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.