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| A Report from birdtours.co.uk |
South Korea, Spring 2002,
Overview
This was the first "organised" birding trip to South Korea in spring.
The purpose was to see shorebirds and to experience spring migration. Many of
the participants had also previously birded Hong Kong, Beidaihe and
The trip was a huge success with two firsts for Korea (Crag Martin and Ferruginous
Flycatcher), excellent wader counts including sightings of Little Whimbrel and
Asiatic Dowitcher. We also had Baikal Teal and Swan Geese on exceptionally late
spring dates as well as excellent numbers of migrants and a supporting cast
of many globally rare species e.g. Nordmann¡'s Greenshank, Black-Faced Spoonbill
and Chinese Egret.
The areas visited were primarily tidal flats at Saemangeum and around Gunsan
and one day at Seosan. The rest of the time was spent on an island called Eocheong
Do, 3 hrs by ferry from Gunsan on the west side of Korea. This island had only
ever been birded once before (by Nial Moores) for two days just prior to our
arrival! Indeed we were the first Westerners that most people on the island
had ever seen.
The only disappointment of the trip was that after three days of wader watching,
the only sighting of Spoon-billed Sandpiper was one very brief view by Nial
Moores of a single bird.
Trip Team
Those that were on the trip were:
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Nial Moores - Guide and organiser who is living in Korea and has an unequalled knowledge of local birds and whose identification skills in the field are superb. Nial can be contacted at: http://www.wbkenglish.com Nial Moores, South Korea spoonbill@hotmail.com . Tel: 82 11 9303 1963, |
Tony Lancaster, Dennis Weir, Willie McDowell and myself
(arrived on the 21st April from the UK).
On the 25th we were joined by Jeff Gilligan, Tom Staudt, Nick Lethaby, Gerard
Lillie (from the US) and Jim Dowdall (Ireland).
Getting there
We flew with British Midland from Belfast to London, then London to Frankfurt
and Frankfurt to Seoul Incheon with Lufthansa. We left Belfast at
Itinerary
Sat 20th April: Left UK
Sun 21st: Arrived Seoul Incheon. Birded close to the airport at Yeongjong. Drove
to Gunsan that evening
Mon 22nd to Wed 24th: Took an early morning ferry to
Thur 25th and Fri 26th: Birded tidal flats around Saemankeum/Saemangeum and
Gunsan.
Sat 27th to Thurs 2nd May. Returned to Eocheong Is. on the early morning ferry
on the Saturday. In Rain and fog had a massive fall of migrants on April 30
and May 1st. Stayed on the island until the Thursday afternoon.
Fri 3rd - Birded tidal flats and some nearby areas around Gunsan.
Sat 4th - Travelled to Seosan and birded the area. Minibus technical problems
restricted birding in this area! Travelled onto Incheon to be near the Airport
for the Sunday flight departures.
Sun 5th - We had about 4 hours birding close to the airport at Yeongjong. PM
flight back to the UK.
Background information
There are some reasonable websites including:
WBKEnglish: www.wbkenglish.com
Bird Watching Korea: www.knto.or.kr
Birds of Korea: www.203.253.33.6/~srcho/
Previous trip reports accessed included:
Korea, May 1998, Erik Toorman & Duncan James: http://perswww.kuleuven.ac.be/~p6478500/korea.html
South Korea, December 2001, John Day.
The identification guides that we utilised were:
A
Field Guide to the Birds of Korea - Woo-Shin LEE, Tae-Hoe KOO and
550 Birds of Japan: (two part photo guide with little English content except
for species names. Still was very useful)
A
Field guide to the Birds of South East Asia, Craig Robson. (High level of
detail and good plates)
Lars Johnson, Birds of Europe (Of limited use only).
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A video, Birds of
South Korea has been produced by Charlie and Nial Moores and is highly
recommended. It is available mainly from the WBKEnglish website
(http://www.wbkenglish.com).
|
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Essential Information
Guiding: It is difficult to see how you could manage to survive in Korea
without someone local who can arrange logistics, accommodation and travel etc.
Even getting food is difficult. Very little English is spoken and visiting a
country with a totally different culture is not easy. Nial Moores has lived
in Korea for 4 years and should be contacted if you are thinking about visiting.
Money: Try and bring Korean Won with you. We were able to obtain it in
the UK. This will prevent wasting time in arranging an itinerary around bank
opening times.
Food: It is as bad as expected but just about bearable. On Eocheong Do
the restaurant that we used was good in that the owner would make the effort
to try and meet our individual needs - not a common practice in Korea. There
is generally very little choice and little variety. Food is however reasonably
priced. Beer was about £2 a bottle in most restaurants. Koreans eat roughly
the same meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner (generally a meat dish with rice,
vegetables and loads of chilli sauce!). I brought a bottle of Dijon mayonnaise
which helped flavour the eggs that we had every morning. We only used bottled
water. Dog is available and in one restaurant the waitress purposely hid the
fact that dog was a choice on the menu, knowing that it is not appreciated by
westerners!
Accommodation: Nothing in the UK compares with Love Motels which we used
for 5 nights of the trip. You can have anything from round beds with mirrors
to a TV with an "adult" channel. They were generally £15 - £25
a night and were clean. The Hotel on the island was about £18 a night
for a room but more basic and not as clean as it could have been. Only 5 rooms
in the island hotel had beds, the rest use "futons".
Travel: We used a rented bus and driver for the mainland driving. Generally
about £130 a day. (Road signs on the main roads are also in English but
if going off the main roads to a site, you will need detailed directions).
Climate: It varied from hot sunny days (which required sun protection)
to full days of rain.
Habitat
Tidal Flats: Those watched were primarily at Saemangeum, some of the
world's widest tidal flats. Watching tidal flats is difficult and often frustrating.
They stretch for miles and the high tide viewing period for seeing large numbers
of waders is limited. In addition, the congregation of large numbers of birds
into small areas (e.g. at a high tide roost), can lead to viewing difficulties
for example with disturbance or a hunting raptor. With probably only one high
tide during the daylight hours it is important that you are in the right place
at the right time. We experienced spectacular close up views of waders at some
sites and then experienced the sight of miles of mud when we slightly misjudged
a high tide. The early dates of our visit coincided with the higher tides (full
moon). However, it is with great sadness to report that this site will be lost
within a few years. The government is currently building a huge sea wall and
the land will be reclaimed in probably 4 years time. This loss of tidal habitat
is on an unprecedented scale and the long term implications for species such
as Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Great Knot are extremely worrying.
Eocheong Do (Do means island in Korean): This island is on the Yellow
Sea and ideal for seeking out migrants. It is about 3 miles long and two miles
wide and 3 hrs by boat from Gunsan. It is the only inhabited island in the area.
It has cultivated areas around the village, a lighthouse, a beach, a small reservoir
and a number of deciduous wooded gulleys. All are workable on foot making it
easy to bird. It also has a Korean "Government" presence in certain
areas which while fenced off and inaccessible, provides some of the best habitat
for e.g. larks and pipits. Accompanied access may be possible in the future.
Credit must be given to Nial for bringing us to this island as it had no previous
birding record but now the enormous potential has been recognised.
Seosan: This is an area with two huge freshwater lakes and rice paddies
that are a result of reclamation. There are no dwelling houses in the area so
disturbance is less than at other sites. Good for wildfowl, geese and waders.
Woodland: There is extensive woodland throughout Korea although the range
and number of bird species is very limited.
It must be said that the extensive rice fields seen whilst travelling throughout
the country are relatively birdless. Such intensive agriculture with widespread
use of pesticides and fertilisers cannot be in the long term interest of the
country. However one significant plus for Korea is that there is only very limited
hunting of birds. We only saw one shooter during two weeks and a few shotgun
cartridges at particular locations.
Summary of birding highlights
The species counts at the end give a more detailed breakdown of our best sightings.
However, the following is a summary of some of the most interesting ones:
Baikal Teal: at least two birds (possibly as many as 5) were seen at
Seosan on the second last day of our trip. These birds were unexpected as most
Baikal Teal have left Korea by March.
Swan Goose: again, two birds were unexpected, found in amongst a flock of Bean Geese.
Black-faced Spoonbill: we had a significant fall of birds on Eocheong Do which produced many great birds, including two Black-faced Spoonbills. One of the most memorable sights of the trip is seeing these two birds feed in the moonlight on the beach.
Chinese Egret: a small number of birds were seen around Yeong Jeong.
Little Whimbrel: at least three, if not four birds were seen. These birds were extremely confiding.
Asiatic Dowitcher: again, a total of three birds were seen at two different sites.
Nordmans Greenshank: a number of different birds were seen during the trip. To find them, they can require perseverance but are relatively easily separated from Greenshank.
Spoon-billed Sandpiper: three days were spent wader watching and we were disappointed that the group did not get any views. One bird was picked up briefly by Nial Moores before the flock of stints took of.
Streaked Shearwater: seen each time from the boat over to Eocheong Do.
Ancient Murrelet: again, seen in very small numbers during each boat trip.
Oriental Pratincole: at least five birds were seen around the island.
Blyth's Pipit: at least two birds (probably 4) were seen on the island.
Buff-bellied Pipit: seen on the island and at Seosan.
Amur Falcon: one frequented the island for two days, often giving superb views. However it was missed by 2 of the party!
White-throated Needletail: some birds were seen (and heard) at very close range.
Himalayan Swiftlet: after Nial picked up three birds on his previous visit, we had a single bird, followed by a sighting, by Tony, of six the following day.
Crag Martin: this bird was seen independently flying around the island by at least five birders. It was seen again briefly on a number of occasions. This was a first for Korea.
Buntings: all the Buntings listed were seen most days, often giving excellent views.
Thrushes: most listed thrushes were seen near daily although Grey and Siberian were often difficult to pick up due to their skulking habits. However excellent views of all other thrushes were obtained by everyone.
Greater Short-toed Lark: two birds were seen although they were difficult to observe due to their choice of habitat in a controlled area.
Ferruginous Flycatcher: amazingly, three records of this first for Korea.
Narcissus Flycatcher: birds were seen regularly
during the trip. One, if not two, birds were 'elisae' Flycatcher, a very poorly
known form, which are believed to differ in males having olive green upperparts
with a bright yellow throat, and the females being generally similar, though
duller.
Thanks
Special thanks are made to both Nial Moores and to KIM Su-Kyung for assisting
with our arrangements and for making the trip so enjoyable and successful. We
hope that our trip will now prompt other birders to visit and thereby help in
the promotion of birding and conservation in South Korea.
Species
The following are the species recorded (with a few of the more interesting peak
numbers added by Nial from our log: NOTE with the exception of some of the non-passerines
and OBPs, these refer almost exclusively to grounded birds). They are a combination
of everyone's sightings. It should also be noted that from the 21st to 25th,
there were only five members of the group birding Eocheong Do. If you wish to
have a daily breakdown in table-form please e-mail me.
Species of Special Conservation Concern are in bold.
Red-throated Diver
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Streaked Shearwater: 300+ on 24/4, between Gunsan and Eocheong Is.
Temmick's Cormorant: Seen almost daily: max 4 Eocheong Is.
Night Heron
Striated Heron
Little Egret
Great White Egret (alba and modesta)
Intermediate Egret
Chinese Egret: Seen on 3 dates, with peak of 3 on April 21st
at Yeongjong Is.
Cattle Egret
Little Egret
Purple Heron
Grey Heron
Chinese Pond Heron: Peak of 5 on 30/4, Eocheong Is.
Black-faced Spoonbill: 2 on Eocheong Is, 30/4-1/5
White Spoonbill
Swan Goose : 2 at Seosan, on 4/5
Eastern Tundra Bean Goose (A. f. serrirostris) 1300 at Seosan 4/5
Greater White-fronted Goose (frontalis)
Common Shelduck
Northern Spot-billed Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Eurasian Wigeon
Common Teal
Baikal Teal: 2+, Seosan, May 4
Falcated Duck: peak of 30 at Seosan on May 4
Garganey
Gadwall
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Greater Scaup
Osprey
Northern Goshawk
Eurasian Kestrel
Peregrine
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Chinese Sparrowhawk: seen on 5 dates, with peak of 10 on 30/4 (much commoner
from ca May 10 onwards)
Japanese Sparrowhawk: seen on 5 dates, with peak of 30 on 1/5
Northern Hobby
Amur Falcon: 3 sightings of 1 or 2 adult males on Eocheong Island
Grey-faced Buzzard
Japanese Quail
Pheasant
Moorhen
White-breasted Waterhen
Kentish Plover
Lesser (Mongolian) Sand Plover: ca 400, Dongjin estuary, Saemangeum
Greater Sand Plover
Pacific Golden Plover
Grey Plover
Ringed Plover
Eastern Oystercatcher (osculans): 10 on 22/4, Gunsan
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
Red-necked Stint: 1500+, 3/5, Dongjin estuary, Saemangeum
Spoon-billed Sandpiper: Only 1, on 27/4, Dongjin estuary. A more typical
6 were seen on 14/5
in Saemangeum, where the September peak reaches 200+.
Temminck's Stint
Little Stint: One on May 3, Dongjin estuary.
Long-toed Stint: 10 on 4/5, Seosan.
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper: 1500+, 26/4, Geum estuary
Dunlin: 8000+, 26/4,Saemangeum/Geum
Curlew Sandpiper
Red Knot
Great Knot: Only comparatively small numbers were noted, with 1500+ on 26/4
the peak. (a more typical 35 000 recorded at Mangyeung estuary, Saemangeum on
14/5.
Broad-billed Sandpiper: 150+, 3/5, Saemangeum.
Ruddy Turnstone
Spotted Redshank
Redshank
Marsh Sandpiper
Greenshank
Nordmann's (Spotted) Greenshank: 2 on 26/4, 4 on 3/5, Saemangeum.
Terek Sandpiper: 400+, 26/4, Geum estuary.
Grey-tailed Tattler
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Asiatic Dowitcher: 3 on 3/5, Dongjin estuary, Saemangeum.
Little Whimbrel: 3-4 down to a few meters range, Eocheong Is.
Far Eastern Curlew: 250 on 21/4, Yeongong Is.
Eurasian Curlew
Whimbrel
Little Ringed Plover
Common Snipe
Pintail Snipe
Latham's Snipe: seen on 5 dates, with max. of 5 on 30/4, Eocheong Is
Swinhoe's Snipe: 2 on 30/4
Black-winged Stilt
Eurasian Woodcock
Oriental Pratincole
"Pacific" Black-legged Kittiwake
Kamchatka Gull
Saunders's Gull: seen on 3 dates, with 4 on 22/4 at
Black-headed Gull
Black-tailed Gull
Mongolian (Yellow-legged) Gull Larus (cachinnans) mongolicus
Vega Gull
Heuglin's (Siberian) Gull (taimyrensis)
Slaty-backed Gull
Little Tern
Common Tern
Ancient Murrelet: peak of 21, 28/4 on ferry between Gunsan and Eocheong Is.
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
Grt. Spotted Woodpecker
Grey-headed Woodpecker
Rufous Turtle Dove
Oriental Scops Owl
Brown Hawk Owl
Grey Nightjar
Oriental Cuckoo
Cuckoo sp.
Pacific Swift
White-throated Needletail
Himalayan Swiftlet: see above
Common Kingfisher
Black-capped Kingfisher
Dollarbird
Hoopoe
Wryneck
Greater Short-toed Lark
Barn Swallow
Red-rumped Swallow (japonica)
Asiatic House Martin
Crag Martin: see above
Yellow Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail: One female on 30/4: considered a rare migrant in Korea.
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
White Wagtail (ocularis) We also saw several leucopsis, and 1
baikalensis
Black-backed Wagtail (lugens)
Richard's Pipit
Blyth's Pipit: probably 4 different individuals on Eocheong Island.
Pechora Pipit: Surprisingly scarce (can be numerous in Korea on passage), with
1 on 30/4 and another on 4/4 at Sesoan.
Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit (japonicus)
Olive-backed Pipit: The massive fall on
Red-throated Pipit
Eurasian Tree Pipit: one on 30/4 constituted about the 4th or 5th
record for Korea.
Zitting Cisticola
Ashy Minivet: 300+ on May 1 on Eocheong island was presumed a new national high
count.
Brown-eared Bulbul
Bull-headed Shrike
Waxwing sp. 1, presumed Japanese Waxwing, on April 30 in heavy rain and fog.
Northern Wren
Siberian Rubythroat: 5 on 30/4.
Japanese Robin: 1 in song, 25/4, Eocheong Is.
Red-spotted Bluethroat
Siberian Blue Robin: Max. of 20, 25/4.
Red-flanked Bluetail
Daurian Redstart
Siberian Stonechat
"Red-breasted" Blue Rock Thrush (philippensis)
White's Thrush: Seen almost daily
Pale Thrush: Seen daily, with a peak of 40+, 29/4, Eocheong is.
Dusky Thrush (both eunomus and naummani): Seen daily, with 100+
on two or more dates.
Siberian Thrush: Seen on 4 dates, with a max.of only 2; more numerous later
in May.
Grey-backed Thrush: Seen daily on
Brown Thrush: Seen almost daily on Eocheong Is, with peak of 10 on 30/4.
Eye-browed Thrush: Singles seen on only 3 dates (but peaking at 230 on 6/5)
Grey Thrush: Up to 3 seen on 5 dates on Eocheong Is.
Chinese Blackbird (T. [merula] mandarinus): 1, 22/4, Eocheong Is.
Black-throated Thrush: 1 adult male,23/4, Eocheong Is.
Red-throated Thrush: 1 adult male, 18-22/4, Eocheong Is.
Asian Stubtail: Seen daily, peak of 20+25/4.
Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone cantans
Korean Bush Warbler Cettia (diphone) borealis
Goldcrest
Dusky Warbler
Radde's Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler: Recorded daily; peak of 200 on 30/4.
Pallas's Leaf Warbler: Scarce, peak of 10 on 25/4.
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler: Recorded daily on Eocheong Is. 100+ 22/4.
Eastern Crowned Warbler: Recorded daily: 150+ on 22/4
Two-barred Greenish Warbler: 5 on 30/4
Hume's Leaf Warbler: 2 singles on Eocheong Is. (only ca 3-4th records for Korea)
Oriental Reed Warbler
Narcissus Flycatcher (inc. elisae): Scarce, recorded on only 7 dates,
with peak of 5 on 29/4.
Mugimaki Flycatcher: Only 1, on 29/4,but 174 on 7/5 on Eocheong Is.
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher: Seen most days on Eocheong is, with peak of 7
Blue & White Flycatcher: Seen daily on Eocheong is., with a low peak of
8
Ferruginous Flycatcher: See above
Brown Flycatcher
Long-tailed Tit
Chinese Penduline Tit
Varied Tit
Marsh Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Japanese White-eye
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Tristram's Bunting: Seen daily on Eocheong Is, with a peak of over 100 on 2
dates.
Yellow-browed Bunting: Seen daily on Eocheong Is., with peak of 75 on 29/4.
Yellow-breasted Bunting: Seen daily on Eocheong Is. in small numbers.
Japanese Yellow Bunting: Seen daily on Eocheong Is., with 4-7 most days.
Little Bunting: Seen daily on Eocheong Is., with 150+ on 29/4.
Black-faced Bunting: Seen near daily, with peak of 150+ on Eocheong Is.
Yellow-throated Bunting: Seen in small numbers most days.
Chesnut Bunting: Seen in small numbers most days (rather commoner later in May,
with peak of 55 by 22/5)
Chesnut-eared Bunting
Siskin
Brambling
Oriental Greenfinch
Common Rosefinch
Crossbill
Chinese Grosbeak: Seen most days. 19 on 22/4 was the peak.
Japanese Grosbeak : 1 on 23/4.
Hawfinch
Black-naped Oriole
Tree Sparrow
Red-billed Starling: Only 1, on 23/4.
White-cheeked Starling
Chestnut-(Red- cheeked) Starling: Daily between April 28th and May
2nd, with 5 the peak.
Jay (brandti)
Azure-winged Magpie
Black-billed Magpie
corvid sp.
Unfortunately there was no roll-call on the 27th following
a demanding and wet day in the field. This day was spent wader watching. All
the major wader species were seen including good counts of Great Knot, Broad-billed
sandpipers, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints.
It was during this day that one Spoon-billed Sandpiper was seen briefly by Nial
Moores.
Total species count: This depends upon how you want to treat certain
groups e.g. Wagtails and Gulls. However, in excess of 210 species were seen
during the two week period!
Eoncheng Do was also "manned" by Nial after our visit and details
of the birds subsequently seen are on the WBKEnglish Website (articles section).
Report prepared by:
Wilton Farrelly
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Tel: 028 90 225 818
E mail: w.farrelly@hjmartin.co.uk
or wilton_farrelly@postmaster.co.uk
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