{"id":13984,"date":"2014-12-31T14:04:25","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T05:04:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=13984"},"modified":"2015-01-03T14:19:03","modified_gmt":"2015-01-03T05:19:03","slug":"southeast-december-29-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=13984","title":{"rendered":"Southeast, December 29-30"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"agrbox\">\n<div class=\"bnhtxt\">\n<div class=\"bnhtxt\"><strong>Bird News from Jason Loghry with Nial Moores<\/strong><\/div>\n<p>The last few days have made for some very exciting birding here in the Southeast. On Monday the 29th, I returned to Hwapo Cheon and spent most of the day quietly watching and working through a very large flock of geese (containing between 3,400 and 3,700 birds, with the vast majority <b>Taiga Bean<\/b> and <b>Greater White-fronted Goose<\/b>, with perhaps 10-20 <b>Tundra Bean Goose<\/b> also mixed in, along with several <b>Korean Water Deer<\/b>!). Many of these geese showed quite a bit of variation (size, structure and plumage), especially the <b>Greater White-fronted Geese<\/b>. Finding a <i>Lesser\u00a0<\/i>required more than searching out a cute, golden eye-ringed grey goose because many of the GWF also share these features. The combination of these characteristics with the <i>Lesser\u2019s<\/i> unique bill shape, size, and color were an easier way to distinguish between the two species. I took quite a few images that will be included in a later follow-up blog post.<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680 aligncenter\" title=\"Korean Water Deer\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Korean-Water-Deer_JPL.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Korean Water Deer<\/b> <i>Hydropotes inermis argyropus<\/i>, \u00a9 Jason Loghry<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680 aligncenter\" title=\"Korean Water Deer\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Korean-Water-Deer_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Korean Water Deer <i>Hydropotes inermis argyropus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>On Tuesday the 30th, I was joined by Dr. Nial Moores [NM]. We started off the morning in some \u201crelict wetland\u201d near to the main barrage, and then looking at gulls and other birds in the Nakdong Estuary. We then went on to Hwapo and finished at Junam. The total number of species for the day was 96. Here are some of the highlights from the 30th, in order of observation (with all of NM\u2019s images below taken with a hand-held compact digital camera through a really superb <a href=\"http:\/\/www.birdskorea.org\/Support_us\/BK-SU-Swarovski.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Swarovski scope<\/a>):<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680 aligncenter\" title=\"Nakdong river side\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Nakdong-river-side_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Nakdong River, relict marsh near estuary, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680\" title=\"Hwapo cheon\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Hwapo-cheon_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\">Hwapocheon, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680\" title=\"Junam rice fields with owl\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Junam-rice-fields-with-owl_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\">Rice-fields at Junam (with owl&#8230;), \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680 aligncenter\" title=\"Cranes at dusk Junam\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Cranes-at-dusk-Junam_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\">Cranes at dusk at Junam, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Dusky Thrush. <\/b>A dozen or more were seen at the Nakdong River with several also at Junam, where there was also a <b>Naumann\u2019s Thrush<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Dusky Thrush\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Dusky-Thrush_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Dusky Thrush<\/b> <i>Turdus eunomus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Common Snipe. <\/b>One was<b> <\/b>seen in flight along the Nakdong River and six were seen feeding and roosting on a muddy bank across from <b>Eurasian Spoonbills<\/b> at Junam Reservoir.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Relict Gull<\/b>. On the way to one of our usual viewing points over the Nakdong Estuary, NM casually said from our moving car, \u201cOh look, a Relict Gull,\u201d and indeed just across the river on some exposed tidal flat, there was a stunning <b>Relict Gull<\/b> at relatively close range. We saw six there, including five First-winters and one Second-winter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Relict Gull\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Relict-Gull_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Relict Gull<\/b> <i>Ichthyaetus relictus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Stellers\u2019s Sea Eagle<\/b>. There was a very handsome sub-adult <b>Steller\u2019<\/b>s out in the estuary. At one point, this<b>Steller\u2019s <\/b>and a nearby <b>Relict Gull<\/b> (along with several <b>Saunders\u2019s Gull<\/b>) could be seen together in the same scope view \u2013 how often does that happen? We also observed two <b>White-tailed Eagle<\/b> along the river on our way to the estuary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Steller's Sea Eagle\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Stellers-Sea-Eagle_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Steller&#8217;s Sea Eagle<\/b> <i>Haliaeetus pelagicus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Eastern Marsh Harrier<\/b>. At the Nakdong Estuary, an immature male and an immature female were seen in flight, with the male also seen sitting on the bank near some reeds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Tundra Swan<\/b>. Two adults with one juvenile were also observed at the estuary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Lesser White-fronted Goose<\/b>. Four were at Hwapo on the 29<sup>th<\/sup> with two there still on the 30<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Lesser White-fronted Goose\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Lesser-White-fronted-Goose_NM-with-GWG.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Lesser White-fronted Goose<\/b> <i>Anser erythropus<\/i> with <b>Greater White-fronted Geese<\/b> <i>Anser albifrons<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Taiga Bean Goose<\/b>. NM found a very distinctive bird that I might also have seen on the 29<sup>th<\/sup> and will post images of later. In striking contrast to the more \u201ctypical\u201d big-end <i>middendorffii<\/i>, this <b>Taiga Bean<\/b> had a strikingly thin, long-looking bill and looked much smaller-headed and flatter-headed than the &#8220;typical&#8221;<i>middendorffii<\/i> near to it, recalling (for NM at least) more western populations. Notably, it also was much paler-necked and perhaps also had paler fringes to the upperparts than most of the other <b>Taiga Beans<\/b>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Taiga Bean Goose\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Taiga-Bean-Goose_NM-small-head.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Taiga Bean Goose<\/b> <i>Anser fabalis<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div>NM: This bird had a strikingly thin, long-looking bill and looked much smaller-headed and flatter-headed than the &#8220;typical&#8221;<i>middendorffii<\/i> near to it . Although perhaps only an extreme-end middendorffii, it also was much paler-necked and perhaps had paler fringes to the upperparts than most of the other Taiga Beans.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Taiga Bean Goose\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Taiga-Bean-Goose_NM.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Taiga Bean Goose<\/b> <i>Anser fabalis middendorffii<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Tundra Bean Goose\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Tundra-Bean-Goose_NM-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Tundra Bean Goose<\/b> <i>Anser serrirostris<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Tundra Bean Goose\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Tundra-Bean-Goose_NM-with-Taiga-BG.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Tundra Bean Goose<\/b> <i>Anser serrirostris<\/i> (left) and <b>Taiga Bean Geese<\/b> <i>Anser fabalis middendorffii<\/i> (right), \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Cinereous Vulture. <\/b>On both days at Hwapo, 100+ were seen mostly in flight, although many of them were also sharing the same habitat as the large flock of geese. At times, some of the vultures would swoop down closely over the geese bringing large numbers of them up in the air, only to circle around and resettle on a different part of the grassy field.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img680 aligncenter\" title=\"Cinereous Vulture\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Cinereous-Vulture_JPL-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Cinereous Vulture<\/b> <i>Aegypius monachus<\/i>, \u00a9 Jason Loghry<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>White Wagtail.<\/b> There was at least one <i>leucopsis<\/i> <b>White Wagtail<\/b> at Hwapo and two or more at Junam. <i>Lugens<\/i>is the common <b>White Wagtail<\/b> in winter. <i>Leucopsis <\/i>is still scarce in winter, though perhaps increasingly-reported.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"White Wagtail\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/White-Wagtail_NM-leucopsis.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>White Wagtail<\/b> <i>Motacilla alba<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>White-naped Crane<\/b>. On the 30<sup>th<\/sup>, 204 were counted, which, along with two <b>Hooded Crane,<\/b> were feeding and roosting in Junam Reservoir. This was the first time this year to see such a high number together here.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Swan Goose<\/b>. One on Junam Reservoir.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Great Cormorant. <\/b>At least 1,100<b> <\/b>cormorants were roosting in the trees in Junam Reservoir, with many birds usually present during the day and highest numbers toward the evening.<b><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Japanese Quail<\/b>. Three were heard vocalizing after sunset at Junam Reservoir, as we enjoyed an unforgettable winter wetland soundscape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Short-eared Owl. <\/b>Although it\u2019s very hard to beat a <i>Steller\u2019s<\/i> or a <i>Relict<\/i>, personally this lone owl was the <i>Bird of the Day<\/i>. After many years of wanting to find this species in Korea, here it was, sat quietly on a bund in the middle of some rice fields a short distance from one of the Junam farm roads near a persimmon orchard. The sun was setting, as NM and I stood and watched this stunning owl, as it also appeared to be watching and listening to us. As the sun went down, the bird flew and perched in one of the nearby persimmon trees. For me, this was the perfect ending to a very good year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640 aligncenter\" title=\"Short-eared Owl\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Short-eared-Owl_NM-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>Short-eared Owl<\/b> <i>Asio flammeus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"img640\" title=\"Short-eared Owl\" src=\"http:\/\/birdskorea.org\/Images\/images2014\/12\/Short-eared-Owl_NM-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"imgtxt\"><b>Short-eared Owl<\/b> <i>Asio flammeus<\/i>, \u00a9 Nial Moores<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bird News from Jason Loghry with Nial Moores The last few days have made for some very exciting birding here in the Southeast. On Monday the 29th, I returned to Hwapo Cheon and spent most of the day quietly watching &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=13984\">read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[310,509],"class_list":["post-13984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-sightings","tag-hwapo-cheon","tag-junam-reservoir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13984","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13984"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13995,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13984\/revisions\/13995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}