Hi!
I recently finished a nine day self-made tour of South Korea, and plan to publish a detailed report before spring. The weather conditions were interesting, with -5C - 15C on the west and southwest, between Seosan and Gocheonam, with up to 20 cm of snow. In contrast, the north and southeast were mild/warm, with the exception of mountains north of Wonju, W Gangwon (-17C daytime). At the latter site, a party of four Solitary Snipes were nevertheless feeding in a river, together with Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher and wagtails.
It was hard work in a destination were normal exchange of information does not occur, but locational information has largely been commercialized by gatekeepers. In this sense, South Korea is unique, in negative way. In the Internet, there is general information on birding sites but no details, and especially no details on the more sought after species. Hopefully, my report is going to shed some light on the situation.
The usual target winter species were seen, some readily, some by persistence and hard work, birding from dawn to dusk and driving some of the distances at night. Fortunately, my first try with Scaly-sided Mergansers was a success, with four birds at Naju-Si.
The only missing one on my list was Oriental Stork, the normal wintering grounds being hopelessly frozen and covered by thick snow. In regard to the other target species, the two most difficult ones were Swan Goose (saw tens of thousands of geese) and Chinese Grey Shrike, both of which were seen on the second last day, around Paju-Si (NW of Seoul).
A good number of vagrant or unusual/scarce winter species were also seen, including a Lesser White-fronted Goose, a female Blue-winged Teal, a drake Baer's Pochard, a pair of Ferruginous Ducks, an Upland Buzzard, a Black Woodpecker, an Asian Short-toed Lark, a male Grey-backed Thrush, a male Red-bellied Blue Thrush, and an unidentified Cettia warbler.
Well, it is bit difficult to judge what is unusual in a nation where distributional information remains meager, as a result of a very low number of skilled birders. I did not meet a single one in nine days.
Nevertheless, a very interesting place to visit with affordable accommodations, car rental, road tolls and food, and also in general welcoming locals. Nine days was enough for a goal-oriented bird race style birding. For more enjoyment, I would recommend at least 12 days. For a committed sea-watcher, it was hard to disregard the thousands of divers moving about Geojin-Ri, for example, and focus only on Pallas's Rosefinches.
Petri
I recently finished a nine day self-made tour of South Korea, and plan to publish a detailed report before spring. The weather conditions were interesting, with -5C - 15C on the west and southwest, between Seosan and Gocheonam, with up to 20 cm of snow. In contrast, the north and southeast were mild/warm, with the exception of mountains north of Wonju, W Gangwon (-17C daytime). At the latter site, a party of four Solitary Snipes were nevertheless feeding in a river, together with Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher and wagtails.
It was hard work in a destination were normal exchange of information does not occur, but locational information has largely been commercialized by gatekeepers. In this sense, South Korea is unique, in negative way. In the Internet, there is general information on birding sites but no details, and especially no details on the more sought after species. Hopefully, my report is going to shed some light on the situation.
The usual target winter species were seen, some readily, some by persistence and hard work, birding from dawn to dusk and driving some of the distances at night. Fortunately, my first try with Scaly-sided Mergansers was a success, with four birds at Naju-Si.
The only missing one on my list was Oriental Stork, the normal wintering grounds being hopelessly frozen and covered by thick snow. In regard to the other target species, the two most difficult ones were Swan Goose (saw tens of thousands of geese) and Chinese Grey Shrike, both of which were seen on the second last day, around Paju-Si (NW of Seoul).
A good number of vagrant or unusual/scarce winter species were also seen, including a Lesser White-fronted Goose, a female Blue-winged Teal, a drake Baer's Pochard, a pair of Ferruginous Ducks, an Upland Buzzard, a Black Woodpecker, an Asian Short-toed Lark, a male Grey-backed Thrush, a male Red-bellied Blue Thrush, and an unidentified Cettia warbler.
Well, it is bit difficult to judge what is unusual in a nation where distributional information remains meager, as a result of a very low number of skilled birders. I did not meet a single one in nine days.
Nevertheless, a very interesting place to visit with affordable accommodations, car rental, road tolls and food, and also in general welcoming locals. Nine days was enough for a goal-oriented bird race style birding. For more enjoyment, I would recommend at least 12 days. For a committed sea-watcher, it was hard to disregard the thousands of divers moving about Geojin-Ri, for example, and focus only on Pallas's Rosefinches.
Petri
