New to Korea birder (1 Viewer)

Hello all! I just moved to South Korea with the military. I live just south of Pyeongtaek at Camp Humphrey's.

I'm very excited about all the new birds I've seen so far. I have 14 new lifers within the month I've been here. My binocs just arrived a few days ago so I'm sure that number will go up now that I can see things better. I got a Hoopoe the other day, flew right in front of me while I was running!

If any one on here lives near Pyeongtaek or anywhere really and would like some company while going out birding I'm happy to tag along.

Does any one know of some good birding spots in my area? I haven't lived here long enough to figure it all out, but I'm working on it.

Thanks everyone!

Hi again jbusen

I've had a look in Opus, but we don't appear to have any articles written for South Korea as yet... perhaps you could change that situation over time.

However, a quick search of the Gallery produces some results for "Korea" (I didn't go as far as searching for South only. But you may find it useful to look through to see where the pictures were taken, and what species can be seen.

Hope this helps get you started.

jbusen,

I've actually been to Peyongtaek, but it was for business and I didn't get a chance to do any birding. One place I got to on another trip was the fields to the west of Seosan (which is somewhat west of Pyeongtaek). I went there in 2003, and this was THE spot to see the huge Baikal teal flock. There were all sorts of shorebirds and marsh birds, too, as well as other waterfowl. Mind you, nothing stays static in Korea, so it could be total crap now.

You can check out Birds Korea which might give you some ideas, but most of what they post about on there are either in Seoul/Incheon, Busan, or the offshore islands.

I was stationed at Camp Casey in the early nineties, unfortunately (for me) I was not a birder then.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I have been checking out birdskorea.org, but it is typically not for the area I live in. I do plan on making trips to the places it lists.

Thankfully since I'm new to the area I've been racking up the birds. With just passive birding, just viewing in my daily travels, I'm up to 20 new lifers so it's still pretty fun here.