Songdo 16-18 May

Bird news from Spike Millington

A good variety of shorebirds on Gojan mudflats at the weekend, and reasonable tides to see them,. Highlights were 3 Asian Dowitchers on 16 May, with at least one the next day and a Nordmann’s Greenshank on 18th, the latter initially roosting with Grey Plovers before flying out to the mudflats and catching a lugworm. No Spoon-billed Sandpiper among the 200 Red-necked Stints, but I did catch up with one on an early morning trip to Yubu-do on 21st. Other shorebirds included 1,000 Dunlin, 200 each of Great Knot and Bar-tailed Godwits (both species moving on now), 30 Black-tailed Godwits (looking altogether more regal than their pot-bellied cousins), 25 Broad-billed Sandpipers, 200 Whimbrel, 30 Eastern Curlew, 200 Grey Plovers, 60 Mongolian Plovers and a few Terek Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones. Five Curlew Sandpipers, three Red Knots and single Grey-tailed Tattler were more unusual visitors. In the evening of the 18th, 500 Saunders’s Gull were resting on the mudflats, my highest ever count here.

2 comments on “Songdo 16-18 May

  1. Hi Spike and colleagues,
    Nice wader and Saunders’s gull figures you mentioned from Songdo.
    How has the Spring migration developed at Songdo this year? Do you have any totals
    and trends of the vulmerable species available by now?
    Very best regards from Finland,
    Matthias

    • Hi Matthias,

      Good to hear from you. Spring migration started earlier this year and seems quite protracted. We will check this weekend on the remaining shorebirds and post here. In terms of vulnerable species, we get quite low numbers. Great Knots about the same as last year. We’ve seen a few old friends from New Zealand and Australia among the Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Knots.

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