Bird news from Barry Heinrich
The last month or so has seen the end of the winter chill and the beginning of spring migration. The northern lagoons, Hwajinpo Lagoon and Songji Lagoon were mostly ice free by the second weekend of March, apart from the northern end of Hwajinpo were 10 White-tailed Eagles were seen. There have been thousands of ducks in Hwajinpo Lagoon during the second half of March, especially Mallards and Tufted Ducks. On 26 March I saw 2 Spotted Redshanks at Hwanjinpo Lagoon, the first of the spring migration.
On March 27 at Namdae Cheon I saw a Hooded Crane fly upstream then back towards the coast. Then on March 30 at Nam Cheon near Ganseong I saw 22 Hooded Cranes foraging in rice fields. I found 15 more on in the same area on April 3. I hadn’t seen cranes before in this part of Korea.
There have been mixed flocks of Rooks and Daurian Jackdaws migrating north during most of March. And more than 1000 White-fronted Geese have been foraging in rice fields near Nam Cheon, including about 1600 on April 3.
Some other firsts included a Common Redshank and a Eurasian Curlew at Cheongcho lagoon in Sokcho on March 27. The curlew was foraging on the sand flat amongst the Black-tailed Gulls and Great Cormorants. On April 3 I saw the first Barn Swallow at Nam Cheon and Siberian Stonechat at Songji Lagoon.
Eastern Great Egret Ardea modesta.
Hooded Cranes Grus monacha.
Eurasian Curlew Numenuis arquatus.
All photographs copyright Barry Heinrich