Bird news from Choi Hyun-Ah and Bernhard Seliger
Our latest survey in Yudo brought a very different species mix than earlier surveys, with most winter visitors gone and migrants and summer visitors flocking in. Out of the thousands of geese overwintering here, only one lonely pair of Greater White-Fronted Geese was still found. Black-faced Spoonbills, presumably breeding on Yudo or nearby, where seen actively looking for food in the newly-flooded rice fields. Here, also flocks of ducks, including the ubiquitous Eastern Spot-billed Ducks, but also Mandarin Ducks, Eurasian Teals, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Gadwall, Northern Pintail and Garganey were seen, as well as Common Greenshanks. Along the river, Whimbrel,Dunlin, Terek Sandpiper and other waders were seen. Eastern Cattle Egrets had also arrived and eagerly followed a farmer ploughing his field. Other species seen included Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker and Yellow-rumped Flycatcher, the latter species our first of the season.
