Deokjeok Island, April 16

Bird new from Subhojit Chakladar

(accompanied by Todd Hull, Sharon Surette and John Kitcher)

We went on a day trip to one of the more accessible islands near shore with a good diversity of habitats – Deokjeokdo. Starting from Incheon Ferry Terminal on a foggy morning, the journey to the island took a little longer than usual. Fog started clearing out gradually as we reached the island. While most of the cheery blossom on Mainland seems long gone, the ones on the island still seemed to hang on. It was lovely walking around with many different species of flowers in bloom.

We surveyed the road from the ferry terminal to the 1st village, farm lands and gardens near the school and a 2nd smaller settlement in Jin-ri. Red-flanked Bluetail seemed very common early on. An Eastern Crowned Warbler was seen amongst the cherry blossom while a small group of Long-tailed Tit were busy feeding nearby. In the rice stubble, we found a flock of Red-throated Pipit, a single Mongolian Short-toed Lark, 2 Buff-bellied Pipit (in breeding plumage) and a Chestnut-eared Bunting. A group of Little Bunting was also seen nearby. In the village, there were some Bull-headed Shrike, Grey Wagtail, White-cheeked Starling, a single Brown Shrike. An Oriental Stork was seen flying overhead. The same bird was seen circling high above later in the day. We also saw a Grey-faced Buzzard, quite a few Meadow Bunting and multiple Black-faced Bunting in song. About half a dozen Dusky Thrush and a single Naumann’s Thrush were also present in the area. As we moved towards the 2nd village, there was evidence of Grey-backed Thrush and a few Pale Thrush. The fields around the 2nd village were surprisingly quiet, with a pair of Little Ringed Plover and a single Common Sandpiper being new birds. After midday, there was an influx of Amur Stonechat in large numbers as well as a few Olive-backed Pipit (including some birds flying over).

One the way back, we found a group of 3 Hawfinch high on the trees and a single Asian Brown flycatcher inside the pine forest near the ferry terminal. A couple of Oriental Honey Buzzard, an Eastern Buzzard (mobbed by crows) were also encountered. A Korean Bush Warbler was heard in partial song once. Still lingering winter migrants included a group of Rustic Bunting.

The e-bird checklist of the day can be found here.

Red-throated Pipit Anthus cervinus 붉은가슴밭종다리 © Subhojit Chakladar
Oriental Stork Ciconia boyciana 황새 © Subhojit Chakladar
Red-flanked Bluetail, Tarsiger cyanurus 유리딱새 © John Kitcher
Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides 멧새© John Kitcher
Promising looking wet field which had lots of Amur Stonechat but not much else © Sharon Surette
View of road and boardwalk from Ferry Terminal to the 1st village © Sharon Surette

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