Bird news from Subhojit Chakladar with Jason Loghry
Tempted by the news of wonderful observations from various regions of Busan, I decided to check out what it had to offer. Meeting up with Jason at dawn at the Busan station, we drove to Taejongdae. It was a bright clear morning with very little wind. Checking out the fields at the base, a Striated Heron and a Chinese Pond Heron were found standing a few feet from each other. Eastern Yellow Wagtails (taivana) were busy feeding, their colors enhanced by the morning sun, almost making them glow! Overhead movements included Grey Heron, Great and Little Egret and Pacific Swift. At this point, scanning the hilltops on the south-western side, a single Asian House Martin (with what seemed to be rather white underparts at a distance of approximately 500m or more) and 2 White-throated Needletails were observed along with Barn Swallows. At Taejongdae, walking away from the crowded main trail, a good mix of species were found but the numbers were rather small. Yellow-browed Warbler, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Pale, Grey-backed and Grey Thrushes moved through the forest eluding most attempts to photograph them. The second best find of the day was a Japanese Robin near the temple (which showed a growth on its right thigh). The best moment (it was more like a solid 20 minute or more!) of the day was undoubtedly a Grey Bunting feeding at the well-shaded moist stream bed. Perhaps one of the best birding encounters for both of us.
Checking out the Nakdong estuary in the afternoon, Whimbrel, Common Greenshank, Grey-tailed Tattler, Little Ringed Plovers, Little Terns were observed. Walking through a dried grassland, Common Snipe, Japanese Quail, Olive-backed Pipit and a Korean Water Deer were observed. A total of 59 species were observed at these 2 places. A day well spent!
Eastern Yellow Wagtail Motacilla tschutschensis taivana, Photo © Subhojit Chakladar
Grey Bunting Emberiza variabilis, Digiscope Video © Jason Loghry
Some stunning video footage of Grey Bunting. It seems from the audio that there was also another one that remained unseen.
Thank you. I thought there were two but wasn’t quite sure. After such a long winter without seeing any, I was afraid we’d have to wait until next season. So happy we took this walk. What a great day of birding !