Dr. Bernhard Seliger (Hanns-Seidel-Foundation Korea, Birds Korea)
Before water is poured into the rice paddies and transforms ten percent of Korea into a temporary wetland, spring migration on rice fields is rather slow, with a few birds concentrated, where water can be found, and on the fields only a few Great Egrets or Oriental Turtledoves, Oriental Magpies, and in the ditches Tree Sparrows and Vinous-Throated Parrotbills, but not much more.
On Easter Monday, I went to Paju and it was not too birdy for that reason – additionally, the really beautiful royal tomb in Jangneung, with lots of woodpeckers and a distant flycatcher heard on the old and magnificent trees, was closed (like every Monday). Still, I had a great time, with 2 really cracking male Garganey in one of the small water ponds, plus a Wood Sandpiper, another one of my favorites.
Another surprise were the still lingering geese: 3 Tundra Bean Geese, 3 Taiga Been Geese, and one single Greater White-Fronted Goose, in two different locations. They moved from the rice paddies to places with new green, which obviously tastes better than the usual winter fare, remains of the rice. And, nice as they were all three species lined up for a spot-the-different-geese photo together!
The not-so-nice thing to endure was the ongoing and rapid destruction of rice fields by new construction South and North of Gongneungcheong. Beside the huge road, and the concrete huge and sterile trenches, also most former trees and bushes have been removed, making it also difficult for smaller birds or raptors to use the area on migration. This is a thing which could be reversed, once all the construction ended, but I doubt that it will happen.
You can see the full bird observation lists here:
Sangam Wetland https://ebird.org/checklist/S227636859
Paju Ricefields https://ebird.org/checklist/S227677603
Near Jangneung Royal Tomb https://ebird.org/checklist/S227686358
Garganey Spatula querquedula 발구지 (© Bernhard Seliger)
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia 청다리도요사촌 (© Bernhard Seliger)
Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus 삑삑도요 (© Bernhard Seliger)
Pallas´s Reed Bunting Emberiza pallasi 북방검은머리쑥새 (© Bernhard Seliger)
Female Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus 딱새 on the fence of the closed Jangneung Royal Tomb…(© Bernhard Seliger)
Great Spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major 오색딱다구리 (© Bernhard Seliger)
3 kinds of geese in one line! From left to right: Tundra Been Goose Anser serrirostris 큰기러기, Taiga Been Goose Anser fabalis 큰부리큰기러기 and finally Greater White-Fronted Goose Anser albifrons 쇠기러기.
Road Construction in Paju is ongoing – what happens to Hen Harriers, Reed Warblers, Pallas´s Reed Buntings, Yellow Bitterns, Chinese Pond Herons, Water Cocks, and all the waders on migration after the road is finished? (© Bernhard Seliger)
