Bird News from Nial Moores, Jason Loghry, Ha Jeung Mun and Seo Hae-Min.
Extraordinary weather conditions, with a maximum temperature of probably 16 or 17C; almost no wind at all; good to excellent visibility and a sea that became progressively flatter through the day.
There were several noteworthy observations, but unfortunately no sign of last week’s presumed Crested Auklet, despite the highly favorable conditions.
On the river in Pohang, best were two Saunders’s Gull and eight Northern Lapwing; while on the peninsula, we found an interesting (or a perhaps quite typical Little Egret?), at least 12 Light-vented Bulbul, a couple of accentors (only one of which was certainly a Siberian Accentor…), one or two Blue Rock Thrush and a nice selection of gulls to look through, which will only get better once more properly seasonal weather reaches us (perhaps next week?).
Little Egret Egretta garzetta © Nial Moores
Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius philippensis © Jason Loghry
There was also evidence of some landbirds still on the move, with perhaps ten Common Kestrel and five Eastern Buzzard seen; and several high-flying groups of passerines seen or heard, including a few probable Hawfinch and at least one high-flying group of nine Eastern Great Tit heading south.
Selected counts of birds on / over the sea made by NM during the day from eleven points included:
Mandarin Duck원앙 1
Greater Scaup 검은머리흰죽지 11
Harlequin Duck 흰줄박이오리 51
Asiatic White-winged Scoter 검둥오리사촌 165
Long-tailed Duck 바다꿩 1 (an adult female)
Smew 흰비오리 2
Red-breasted Merganser 바다비오리 101
Red-throated Loon 아비 2
Arctic Loon 큰회색머리아비 4
Streaked Shearwater 슴새 c. 45
Large all-dark shearwater (either Flesh-footed or Sooty) 1
Red-necked Grebe 큰논병아리 3
Great Crested Grebe 뿔논병아리 71
Black-necked Grebe 검은목논병아리 369
Pelagic Cormorant 쇠가마우지 16
Great Cormorant 민물가마우지 35 presumably of this species that flew south into the bay, before flying back north around the headland and then south again along the coast
Temminck’s Cormorant 가마우지 40
Eurasian Coot 물닭 25
Black-legged Kittiwake 세가락갈매기 30+ (including 5+ juveniles)
Black-headed Gull 붉은부리갈매기 17,400 in one huge and dense feeding flock in the evening and 500 elsewhere around the headland
Black-tailed Gull 괭이갈매기 c. 2,000
Common Gull 갈매기 15+
Glaucous Gull 흰갈매기 1
Vega Gull 재갈매기 c. 500
Mongolian Gull 한국재갈매기 3+
Slaty-backed Gull 큰재갈매기 40+
Taimyr Gull 줄무늬노랑발갈매기 c. 20+
Ancient Murrelet 바다쇠오리 1,010 (small flocks of 15-30 were passing south off the outer headland once every couple of minutes in the late afternoon: a whole day count from there would likely have recorded several thousand birds)
Harbour birding © Jason Loghry
Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris © Jason Loghry
Slaty-backed Gull Larus schistisagus © Jason Loghry
Vega Gull Larus vegae (showing a little of the range of iris shade/ speckling) © Jason Loghry
Taimyr Gull Larus heuglini taimyrensis (note bright bare parts colour; paleish eye; type of streaking and speckling, without any of the “thumbprints” on head and breast sides of Vega; and state of primary wear) © Jason Loghry
Guryongpo-style: squid-watching or looking at gulls?