It sneaked up on me somehow, but this past week marked my blog’s first anniversary, or birthday, or whatever blog’s celebrate when they’ve been around a year. I’ve truly enjoyed the experience so far, although I haven’t always been able to dedicate the time I wanted to. As a “Blog Year Resolution,” I’ll try to be more regular in my posts, and continue getting out there and living the birding life in South Korea.
Most of my time recently has been spent settling into my new schools, and wrapping my head around my new work schedule. My birding time has been once again relegated to the weekends, but with the days getting longer every week, soon I’ll be able to do some late day birding as well. And just in time, too – new arrivals are showing up all the time. Here’s a brief look at what I’ve been up to in the month of March.
The eastern wall of Geumseongsanseong, with Damyangho Lake in the background.
Two weeks ago I went with Melanie to Geumseongsanseong (금성산성), an old mountain fortress in nearby Damyang-gun. We had hiked the steep walls of the fortress in March of last year, where I had found a golden eagle and a flock of alpine accentors. It was this latter species that we returned to look for again this year.
Despite the fine weather, we never found the alpine accentors, but there was plenty of activty, including all four species of tit (chickadee), numerous Eurasian nuthatches, and an unexpected Siberian accentor which put on a brief show for us near one of the fortress gates. This was Melanie’s first sighting of Siberian accentor, and by far the best views of one I’ve had yet.
The steep walls leading down to the East Gate.
Siberian Accentor (Prunella montanella montanella)
Click the image to see a short video of the accentor singing.
Last weekend found us in Suncheon-si, looking for cranes and any overwintering or recently arrived buntings. This was a special trip, planned specifically to get Melanie her 500th bird. To that end we were very successful, arriving near Suncheonman Bay and quickly finding at least 40 hooded cranes. Just as I had found my 600th bird here only a few months earlier, Melanie found her 500th in the rice fields at Anpung-dong. We went on to find her three more species to add to her list: Pallas’s bunting, reed bunting, and little bunting. We had a very enjoyable walk along the Dongcheongang River, despite the threat of rain throughout most of the day. There are definitely signs of spring in the air now: species are completing their molts, many species are singing, and the first of the early migrants are beginning to arrive.
Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus pyrrhulina)
Black-headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) and a Vega Gull (Larus vegae) along the Dongcheongang River.
The weather made a significant change this weekend, and today brought the first 18°C day of the year. Taking advantage of the spectacular weather, Melanie and I invited our friend Victoria to come birding with us at Mudeungsan National Park, at the Jeungsimsa Temple. Melanie and I had hiked this trail last April, and had some good luck with a variety of bird and insect species.
It’s moments like these that I question having bought a 400mm lens.
© Victoria Caswell
Melanie and Victoria on a break midway along the trail to Baramjae Ridge.
This was Victoria’s first real plunge into the birding world, and fortunately I was able to point out a lot of interesting species and behaviors. We came across a pair of coal tits gathering moss for a nearby nesting site; click the link to see a video of the birds gathering moss. There were numerous varied tits, pairs of both pygmy and white-backed woodpeckers, and a migrant yellow-browed bunting, which was only the second of this species I have ever seen (the first being one in the same mountain chain almost exactly a year ago to the day).
However, the pièce de résistance was definitely a very tame ring-necked pheasant, which foraged along a mountain stream in full view for tens of minutes. We were privileged to have this opportunity to watch the pheasant for so long, and from such a short distance. Our constant staring into the woods attracted several Korean onlookers, curious as to what was so interesting to the bunch of waygooks (Korean word for “foreigner”). We passed out our binoculars to those who were interested, and all in all it was a great moment to show some of the locals this special (not to mention breathtakingly stunning) bird which, though very common in Korea, is often times overlooked.
A view of South Gwangju from the Baramjae ridge.
Yellow-browed Bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys)
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis amaurotis)
Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus karpowi)
Click the image to see a video of the bird’s foraging behavior.
Although much of this month has been spent indoors teaching English classes, the time that I have spent outdoors has been incredibly fulfilling. With the cold grip of winter beginning to loosen on the Korean peninsula, I look forward to warmer temperatures and renewed birding ahead!
On the Wing 