Bird News from Matt Poll, with Tim Edelsten, Johan Kok
On December 16th, and again on December 19th (with Tim Edelsten), I spotted single Oriental Storks at Suncheon Bay. They were photographed at extreme distance, but it was clear that both were banded, so easily identifiable as different birds. Mr. Edelsten sent me this helpful link to a page written by Japanese researchers who have been banding Oriental Storks since 1998: http://eaaflyway.net/documents/Oriental%20white%20stork%20Japan.pdf
The bands on the December 16th bird are not entirely clear, but the bands appear to be green over blue (?) on the right tarsi and light blue or green over red on the left tarsi – but clearly there is room for interpretation! While the images are almost as dreadful, it seems that the December 19th bird may be J0426, banded on May 25th, 2008…or perhaps J0051, banded on April 6th, 2012.
A banded Oriental Stork photographed by Johan Kok in Ulsan on September 8th is not specifically identifiable using this link, but it does appear to be ‘related’ to the birds banded in 2012-2013 (several other birds were banded with black over blue on the right tarsi during this period) – perhaps it was banded after 2013?
A request for further updated information on where these birds were banded has been made on the Kantori group. I’m sure the bird banders will be happy to know their birds have be re-sighted in Korea.
On the subject of banded Oriental Storks in Korea, apparently 30 pairs of captively-bred Oriental Stork were released in the spring of 2015 by The Eco Institute for Oriental Storks, based in Chungwon. Does anyone know of a website featuring accurate information on these Korean-banded Oriental Storks?
Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana, Ulsan, September 8, 2015, © Johan Kok
Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana, Suncheon, December 19, 2015 © Matt Poll
Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana, Suncheon, December 16, 2015 © Matt Poll
Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana, Suncheon, December 16, 2015 © Matt Poll