Bird news from Subhojit Chakladar and Marco Della Seta
A short trip to the ridge on the southern borders of an island in Yeosu to look for Fairy Pitta. This site was also visited last year on the 10th of June on a rainy day when several pittas were calling none of them could be seen. This time thanks to an early start and good weather, we were able to hear one very close to the start of the trail and had excellent views of a bird singing its heart out from a perch.
The supporting cast included flocks of Eastern Great Tits, Varied Tits, Long-tailed Tits, Pygmy Woodpecker, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Pale Thrush, Black-naped Oriole, Lesser Cuckoo and Tiger Shrike. Strangely, close to the start of the trail, we heard a distant call that resembled a Large Hawk Cuckoo (are there any mainland record of this species in ROK?) However, it was heard only briefly at dawn (~5:15am) and was not heard during the next 3.5 hours that we were on the trail.
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Dendrocopos kizuki
Fairy Pitta, Pitta nympha
Fairy Pitta, Pitta nympha