Brief Trip Report – South Korea

On my way to the Russian Far East in early June, I had six days of birding in South Korea. South Korea has a population about 10 times that of my state, Victoria, living in an area less than half that of Victoria. My guide was Dr Nial Moores, president of Birds Korea. Nial is passionate about the fast-disappearing environment there, has ultra-sensitive hearing and the longest list in the country. He was an ideal guide and companion. Early June was not the best birding time but there were still plenty of interesting migrants seen as well as the local specialities. We had two days on Baekryong Island at the start, close enough for comfort to North Korea and then travelled back to Incheon by ferry. We then drove around most of the country and visited wetlands and temples in areas such as Geoje, Hwaum, Seosan. I apologise if the transliterations of the place names are not correct. I saw 113 species in all including 20 which were new to me. My guide saw more and heard many more. Black-faced Spoonbill and Saunder’s Gull were easy very near Incheon Airport, convenient for those with stop-over times. Schrenk’s and Yellow Bittern were seen at Seosan as was a beautiful Amur Leopard Cat, unusual in the daytime. The Ruddy Kingfisher and Ruddy-breasted Crake were ruddy difficult although we managed to get fleeting views of the former at Howchong(?). We saw 5 species of Tit and 3 of Wagtails. There were also many LBJs, easily recognised by call by Dr Moores. Please contact me directly for more information or a list of species seen. Regards, Gil Langfield Melbourne, Australia gil.langfield@bigpond.com _______________________________________________ Birding-Aus mailing list Birding-Aus@birding-aus.org To change settings or unsubscribe visit: http://birding-aus.org/mailman/listinfo/birding-aus_birding-aus.org