{"id":7495,"date":"2013-02-13T13:41:06","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T04:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=7495"},"modified":"2013-02-13T13:42:20","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T04:42:20","slug":"a-winter-to-remember-here-and-throughout-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=7495","title":{"rendered":"A Winter to Remember \u2013 Here and Throughout The Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nial Moores, with special thanks to Yusuke Umegaki, February 8th 2013.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is proving to be an exceptional winter for birds and birders here in the ROK. And thanks to blogs and regional list-servers we also already know that this is also a fascinating winter throughout much of Far East Asia.<\/p>\n

Last autumn started with an irruption of Varied Tit<\/strong> Poecile varius<\/em>, with birds on the move here, in Japan and into China\u00a0 \u00a0They were followed in October by record numbers of Yellow-bellied Tit<\/strong> Periparus venustulus <\/em>in the ROK (see: https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=6337<\/a>).\u00a0 <\/em>First recorded here as recently as October 2005, \u201cYellow-bellies\u201d were found at multiple sites last autumn\u00a0 – in Busan, in flocks on Gageo and other offshore islands, even reaching Jeju. It seemed almost inevitable that at least one would reach Japan this winter. And as reported by Yusuke Umegaki, Yellow-bellied<\/strong> Tit<\/strong> was indeed found in Japan, with a First-winter male in Fukuoka (northern Kyushu) present since November 2012, and some other individuals also possibly still present in Kyushu.<\/em><\/p>\n

In November and especially from December it then became the turn of winter finches like Pallas\u2019s Rosefinch<\/strong> Carpodacus roseus<\/em> and Eurasian Bullfinch<\/strong> Pyrrhula pyrrhula<\/em> to arrive here in higher numbers than in any other recent winter. It seems that this has also been the case in parts of China too. A mail sent by well-known Beijing-based birder Jesper Hornskov to the Oriental Bird Club List-server on January 21st<\/sup> stated: \u201cthis winter offers outstanding chances to see Pallas\u2019 Rosefinch<\/strong> within convenient reach of China’s capital NOT only relative to \u2018at least the past 3-4 winters\u2019 but in absolute terms. No doubt right now there are more around than two weeks ago, and very likely more than at any time for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beijing also enjoyed its first record of Eurasian Bullfinch<\/strong> (with correspondence suggesting that the majority of records south from there probably refer to rosacea<\/em>, as here in Korea).\u00a0 A blogpost on bullfinches in Korea at that time (http:\/\/www.birdskorea.org\/Birds\/Identification\/ID_Notes\/BK-ID-Bullfinch.shtml<\/a>) raised questions about identification and distribution and helped generate a series of helpful emails from Dr. Hiraoka Takashi (at the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology in Japan) and Vadim\u00a0Ivushkin (in Irkutsk, Russia). \u00a0VI especially both challenged the taxonomy and distribution maps used (based on published English-language sources), but also offered some tentative, though ambiguous, support to the ID of one of the national Arboretum birds as a cineracea<\/em>\u2026.The all-grey cineracea<\/em> is a taxon (species according to Russian taxonomy, subspecies according to the IOC) that was last recorded in Korea way back in 1929 \u2013 in present day DPRK.<\/p>\n

If such exceptional records were not enough, since late January there have also been no fewer than three national firsts (or near-firsts) in the ROK \u2013 with these species apparently coming to us from vastly different directions. \u00a0The Gangwon Bearded Vulture<\/strong> Gypaetus barbatus<\/em> came from somewhere to the west (Mongolia?); the Seoul Black-winged Kite<\/strong> Elanus caeruleus<\/em> from somewhere to the south or southwest of the Korean Peninsula; and the Sokcho Bufflehead<\/strong> Bucephala albeola<\/em> came to us originally from North America, far to the north-east. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is worth noting here too that the ROK is not alone in adding a new American duck species to the national list this winter. In Mid-December, Paul Holt found both American Wigeon<\/strong> Anas americana<\/em> and Redhead<\/strong> Aythya americana<\/em> in Jiangsu Province, near-first and first national records respectively for China (via<\/em> his post to the OBC Listserver).\u00a0 While American Wigeon<\/strong> is an annual winter visitor here, we are not aware of any adequately-documented records of Redhead<\/strong> in the ROK (despite the multiple claims during the annual Ministry of Environment Winter Census!). There must be a reasonable chance, however, that this Chinese Redhead<\/strong> will migrate back north-east through Korea this spring. Will someone be lucky (and skilled!) enough to find it?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, another American species \u2013 this time a gull \u2013 just made it all the way south to the Philippines.\u00a0 According to Des Allen, the Philippine\u2019s first Laughing Gull<\/strong> Leucophaeus atricilla<\/em> was found by Rob Hutchinson on about February 4<\/pre>\n

th<\/sup>: the very same day that an American Herring Gull<\/strong> Larus smithsonianus<\/em> was found in Gangwon Province! Like Redhead<\/strong>, Laughing Gull<\/strong> has already been recorded in both Japan and China \u2013 but again, not yet here in Korea.<\/p>\n

The winter has also been a good one for thrushes, both here in the ROK (with the best numbers of overwintering Naumann\u2019s<\/strong> Turdus naumanni<\/em> and Dusky Thrushes<\/strong> T. eunomus<\/em> for several years) and also apparently in Japan. According to Yusuke Umegaki there have been three records this winter alone in Japan of Fieldfare<\/strong> Turdus pilaris<\/em> (with one photographed in Ishikawa Prefecture in December; one photographed on Amami Oshima in January and a third .photographed in Yamaguchi in late January).\u00a0 There have also been two records of Eurasian Redwing<\/strong> Turdus iliacus<\/em> (one in Kangawa in December and a First-winter found in Kagoshima in January). While there are two Korean records of Eurasian Redwing<\/strong> from previous years (including one photographed in Cheorwon on January 8th<\/sup> 2009: http:\/\/www.birdskorea.org\/Gallery\/Species\/BK-GA-Turdus-iliacus.shtml<\/a>), there are as yet no records of Fieldfare<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All things considered, this really is proving to be a winter to remember.\u00a0 Both for birds and also for the improving communication between birders. Specialist blogs (like this one and \u201cBirding Beijing\u201d) and listservers (most especially those run by the Oriental Bird Club and Kantori – covering Japan) are enabling disparate records to combine to provide a clearer picture of region-wide movements of species and to refine understanding of taxonomy, distribution and conservation status.<\/p>\n

We would therefore like to encourage and welcome you to join in this discussion. \u00a0While we have websites (in Korean and English) for official Birds Korea work, \u00a0this blog has been set up to help support the exchange of ideas and information – both between Birds Koreans and with birders and ornithologists throughout the region (and the birding world!). How about posting your comments \u2013 and sending us bird news and views from elsewhere in the region?
\n  
\nFor some images of these great birds:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yellow-bellied Tit<\/strong> on Gageo in October 2012:
\nhttps:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=6563<\/a><\/p>\n

Bufflehead<\/strong> in Sokcho, January 2013:
\nhttp:\/\/www.birdskorea.org\/Birds\/Birdnews\/BK-BN-birdnews-2013-01.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n

Bearded Vulture<\/strong> and American Herring Gull<\/strong> in Gangwon, February 2013:
\nhttps:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=7423<\/a><\/p>\n

Black-winged Kite<\/strong> in Seoul, February 2013:
\nhttps:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/?p=7435<\/a><\/p>\n

And for a Few Further Useful Links:<\/strong><\/em>
\n  <\/p>\n

Birding Beijing: at: http:\/\/birdingbeijing.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/groups.yahoo.com\/group\/orientalbirding\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/webspace.webring.com\/people\/ek\/kantorilode\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nial Moores, with special thanks to Yusuke Umegaki, February 8th 2013. This is proving to be an exceptional winter for birds and birders here in the ROK. And thanks to blogs and regional list-servers we also already know that this … read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495","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=7495"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7508,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7495\/revisions\/7508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdskoreablog.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}