlew, Grey Plover, Oystercatcher (of the subspecies ostrilans and a possible split as Far Eastern Oystercatcher) and Dunlin and, equally familiar, Mallard, Pintail and Shelduck. We failed to see our main target here which was Relict Gull but the large numbers of gull made for interesting viewing with  315 Saunder’s Gull, 100 Black-tailed Gull, 30 Mew Gull of the subspecies kamtschatschensis, two Lesser Black-backed Gull of the subspecies taimyrensis, 30 Mongolian Herring Gull and two Vega Gull. Two White-tailed Eagle stood on the mudflats awaiting a feeding opportunity. Our full list for the site can be viewed on eBird here. Having had our fix of gulls and waders and realising the Relict Gulls were not going to show we began our two hour journey northwards to the South Korea National Arboretum and Forest Museum.

We arrived at the arboretum at 10:25, it was nice to be in the forest clad hills rather than in the urban sprawl of the previous sites that we had visited. The first area we birded was the reed lined river course flowing south along the western side of the main car park. After some searching we found one of our main targets at the site, a superb Solitary Snipe which we watched as it bobbed Jack Snipe like along the waters edge. This species breeds at high altitude in remote areas of central Asia, southern Siberia and northern China and winters thinly in Korea, Japan, East China and north India. It is difficult to see throughout its range and unfortunately unsympathetic development of the arboretum, one of the key sites for seeing the species, is meaning that it is becoming more difficult to encounter this species. After getting our fill of this superb bird and dwelling on its future here we wandered into the main arboretum, at this time of the year rather grey and seeming lifeless. We spent much of our time around the Medicinal Garden where our second main target, Pallas’s Rosefinch, was first seen as a small flock of around seven birds flitted through the canopy but a little later in the day we managed to find a flock of 15 feeding on the ground amongst dense scrub. Other species we recorded at this site during our five hours birding included Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White-backed Woodpecker, Black Woodpecker, Varied Tit, Naumann’s Thrush, Siberian Accentor, Yellow-throated Bunting, Rustic Bunting and the superb griseiventris subspecies of Bullfinch. Our eBird checklist for the site can be viewed here.

Solitary Snipe - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Solitary Snipe - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Solitary Snipe - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Solitary Snipe - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Varied Tit - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Brown-eared Bulbul - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Siberian Chipmunk - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Siberian Accentor - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Siberian Accentor - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

White-backed Woodpecker - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Eastern Spot-billed Duck - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Hawfinch - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Eurasian Bullfinch - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Grey Heron - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Eurasian (Brandt's) Jay - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Japanese Tit - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Pallas's Rosefinch - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

Pallas's Rosefinch - South Korea National Arboretum, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea

At around 15:30 we began our journey south to Seosan arriving at 18:30 and booking into the Vovo Hotel. We wandered a short distance to a restaurant for a superb Korean dinner which was heavily laced with Chilli and Garlic.

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.