{"id":11582,"date":"2014-01-30T22:31:11","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T13:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=11582"},"modified":"2014-02-07T15:07:16","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T06:07:16","slug":"seogwipo-jeju-island-january-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=11582","title":{"rendered":"Seogwipo, January highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bird News from Matt Poll<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been checking my local Seogwipo patch daily for the past month. It\u2019s been an unseasonably warm and hazy January, with double digit temperatures most days. I haven\u2019t encountered anything unexpected, but Jeju has a nice mix of winter birds to see, some of which are not so common on the mainland at this time of year.<\/p>\n

The hills are alive with tits! Varied<\/strong>, Long-tailed<\/strong>, and Coal Tits<\/strong> are exclusively found up at higher elevations, while Eastern Great Tits<\/strong> are widespread in wooded areas and parks. A White\u2019s Thrush<\/strong> has been spotted several times at a dry riverbed that in summer is home to Japanese Paradise Flycatchers<\/strong>. I\u2019ve also encountered several Bramblings <\/strong>at higher elevations, whereas Eurasian Siskins<\/strong> and Grey-capped Greenfinch<\/strong> can be found reliably in several parks around town.<\/p>\n

These parks also feature Little Grebe<\/strong>, Green Sandpiper<\/strong>, White-backed Woodpecker<\/strong>, Red-flanked Bluetail<\/strong>, Daurian Redstart<\/strong>, White<\/strong> and Grey Wagtail<\/strong>, Olive-backed Pipit<\/strong>, Japanese White-eye<\/strong>, Blue Rock Thrush<\/strong>, plentiful Yellow-throated Bunting<\/strong>, as well as an overwintering Striated Heron<\/strong>. Pale Thrushes<\/strong> can be heard burbling through most areas with shady undergrowth, but rarely seen, as they are quite shy. On the 29th I witnessed a group of close to 20 Mandarin Ducks<\/strong> awkwardly feeding on fruit in a large riverside tree \u2013 quite a spectacle!<\/p>\n

In and around the harbour, several Common Sandpiper<\/strong>, Pacific Reef Herons<\/strong>, Mandarin Ducks<\/strong> (120+), several Gadwall<\/strong>, Mallard<\/strong>, Spot-billed Duck<\/strong>, Eurasian Teal<\/strong>, a Common Pochard<\/strong>, as well as Common Coots<\/strong>, several Black-crowned Night Heron<\/strong>, and a Red-throated Loon<\/strong>. On the coast, Great Crested<\/strong> and Black-necked Grebes<\/strong> can be seen relatively close in to shore at a number of sites.<\/p>\n

Recently I was surprised to hear the exotic \u2018summer song\u2019 of the Japanese Bush Warbler<\/strong> \u2013 very early in the year I thought (January 27). Usually at this time of year they can be heard \u2018check-check-checking\u2019 from the underbrush. Their \u2018winter call\u2019 is very similar to the Eurasian Wren, a bird which can be found at several quiet riverside sites around town.<\/p>\n

On the 30th near Jungmun, I found a flock of almost two dozen Red-billed Starlings<\/strong> perched on wires, competing for berries with Brown-eared Bulbuls<\/strong>. Nearby, a small band of personata<\/em> Black-faced Buntings<\/strong> moved through thick underbrush on a quiet riverside. White-cheeked Starlings<\/strong>, Chinese Grosbeaks<\/strong>, and Dusky Thrushes<\/strong> have been conspicuously absent from Seogwipo this winter. Raptors were represented in January by several pairs of Eastern Buzzard<\/strong>, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk<\/strong>, several Peregrine Falcons<\/strong>, Common Kestrels<\/strong>, and a Northern Goshawk<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"jbw\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Japanese Bush Warbler<\/strong> Horornis diphone<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"bluetail\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Red-flanked Bluetail<\/strong> Tarsiger cyanurus<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"loon\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Red-throated Loon<\/strong> Gavia stellata<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"mand\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Mandarin Duck<\/strong> Aix galericulata<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"mandarin1\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Mandarin Duck<\/strong> Aix galericulata<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"mandarin3\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Mandarin Duck<\/strong> Aix galericulata<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"peck\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

White-backed Woodpecker<\/strong> Dendrocopos leucotos<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"wwren2\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Eurasian Wren<\/strong> Troglodytes troglodytes<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"weye\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Japanese White-eye<\/strong> Zosterops japonicus<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"thrush\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

White’s Thrush<\/strong> Zoothera aurea<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"starling\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Red-billed Starling<\/strong> Spodiopsar sericeus<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n

\"reefie\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

Pacific Reef Heron<\/strong> Egretta sacra<\/em>. Photo \u00a9 Matt Poll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bird News from Matt Poll I have been checking my local Seogwipo patch daily for the past month. It\u2019s been an unseasonably warm and hazy January, with double digit temperatures most days. I haven\u2019t encountered anything unexpected, but Jeju has … read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[44,45],"class_list":["post-11582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bird-sightings","tag-jeju","tag-seogwipo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11582"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11596,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11582\/revisions\/11596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}