{"id":16883,"date":"2015-10-13T12:03:15","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T03:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=16883"},"modified":"2015-10-13T13:37:33","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T04:37:33","slug":"suncheon-october-2-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=16883","title":{"rendered":"Suncheon, October 2-11"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"2<\/a>

Grey-headed Lapwing \u00a0Vanellus cinereus<\/em><\/strong> \u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

\"3<\/a>

Grey-headed Lapwing \u00a0Vanellus cinereus<\/em><\/strong> \u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

\"1<\/a>

Siberian Flying Squirrel \u00a0Pteromys volans<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

\"4<\/a>

Yellow-breasted Bunting \u00a0Emberiza aureola<\/em><\/strong> \u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

\"5<\/a>

Yellow-breasted Bunting \u00a0Emberiza aureola<\/em><\/strong> \u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

\"6<\/a>

Temminck’s Stint \u00a0Calidris temminckii<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a9 Matt Poll<\/p><\/div>\n

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

It has been an exciting couple of weeks at Suncheon Bay, with a trickle of rarely-seen migrants and seasonal turnover keeping me on my toes.\u00a0 With winds regularly blowing down from the Bohai Bay, that feeling that \u2018anything\u2019 could turn up helps get me out of bed in the pre-dawn murk.\u00a0 On October 2nd<\/sup>, a strange sight for the bay was about 30 Brown-eared Bulbuls<\/strong> moving across the mudflats \u2013 do they seasonally migrate?\u00a0 Eight Stejneger\u2019s Stonechats<\/strong> and a similar count of Far Eastern Cisticolas<\/strong>, an Arctic Warbler<\/strong> still, and three Yellow-breasted Buntings<\/strong> were highlights.<\/p>\n

Two days later, shorebird numbers, especially curlews and godwits, seemed to be much reduced.\u00a0 Pipits ruled several newly-harvested rice fields, with five Richard\u2019s<\/strong>, two Pechora<\/strong> , and five Buff-Bellied Pipits<\/strong> seen. Two raucous Black-Browned Reed Warblers<\/strong>, a personal first for the site, and three Arctic Warblers<\/strong> were spotted in the coastal reedy scrub.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, while hiking a mountain near the bay, I was lucky enough to have a rare encounter with a Siberian Flying Squirrel<\/strong>. \u00a0These wary and mostly nocturnal creatures are not often seen, but apparently the females and young sometimes feed during the day. \u00a0A quick search of spotty online information shows them listed as endangered in Korea (but not protected), and apparently they aren’t meant to be found in this part of the peninsula.\u00a0 I spotted this one by almost walking into it – it was clinging to a tree at eye level, and for a moment I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at. \u00a0Slightly larger than a chipmunk, all I initially saw were the massive oil-drop eyes and a tangle of bunched-up armpit ‘wings’. \u00a0It eventually scuttled silently up the tree and perched for several minutes, before…lift-off. \u00a0The squirrel repositioned itself a few times, then hurled itself off the branch. \u00a0It fell straight down for a moment, then spread its limbs and swooped upwards, gliding expertly to a tree perhaps 50 feet away. \u00a0It looked like a rectangular grey sheet of A4 paper, its tail flattened out and acting as a rudder. \u00a0A truly stunning encounter – when it flew, I momentarily forgot to breathe. \u00a0I feel very fortunate to have shared a moment with this shy and gorgeous mammal.<\/p>\n

October 6th<\/sup> marked a return of construction crews to the bay, who toiled noisily at digging up a former rice field.\u00a0 A relay of four dump trucks transported endless loads of muddy soil west to a growing heap near a solar energy farm.\u00a0 One wonders what these three new huge craters at this sensitive site will be used for.\u00a0 Water reservoirs?\u00a0 Foundations for massive new buildings?\u00a0 More solar panels? \u00a0Sightings for the day included the first Little Grebe<\/strong> of the fall, a flyby Black-faced Spoonbill<\/strong>, four Northern Shovelers<\/strong>, three Northern Pintails<\/strong>, perhaps a half dozen Far Eastern Skylarks<\/strong> overhead, three Richard\u2019s<\/strong>, four Pechora<\/strong>, and more than ten Buff-Bellied Pipits<\/strong>, at least ten Stejneger\u2019s Stonechats<\/strong>, four Far Eastern Cisticolas<\/strong>, the Black-Browed Reed Warblers<\/strong> still, and two Yellow-breasted<\/strong> and two Black-faced Buntings<\/strong>.\u00a0 In addition, my run of mammalian luck continued, with my personal first sighting of an Amur Leopard Cat<\/strong>.\u00a0 Seen from fairly far off, it sat on a trail for a while, then stalked off into a ditch.<\/p>\n

On October 9th<\/sup>, ducks were increasing in number and variety, with more\u00a0Shovelers<\/strong> and Pintails<\/strong> seen amongst the Mallards<\/strong>, Eastern Spot-billed Ducks<\/strong>, and Eurasian Teals<\/strong>.\u00a0 Moving inland to get away from construction noise and dust proved a fortuitous move.\u00a0 Three Amur Falcons<\/strong> were soon spotted hawking insects above the rice fields, and even eating them on the wing at times, Hobby-like.\u00a0 Several Common Snipes<\/strong> and pipits were put up as a result of the low-level activity.\u00a0 Best of the day was a juvenile Grey-headed Lapwing<\/strong>, which I almost stumbled over as I came around a corner on a small trail between rice fields.\u00a0 It gave spectacular flight views before dropping down into a nearby muddy pond, almost disappearing amidst the lapwing-coloured mud.\u00a0 It was well-watched for close to an hour as it casually paced, preened, and rested.\u00a0 High single-digit numbers of four pipit species (Richard\u2019s<\/strong>, Pechora<\/strong>, Buff-bellied<\/strong>, and\u00a0Red-throated<\/strong>) were seen in and over the fields, and the morning ended with several Black-faced<\/strong> and Chestnut-eared Buntings<\/strong>, and a Siberian Rubythroat<\/strong> that haltingly flushed across a path.<\/p>\n

The next day on nearby \u2018Flying Squirrel Mountain\u2019, ten Oriental Honey Buzzards<\/strong>, four Grey-faced Buzzards<\/strong>, and two Northern Hobby<\/strong> were a treat to watch as they rode the wind currents.\u00a0 On the way down, a Japanese Sparrowhawk<\/strong> was seen at a grave site, as well as the season\u2019s first six Olive-backed Pipits<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A complete lack of swallows on the 9th<\/sup> was counterbalanced by renewed hirundine action overhead on the 11th<\/sup>, with about 40 Barn Swallows<\/strong>, half that number of Red-rumped Swallows<\/strong>, and three Sand Martins<\/strong> feeding over the fields.\u00a0 Other notable sightings included a Northern Hobby<\/strong>, two Amur Falcons<\/strong> still, and a drab Temminck\u2019s Stint<\/strong> mixed in with eight slightly-larger Red-necked Stints<\/strong>.\u00a0 A single Grey-faced Buzzard<\/strong> flew across the bay headed southwest.\u00a0 A rare day off for the construction crews meant a mercifully quiet morning, and a renewal in small bird activity in the scrub around \u2018the pit\u2019. \u00a0\u00a0A dozen Stejneger\u2019s Stonechat<\/strong> now, with four Far Eastern Cisticolas<\/strong> sprinkled in, three Yellow-breasted Buntings (<\/strong>including what seemed to be a juvenile bird), a cracking male Chestnut-eared Bunting<\/strong> nearby, and a dozen Black-faced Buntings<\/strong> scattered among the ditches.\u00a0 Several Far Eastern Skylarks<\/strong> were heard overhead, and an Arctic Warbler<\/strong> lurked nervously in a small patch of coastal trees, where it has been since September 24th.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bird News from Matt Poll It has been an exciting couple of weeks at Suncheon Bay, with a trickle of rarely-seen migrants and seasonal turnover keeping me on my toes.\u00a0 With winds regularly blowing down from the Bohai Bay, that … read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":16886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[826,139],"class_list":["post-16883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-sightings","tag-a","tag-suncheon-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883","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=16883"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16895,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16883\/revisions\/16895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}