Bird News from Subhojit Chakladar
A quick trip to Deokjeok on Labor Day holiday to check out the status of migration. Starting from about 10:50am to 4pm surveying only a limited part of the island consisting of the hiking trail and some farmlands. A total of 51 species spotted during that period on the island itself. Even though extremely popular with day tourists (with a sense of style and a penchant for brightly colored hiking clothing!), the island offers a good mix of habitat which attracts a good variety of birds. Once the main column of hikers have passed, the trail is usually quiet and productive. The fields are away from the main tourist trail and surprisingly good for species that favor that kind of habitat.
If the past few weeks belonged to thrushes, this was the day of the buntings! 8 species of buntings including the first Yellow-browed, Yellow-bellied and Chestnut-eared Buntings of the spring. The numbers were also quite and the birds were busy feeding in the fields are they are being prepared for the growing season. Yellow-browed Warblers were the most dominant of the birds in terms of numbers along with a few surprisingly approachable Dusky Warblers. 3 species of pipits were seen including the personal first Pechora Pipit of this year. A few Dusky Thrush, 1 White’s Thrush and 1 Grey-backed Thrush were also seen. Great and Little Egrets were present along with a couple of Chinese Pond Heron and a Straited Heron. 2 species of raptors were seen – a Peregrine and a Northern Hobby. A male Blue-and-White Flycatcher and a female Yellow-rumped Flycatcher were observed. Under clear blue skies, many of the insect feeders were executing acrobatic maneuvers while feeding. Highlights of the day were a couple of Chinese Nuthatches in the hiking trail and 3 Greater Short-toed Larks in a field near the school.