Grey-tailed Tattler, © NM.

Predictably quiet, though with some hints of autumn suggested by 5+ adult Grey-tailed Tattler along the estuary's disturbed eastern flank, and ca 6 Pacific Swift feeding with ca 150 Barn Swallow. Few other birds of note, though 1-2 apparently adult (and heavily molting) Vega/Mongolian Gull (in amongst 500 Black-tailed Gull), 4-5 Black Kite and single Osprey, Black-headed Gull, and Great Cormorant were all rather unseasonal.

Chinese Egret, © KIM Hyun tae.

This image of a Chinese Egret comes from a superb series of photographs on KIM Hyun tae's website.

Black Drongo, Seosan, © KIM Hyun-tae.

Following the exceptional influx of Black Drongos into the country this spring (see Drongos for more details), this one at Seosan is perhaps more expected than would be the case in any other year.

Highlights were at least two Crested Honey Buzzard and a Minivet sp. Seen briefly in flight, it showed a dusky wash across the breast clearly suggesting Ryukyu Minivet Pericrococtus tegimae, a species listed for South Korea by Brazil (1991) on the basis of a record pre-1929, but not by Lee, Koo and Park. The minivet was seen in the same general area as ca4 heard well in thick fog by NM and KIM Su-Kyung on June 4th, 2002, and tentatively identified as Ryukyu Minivet on the basis of call.

In addition, one of three starlings seen was considered by DB to be a male White-shouldered Starling (the second Korean record in 2003 after one on Eocheong, and the second Korean mid-summer record, after one in July 1998 listed in Lee, Koo and Park).

Chinese and Little Egrets, feeding in rice-field at high tide,
Ganghwa.Photo © Nial Moores

Strengthening winds through the morning seemed to reduce bird activity at Seosan, so that few birds of interest were noted in the extensive rice-fields. On lake A, a mix of oversummering ducks included (amongst the expected Spot-billeds) ca 10 Mallard, 1 Goosander, 1 Northern Pintail, 2 Northern Shoveler, 3 Eurasian Wigeon and 4 drake Falcated Duck (with a male Great Scaup on the sea nearby), while 2 Whimbrel and 6 Common Greenshank were also far less expected shorebird species than the single Eastern Oystercatcher, Kentish (2) and Little Ringed Plover (5+) also present.

In adjacent edge habitat, best were several representative Korean breeding species: ca 4 singing Daurian Redstart, 3 Broad-billed Roller, 3-4 Black-naped Oriole, 2-3 Chinese Sparrowhawk, ca 5 Azure-winged Magpie and excellent views of displaying Common Cuckoo, along with a further 7 Mandarin Duckon a nearby stream.

In the late afternoon at Ganghwa, the last site on this 3-day mini-tour, close views of 14 Chinese Egret and more distant views of 32 Black-faced Spoonbill roosting up at high tide were highlights, along with 450 Far Eastern and 3 Eurasian Curlew, a single male Shrenck's Bittern and a first summer Mongolian Gull, and to finish probably several hundred Grey Starling coming into roost in the same trees as hundreds of egrets and Black-crowned Night Heron.

1st summer male Chinese Sparrowhawk
Photo © NM

In the hope of some seabirds and very late migrants, we took the boat out to Eocheong, seeing 2 Ancient Murrelet and ca 15 Streaked Shearwater before dense fog reduced visibility down to ca 50 m...

On the island itself, the fog also became increasingly dense, making birding extremely challenging and tiring! Best were Temminck's Cormorant, Chinese Sparrowhawk, Broad-billed Roller and a list of late migrants heard but not seen: single Arctic, Black-browed, Gray's Grasshopper and presumed Styan's Grasshopper Warbler (the latter's identification based on catches of song, and the knowledge that the species appeared to nest on the island in 2002), Siberian Rubythroat, and Black-faced Bunting.

Returning to Gunsan, the fog cleared near the coast, allowing distant views of ca 180 Eastern osculans Oystercatcher, 30 Great Knot and ca 500 Far Eastern Curlew on offshore tidal-flats, and 30 Black-tailed Godwit and 14+ Terek Sandpiper near the barrage on the mainland itself. In addition a lone Great Crested Grebe, 17 Black-headed and one first summer Slaty-backed Gull were all considered rather unseasonal and unexpected here.

Forest at Namhansanseong (SE Seoul) in heavy rain (which fell all day) produced close views of singing male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and Siberian Blue Robin (5 heard, 2 seen), a more distant Blue-and-White Flycatcher (scoped in song atop a pine tree), 3 Brown Dipper, 2 White-backed Woodpecker and several glimpses of Grey-backed Thrush, while Brown Hawk Owl, Indian and Oriental Cuckoo were also heard.

In the afternoon, near Gwangneung both Japanese Wagtail (1 adult and 1 fledged juvenile) and Long-billed Plover were unexpected, while at the arboretum itself best were excellent views of Mandarin Duck (including a female with two ducklings), White's Thrush (3+) and Pale Thrush (2), while single Ruddy Kingfisher and Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo were heard, but not seen. Towards the evening, a drive up to the Cheorwon Basin provided our first chance to see Black-capped Kingfisher, which were soon followed by spectacularly good views of two male Shrenck's Bittern in territorial dispute, and excellent flight views of Yellow Bittern and at least 5 Chinese Pond Heron.

Although Watercock and Ruddy Crake were also heard, they remained unseen, along with another trilling Ruddy Kingfisher and an Oriental Scops Owl.

Meeting up with David at Incheon airport on the evening of the 11th, we covered several hundred kms on the 12th, 13th and 14th. Despite meeting poor weather conditions on all three days (ranging from heavy rain to thick fog to strong wind!), and despite this being the "slow season" in South Korea, between us we recorded 108 species in total, including decent to excellent views of Streaked Shearwater, Chinese Egret, Chinese Pond Heron, Shrenck's Bittern, Black-faced Spoonbill, Mandarin Duck, Long-billed Plover, White-backed Woodpecker, Japanese Wagtail, Siberian Blue Robin, White's and Pale Thrush, and Yellow-rumped and Blue-and-White Flycatcher. The total included several oversummering species typically considered exceptional at this time of the year, along with many of the more representative nesting species.

Our itinerary included forest east of Seoul and wetland near the DMZ on the 12th; open sea, Eocheong island (for 2.5 hours!) and the Geum Estuary on the 13th; and finally rice-fields and forest edge at Seosan and Ganghwa on the 14th.

In the southern part of the Namhansanseong area there were 4 species of cuckoo (Hodgson's Hawk , Indian, Common, and Oriental) in the semi-open woods, while along a quickly-moving stream there were a pair of Brown Dippers and a single Ruddy Kingfisher, seen twice, but very briefly.

Excellent photos today on CSK's site of a Schrenk's Bittern - an uncommon breeding visitor to South Korea.

Migration obviously winding down, with mostly resident species seen, excepting ca.20 Eurasian and 50 Far Eastern Curlews, and 8 Terek Sandpipers. One Grey-backed Thrush was singing near Jeondeungsa Temple. In Seondu-ri (where the shorebirds were seen), there were 6 Black-faced Spoonbills and 4 Chinese Egrets.

Main highlight of the day was a pair of Russet Sparrows - a very interesting record considering the small numbers seen on passage on Eocheong and Socheong Islands this spring.