Bird News from Spike Millington 28 July
Checked the Gojan mudflats at high tide on a wet and windy day, but the water was up to the wall, leaving no roosting areas for shorebirds. So I checked the University area, which is no longer tidal due to ongoing reclamation. There were quite a few shorebirds, including 200 Eastern Curlew and 160 Eastern Oystercatchers. The visibility was poor though, so I went again in the late afternoon. Still grey and overcast (what is with all this crappy weather!) but counted 250 Black-tailed Godwits, 200 Dunlin, 200 Red-necked Stints, 150 Great Knots, with 8 Red Knots, my first for Songdo. Nearly all these birds were adults and mostly still in summer plumage. Does this mean a poor breeding season, or is it the normal start of return passage? Quite a few Terek Sandpipers and Greenshanks were scattered in amongst these birds. There weren’t any Curlews though, so these birds must have been feeding elsewhere.