Fall migration started with a slow trickle of interesting species in late August here in Jeju City. Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, Grey-backed Thrush, and Black Paradise Flycatchers were expected and found. as September began, the parks got birdier, with leaf warblers making an appearance, other flycatcher species, and some other interesting finds like Siberian Blue Robin.
Groups of Varied Tits began to pop up in areas I haven’t seen them in before. I’m not sure if this is an irruptive year for them (is that possible for this species?), but certainly more noticeable than before. Large-billed Crows, a very common species on Jeju, were also more numerous than I’ve noticed in other years. Is this species doing well for any particular reason? It seemed like many parts of the island had small “gangs” of young individuals, moving through and dispersing. One particularly interesting observation was a group of 20 or so far on the east coast, an area of Jeju where usually Carrion Crow is the only Corvus species regularly seen.
Diversity of birds moving through the parks increased later on in September. More leaf warblers, Chinese Grosbeaks, and Blue-and-White Flycatchers. A Black-naped Oriole made a brief appearance in my local park, as well as a Lesser Cuckoo that hung around in the same area for a few days. Large groups of Barn Swallows were still present around the city until around mid-September, and by the end of the month very few individuals were present aside from the occasional small groups seen migrating high over.
Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau. Part two of a two part blogpost about exploring the south central mainland. Part one here. Goheung was the next stop, and it proved to have a very nice selection of habitat. Goheung … read more
Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau. Part one of a two part blogpost about exploring the south central mainland. Part two here. The southcoast of Korea is a very interesting place from a birders perspective. Unlike the east coast … read more
Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau. Spring migration continued to be visible throughout Jeju City as May begun. Some days had noticeably more migrants than others, particularly after rainy nights. The more colourful migrants were still coming through in … read more
Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau. Spring migration usually starts somewhat early on Jeju Island, compared with the mainland. To catch up a bit, March had signs of bunting movement (Rustic and migrating Yellow-throated), large groups of Pale Thrush … read more
Bird news by Leslie Hurteau. Some nice weather and calm winds inspired a short morning venture out to the far southeast tip of Jeju, Seopjikoji and nearby Shinyang Harbour. This area is generally fairly good for seawatching due to its … read more
Bird News from Leslie Hurteau. A very belated post to share various bird sightings throughout the month of September from various city parks within Jeju City (central north city of Jeju Island). Fall migration had really picked up by the … read more
Bird News by Leslie Hurteau Around mid-June, I camped at Seogwipo Natural Recreational Forest, up on the south-west slope of Hallasan. There had been previous sightings of Ruddy Kingfishers, Black Wood Pigeons, and Northern Hawk Cuckos at this park in … read more
Bird News from Leslie Hurteau I took early morning trip to Udo on May 25th to see what spring birds could be found. Udo, translated as “Cow Island”, is a fair sized island off the east coast of Jeju, accessible … read more
Bird News from Leslie Hurteau A particularly rainy but very enjoyable weekend was spent in Seogwipo in early May, the southern part of Jeju Island. The morning of May 6th was spent birdwatching in Cheonjiyeon waterfalls park, Saeseom Park, and … read more