Going to Goseong always brings joy to see birds which can rarely be seen in South Korea outside of the border area. At the same time, the degradation of the remaining spots untouched by humans is rapidly advancing. The river mouth of Namcheon of Ganseong is still an open wound of a construction site of a new road. Hwajinpo lagoon now finished the “beautification” process, so that the remaining wetlands are now crossed by large (and nicely made) ways, and the former reedbed area, where until last year among others the Ruddy-bellied crake was breeding, made place for shallow ponds. This time, an eco-rally for students of the German School International Seoul at the eco-path jointly built by Goseong County and Hanns Seidel Foundation Korea left few times for bird observations. Anyway, thanks to a great Sony camera we could get nice photos of a Grey Nightjar (Caprimulgus jotaka) at the Seongjeongri eco-path as well as a Red-billed Starling (Spodiopsar sericeus).
Annoncement of the Goseong Hwajinpo beautification project – reedbeds and shallow ponds around the lagoon have been cleared and artificial gardens have been built around the lake. © Bernhard Seliger
In the past Ruddy-bellied Crakes bred here…© Bernhard Seliger
Pleasant surprise along the Seongjeongri eco-path: a grey nightjar © Nikolas Sonneborn
Red-billed Starling © Bernhard Seliger