Bird news by Subhojit Chakladar with Bradlee Sulentic and Jason Loghry
A fantastic weekend of birding along the west coast. Starting early on a hot. humid Saturday, Brad and I spent some time around the Seosan lake A. Highlights included a solitary Greater White Fronted Goose, a Peregrine and Whiskered Terns (~6) including 2 juveniles. Other birds of interest included distant views of a Common Snipe, a Yellow Wagtail and a presumed Arctic Warbler.
After meeting up with Jason at Gunsan, we headed towards Yubu-do in search of a bird that has come to symbolize the fragility of wetlands. Though we expected to find this critically endangered bird, we (Brad and I) didn’t expect it to be this easy! The 5(6) Spoon-billed Sandpiper were the undoubted highlight of this trip. Other prominent species encountered included Saunder’s Gulls, Eurasian and Far Eastern Curlews, Whimbrels, Broad-billed Sandpipers, Red-necked Stints, Black and Bar-tailed Godwits, Common Greenshanks, Marsh Sandpipers, Wood Sandpipers, Grey Plovers and a single Northern Shoveler. The locations surveyed included the Saemangeum tidal flats (near the airport) and the Geum barrage.
Whiskered Tern Childonias hybrida
Spoon-billed Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus