{"id":21744,"date":"2019-04-15T16:07:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T07:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=21744"},"modified":"2019-04-15T16:36:39","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T07:36:39","slug":"birdwatching-tours-to-rason-in-the-dprk-a-quick-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=21744","title":{"rendered":"Birdwatching Tours to Rason in the DPRK: A Quick Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In March 2019, Birds Korea and the Hanns Seidel Foundation (Korea office) <\/a>organized two short birdwatching tours to Rason<\/a> in the far northeast of the DPRK, bordering on Russia and PR China. The first tour, part-funded by the HSF, included a staffer from UNESCAP and three birders from the conservation organization \u201cSpoon-billed Sandpiper in China\u201d (SBS in China<\/a>), based in Shanghai; the second tour was more or less commercially run, and was comprised of 11 birders from the Hong Kong Birdwatching Society <\/a>(HKBWS) with myself guiding, and logistical support both times provided by the International Tourist Agency in Rason.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some of Tour Group One \u00a9 Lisa Guo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The feedback that has been received so far has been very positive, with SBS in China\u2019s Yang Ziyou stating that it was, \u201cDefinitely one of the best birdwatching trips I have taken so far.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All smiles: Yang Ziyou of SBS in China at Pipa. Behind rocks with Glaucous Gulls<\/strong> \u00a9 Bernhard Seliger<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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K.C. Lee at Uam \u00a9 Nial Moores , sheltering from a snow squall which was followed in the next 20 minutes by views of Brant Geese<\/strong>, Relict Gull<\/strong>, Chinese Grey Shrike<\/strong> and a Korean Red Fox<\/strong>!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dr. K.C. Lee, a member of the HKBWS, described the tour as a \u201cmost enjoyable, memorable and wonderful trip. The staff members are excellent. The weather was a bit too cold and windier than expected, but birds and scenery more than compensate for it. I would not hesitate to recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in migratory birds, for there is a lot to see in relatively short spans of time and space.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two tours followed on from half-a-dozen HSF-initiated and funded research visits to Rason (in months March, April, June, July and November, all posted on this blog) and much of their focus was on three lakes, labelled 8, 9, 10 and 11 in the figure below, which in 2018 were together designated as an internationally important Ramsar site based primarily on our data. 
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Some of the main sites in Rason marked on a Google Earth image, which include forest; extensive stretches of coast; freshwater lakes and reed-beds; drier grassland; and islands used by breeding seabirds.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Both tours also enjoyed long periods birding the adjacent marine areas, which support many wintering scoter and species like the regionally-endemic Spectacled Guillemot<\/strong> (easy to see e.g. at points 4, 6, 8 and 12). Time was also spent walking in protected forest above Pipa (point 3) and on Sahyangsan (point 2), where both Chinese<\/strong> and Eurasian Nuthatch<\/strong> breed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Forest above Pipa \u00a9 Nial Moores. Good for nuthatches and woodpeckers (including Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker<\/strong>) even in winter; and with a fascinating breeding avifauna that includes good numbers of White’s Thrush<\/strong>, Siberian Blue Robin<\/strong> and the super-vocal Pallas’s Leaf Warbler<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Hills overlooking Uam \u00a9 Nial Moores.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This online article hopes to answer some of the questions prompted by these two tours, including: Why organize such a tour? Is it really possible to birdwatch there? How do you get there? Where do you stay? What did you eat? And what are the people like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why go to the DPRK?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n