With the development of the Namak New City (남악신도시) in the beginning of this millennium about 15 years ago the Namak Waterpark was opened. This park was built around lager patches of reed just along the bicycle track along the northern shore of the Yoengsan Lake with one-half in the city of Mokpo and one half in the area of Muan county. People for their walks use the park very well, and on weekends, many families with their little children visit the areas where the kids can play and stroll around.

The park is about 1.8 km long and about 150m at its widest. There are several boardwalks crossing the lake and some boardwalks through the reed beds along the lake.
The Part on the Mokpo side is a much-maintained area with very distinct parts for lake, reed and wildlife and the part with paths for people. On the Muan side the edges of the reed areas toward the Yoengsan Lake side have many other bushes and little trees mixed in which is a more suitable environment for passerines.



However, when you observe the people you notice that no one really recognizes or observes the avian variety and beauty this place offers. People concentrate on their exercise walks; focus on their conversations or their phones. One exception are now three Domestic Swan Goose, which very often get onto the footpaths and also make their presence known to the whole park with their strong voice.
We saw the geese for the first time in January 2022. Two completely white, one with a bit brown on the neck and one with the “normal” Swan Goose pattern and coloration, but with clear features of a domestic. For the second winter now, the goose that has the colored plumage is not in the park anymore but can be found in a stream with a second one just two kilometers away.


Of course, one can find the species that everyone would expect in a park area: Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Grey-capped Greenfinch, Brown-eared Bulbul, Oriental Turtle Dove, but very often one can get very close to them and allow for close-up pictures.


During the winter months Eastern Spot-billed Ducks, Eurasian Teal, Eurasian Coot, Little Grebe use the lake and its shores. In addition, a few Grey Heron, occasional one or two Great Egret and a Great Cormorant can be seen. However, for now many years in every winter we saw at least one Dusky Thrush.


Now with the arrival of spring many other species are present, and it took only little effort and time to seen them: Eastern Great Tit, Daurian Redstart, Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Yellow-throated Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Brambling and Olive-backed Pipit.







For many years one or two Bull-headed Shrike were seen on every visit. On the second last visit, we could see not less than seven. Some sitting on bushes or on the poles of a boardwalk and were not bothered by people passing by.


Walking along, one can notice, that many trees that have broken branches show signs of woodpecker activity and only this early spring we could observe a Great Spotted Woodpecker while it was inspecting three trees with staying on one particular branch for a bit longer.

A few years ago, a single Common Moorhen was seen at the edge of a patch of reed but then thereafter the presence could only be heard from within the reed. They are very shy, because very close is a boardwalk bridge many people use and even small noises make them hide very quickly. Fortunately, last weekend with a little rain during the afternoon there was a period when they came out and we observed a family of seven for a little while.


The biodiversity obviously had increased this year, because there are now signs placed at one area warning about the new species, but I have not seen any yet there.

One can ask: which one is more likely seen as a warning sign and which more as a description? With this so different approaches one has to wonder, how serious this warning has to be taken. Close to where the Muan sign is, people do not really do; you can see very often people sitting on the gras with their little kids and having picknick and such.
One species that raises concern is the Red-eared Slider. This turtle is an invasive species and classified as harmful for the environment. We saw the first one some years ago and since, the number has dramatically increased. On one of the last visits, we counted twenty-five in all areas of the park, which of course only represents the visible ones. On the last visit, we saw a family with several young ones. This clearly indicates that these turtles have successfully settled and are reproducing. However, the published data from the National Institute of Ecology (NIE) which conducted a national survey between 2014 and 2022 (http://doi.or.kr/10.22756/ASD.20220000000812) has not a single dataset for Mokpo. Work is in preparation to raise this issue with the local governments.

