VERY VERY BELATED KOREA TRIP REPORT

Aug 13, 2012 19:47

OMG. I'm sorry I put this off for so long. I just never got around to writing out my list... Urgh

We saw a total of 85 species on this trip, 42 of which were new to us!





Logistical notes:
We currently live on Guam so we took advantage of the direct flights to and from Seoul. We were sightseeing as well as bird watching, and we traveled on our own (backpacking) and made most of our own arrangements. We had a bit of difficulty finding the correct bus terminal when we left from Seoul to travel to Gunsan, but we found it in the end - it was in a separate building from the one Google maps had indicated. The one place we needed help was with arrangements for the homestay on Eocheong island - we were able to get the receptionist at the Riverhill Hotel in Gunsan to call and make the reservation for us. It was a bit awkward there since we spoke no Korean, but our hostess was very kind and made us some delicious traditional meals.

This trip was a bit more challenging than some we have done since we didn't speak a word of Korean and very few people we encountered spoke any English - but we managed all right using the limited phrasebooks and translation tools available to us. I did learn to read the Korean alphabet beforehand, although MOST of the relevant signage was also posted in English. Also, yes, much of the food, though it was quite good, was VERY hot to my palate, so I personally had a bit of a struggle with that. Thank goodness drinkable yogurt is easy to come by in Korea!

My field guild for this trip was "Birds of East Asia" (Brazil, 2008).

May 2
We arrived in Seoul on the morning of May 2 and, having several hours until our hotel room would be ready, we left our bags at the front desk of Hotel Dodo and went for a walk in nearby Yeouido Park. There were any number of Magpies, Brown-eared Bulbuls and Oriental Turtle Doves, though we also encountered Eastern Great Tit, flocks of Long-tailed Tits, as well as a Marsh Tit. We were able to walk all the way down to the park on the river bank facing Bamseom - but the birds near the island were too far away to be identified and consisted mainly of gulls and cormorants.

May 3

On May 3 we visited Changdeokgung palace for some sightseeing. On the grounds we observed the usual Magpies, Doves, Sparrows, and Great Tits, though there were also a few Black-naped Oriole in the trees. We also observed some very dark coloured Red Squirrels.

After lunch with a friend in Dongtan we made our way on the subway all the way out to Dongmak where we checked out the Lagoon - a known site for Black-faced Spoonbill.

Bird list from Dongmak Lagoon:

Great Cormorant
Spot-billed Duck
Northern Shoveler
Eurasian Teal
Black-faced Spoonbill
Gray Heron
Great Egret
Little Egret
Little Ringed Plover
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Bar-tailed Godwit
Common Greenshank
Vega Gull
Black-tailed Gull
Saunders’ Gull
Oriental Turtle Dove
Common Magpie
Daurian Starling
Eurasian Tree Sparrow



I swear this is a spoonbill.



CAN YOU SAY FREAKING ADORABLE.



Li'l Ringed Plover.



The Saunders's Gull is rare and beautiful - it's flight is more like that of a tern than an ordinary gull.

May 4

On May 4 we took a USO tour to the DMZ. Obviously I could not bring binoculars along, but birds of interest included Dollarbird, Black-crowned Night Heron, Brown Shrike, and White Wagtail.

May 5

May 5 was spent traveling from Seoul to Gunsan by the express bus. Along the way we did observe Eurasian Kestrel and Asian House Martin. Ringneck Pheasant seemed to be abundant in the woods around the Hotel Riverhill near the Barrage Bridge in Gunsan.

May 6

Since it was the weekend we opted to spend the day here and bird the mudflats just below the Barrage Bridge, which was within walking distance of our hotel. We waited until high tide to go out but discovered that the mudflats were completely covered by water so we went and had lunch/dinner and by the time we were done the level had dropped sufficiently for the birds to return. It was quite a sight with the hundreds upon hundreds of birds crowding the water’s edge and spreading out to forage in the mud as the tide retreated. We had very good views near an abandoned boat that was beached some distance down from the bridge.



Gunsan tidal flats at a really good spot to view birds from the bike path.



Just... So many birds. So Many. *weeps*

Bird list from Gunsan:

Varied Tit
Eastern Great Tit
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Magpie
Ring-necked pheasant
Grey Heron
Black-tailed Gull
Garganey
Whimbrel
Common Sandpiper
Eastern Black-tailed Godwit
Oriental Greenfinch
Mallard
Eurasian Teal
Common Greenshank
Green Sandpiper
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Intermediate Egret
Barn Swallow
Lesser Sand Plover
Dunlin
Bar-tailed Godwit
Terek Sandpiper
Common Redshank
Spotted Redshank
Black-headed Gull
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint
Broad-billed Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler

May 7

We departed from Gunsan Coastal Ferry Terminal at 9 AM but due to foggy weather did not arrive at Eocheongdo until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Our kind hostess served us lunch and we headed out for some late afternoon birding. The weather had cleared up a bit but the birds were out in full force. The whole island seemed to be utterly infested with buntings, pipits and thrushes!

In the village there were numerous Black-faced Bunting, and Chestnut Bunting as well as Olive-backed Pipit scouring the grass. Some trees near the school contained Chinese Grosbeak and we saw one Red-billed Starling on a wire near the police station. A vacant lot nearby held Yellow Wagtail and Siberian Stonechat as well as Tristram’s Bunting and Yellow-browed Bunting.

At the reservoir, which still held some water, we found a number of Cattle Egret and a pair of Chinese Pond Heron. In the woods up the rest of the hill to the Pagoda there was a constant rustling set up by Siberian Thrush, Eyebrowed Thrush, Siberian Blue Robin, White-throated Rock Thrush, Swinhoe’s Robin, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Narcissus Flycatcher, and scores of buntings, pipits and warblers. By the time we reached the Pagoda it was starting to get dark so we headed back down to the village.



The village.



*peer*



Yellow-browed Bunting



THIS. BEAUTY. (Siberian Blue Robin) Things like this make it worth all the effort to travel to these places, FWIW.



ALSO THIS BEAUTY. (Narcissus Flycatcher)

May 8

It was overcast and a bit foggy and the birds were not as active when we went out at 7 AM. We made our way to the lighthouse on the other side of the island. Aside from birds of the previous evening, along the way we saw one large Cuckoo but were unable to photograph or identify it. By the lighthouse we saw a lone male Blue Rock Thrush on the rocks below. On the way back we saw a Black (eared?) Kite as well as a smaller raptor of some kind that was too distant for us to identify.



Panorama from the far end of the island.



The Lighthouse



White-throated Rock Thrush - a bird that Devon's camera absolutely hated for some reason. They gave us good views consistently but this was the best shot he was able to take. 0_o



I mean, honestly.

Eocheong bird list:

Cormorant sp.
Black-tailed Gull
Cattle Egret
Intermediate Egret
Chinese Pond Heron
Black (eared) Kite
Cuckoo sp.
Barn Swallow
Black-naped Oriole
Black Drongo
Brown-eared Bulbul
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Narcissus Flycatcher
Mugimaki Flycatcher
Gray-streaked Flycatcher
Siberian Blue Robin
Swinhoe’s Robin
Siberian Stonechat
Bull-headed Shrike
Brown Shrike
Black-faced Bunting
Chestnut Bunting
Chinese Grosbeak
Yellow-browed Bunting
Tristram’s Bunting
Red-billed Starling
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Eyebrowed Thrush
Siberian Thrush
Blue Rock Thrush
White-throated Rock Thrush
Brown-headed Thrush
Ashy Minivet
Olive-backed Pipit
Richard’s Pipit
Yellow-browed Warbler
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler
Eastern Crowned Warbler

The ferry arrived at around 11 AM so we packed up and headed back to the mainland. We stayed again in the Riverhill hotel.

I have to say that in spite of some awkwardness due to the language barrier we had a really fantastic little trip to Eocheongdo!

On May 9-10 we headed back to Seoul and did a bit more sightseeing before our flight back to Guam on the night of the 10th.

Random sightseeing pics:


















Complete list of species seen this whole trip:

Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Spot-billed duck (Anas zonorhyncha)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Garganey (Anas querquedula)
Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca)
Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor)
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Chinese Pond Heron (Ardeola bacchus)
Eastern Cattle Egret (Bubulcus coromandus)
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Great Egret (Casmerodius albus)
Intermediate Egret (Mesophoyx intermedia)
Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)
Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)
Black-eared Kite (Milvus lineatus)
Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius)
Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)
Eastern Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa melanuroides)
Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)
Whimbrel (Numinius phaeopus)
Spotted Redshank (Tringa erythropus)
Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus)
Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)
Gray-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes)
Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus)
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)
Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
Broad-billed Sandpiper (Limicola falcinellus)
Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris)
Vega Gull (Larus vegae)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Saunders’s Gull (Saundersilarus saundersi)
Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis)
Cuckoo sp.
Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis)
Ashy Minivet (Pericrocotus divaricatus)
Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus)
Brown Shrike (Lanius cristatus)
Black-naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis)
Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus)
Common Magpie (Pica pica)
Eastern Great Tit (Parus minor)
Varied Tit (Poecile varius)
Marsh Tit (Poecile palustris)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
Asian House Martin (Delichon dasypus)
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
Brown-eared Bulbul (Microscelis amaurotis)
Yellow-browed Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus)
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus tenelipes)
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus borealoides)
Eastern Crowned Warbler (Phylloscopus coronatus)
Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus)
Daurian Starling (Sturnus sturninus)
Red-billed Starling (Sturnus sericeus)
Siberian Thrush (Zoothera sibirica)
Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus)
Brown-headed Thrush (Turdus chrysolaus)
Siberian Blue Robin (Luscinia cyane)
Swinhoe’s Robin (Luscinia sibilans)
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)
White-throated Rock Thrush (Monticola gularis)
Grey-streaked Flycatcher (Muscicapa griseisticta)
Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica)
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher (Ficedula zanthopygia)
Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina)
Mugimaki Flycatcher (Ficedula mugimaki)
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)
White Wagtail (Motacilla alba)
Richard’s Pipit (Anthus richardi)
Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni)
Oriental Greenfinch (Carduelis sinica)
Chinese Grosbeak (Eophona migratoria)
Tristram’s Bunting (Emberiza tristrami)
Yellow-browed Bunting (Emberiza chysophrys)
Chestnut Bunting (Emberiza rutila)
Black-faced Bunting (Emberiza spodocephala)

Mammals:
Water Deer (?)
Red Squirrel

Thanks for reading!

trip reports, new birds, lists, birds, trips, korea

Previous post Next post
Up