Bird news from Tim Edelsten
Infilling and reclamation continues at the final mudflat. Black-faced Spoonbills were busily trawling its remaining water channels to feed their begging young at the nearby nesting island, where I counted 17 adults and 23 juveniles. An official bird-viewing platform has been erected overlooking the scene. Mongolian Gulls have also mostly fledged although I noticed 6 adults and 6 juveniles. Also nearby an apparent Oriental Scops Owl feather.
In view on the mudflat itself (where tidal flow not yet cut off), 260+ Common Greenshank, 1 Eastern Oystercatcher, 8 Common Sandpiper,10+ Grey Plover, 2 Far Eastern Curlew, 1 Dunlin, 10+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 1 Whimbrel, 4 Saunders’s Gull and 2 Little Tern.
Reclamation wall
Mudflat with enclosing wall under construction
Four years ago this was all mudflat
Bird hide
Haven’t been in Songdo area for a couple of months and the rate at which they are filling up the tidal flats is frightening. Today at sunset I was on the other side of the bay in Oido, saw 6 adult BFS and a juvenile feeding on the mudflats. It was low tide, so the waders were far away. Plenty of Terek sanpipers, black tailed gulls, a far eastern curlew, a couple of oyestercatchers. Last month, on a visit to Debu-do, saw a colony of Chinese egrets … counted at least 12 individuals but more were flying around at dawn. Couldn’t find them today!