Birds News from Jason Loghry and Jeong Siyoon
This morning from about 5:45 am, Jeong Siyoon and I took a short morning walk to watch birds at Bunseongsan, in Gimhae. He’s a graduate of Obang Elementary School and is an alumni member of our school’s Birds Club. On the road up the mountain, the first bird to catch our attention was Black-naped Oriole. We heard its beautiful song at first, and then were able to find it perched in a tree. This bird is such a stunner. We watched it for a while, with another coming in close with song and then a separate group (of five!) flying across a valley to some nearby trees. It was a great way to start the morning.
At the temple, we spent time watching families of Daurian Redstart, which gave us a good chance to compare the plumage details of males, females and young birds. While we watched, an unfamiliar call drew our attention to a nearby pine. It was a female Red Crossbill. This is the first time I’ve seen one in Gimhae, and certainly my first time to see one in summer. It was an exciting find. We slowly made our way around the temple, and found more redstarts, and lot of the more common species such as Eastern Great Tit, Marsh Tit, Brown-eared Bulbul, and Oriental Turtle Dove. We also had good views of a White-backed Woodpecker and listened to the song of a Japanese Bush Warbler.
At the west side of the mountain, we sat for a while and just listened to different birds singing and calling in the forest below. We could hear a couple of Pale Thrush and a distant Common Cuckoo. Walking around the north side of the mountain we found more orioles, and a small group of Pacific Swifts circling overhead, which were then followed by a Chinese Sparrowhawk. Along the northern wall we heard a distant cuckoo approaching. It flew in close to our viewing point and we were able to get good views of it singing from a treetop. Again, it was really exciting because it was the first time for Siyoon to see a cuckoo. On the walk back to the temple, we heard Japanese White-eye and an Asian Stubtail. We also heard the crossbill once again, saw a Siberian Chipmunk, and watched a group of Vinous-throated Parrotbill foraging in some bushes near the garden.
female Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra (record shot) © Jason Loghry
Jeong Siyoon watching his first Common Cuckoo © Jason Loghry
Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus © Jason Loghry