Bird News from Patrick Blake
I spent a pleasant morning around Suncheon Bay, wandering through the rice paddies in search of birds. I arrived a few hours after low tide, so shorebird numbers on the bay itself were lower than expected. The rice had not been harvested yet, except for one cell, which held a good number of shorebirds. There were some passerines around as well, including four counter-singing Far Eastern Cisticolas, singing Oriental Reed Warblers, and a few Eastern Yellow Wagtails passing through. Also observed a Least Weasel and an Amur Leopard Cat. A total of 35 bird species were observed throughout the day.
Far Eastern Cisticola Flight Song
1. Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha (20+)
2. Striated Heron Butorides striata (1)
3. Eastern Cattle Egret Bubulcus coromandus (10+)
4. Grey Heron Ardea cinerea (8)
5. Eastern Great Egret Ardea a. modesta (6)
6. Western Osprey Pandion haliaetus (1)
7. Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus (8)
8. Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva (1)
9. Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola (2)
10. Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago (2)
11. Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa (70+)
12. Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata (12)
13. Far Eastern Curlew Numenius madagascariensis (4)
14. Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia (8+)
15. Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola (20+)
16. Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus (1)
17. Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos (2)
18. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata (10+)
19. Ruff Philomachus pugnax (1)
20. Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris (2)
21. Whiskered Tern Chlidonias hybrida (6)
22. Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis (30+)
23. Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis (1)
24. Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus (2)
25. Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyanus (3)
26. Eurasian Magpie Pica pica (1)
27. Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos (1)
28. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica (28)
29. Oriental Reed Warbler Acrocephalus orientalis (4)
30. Far Eastern Cisticola Cisticola juncidis (4)
31. Vinous-throated Parrotbill Sinosuthora webbiana (30+)
32. Stejneger’s Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri (1)
33. Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus (50+)
34. Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis (6)
35. Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea (2)
