Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau.
Part two of a two part blogpost about exploring the south central mainland. Part one here.
Goheung was the next stop, and it proved to have a very nice selection of habitat. Goheung is very interesting in that it has a strong mix of island and mainland feel. A small somewhat isolated area with a lot of ricefields and heavily forested mountains, nearly completely surrounded by coast. There have been interesting reports from last winter here with birds such as Pallas’s Gull, and in the past from local birders such as Matt Poll.
A quick survey around the landscape was done via car, and then a visit to Goheung Lake in the northwest. While some concrete was present in the farm fields and along some stream edges, other areas were still very natural and had a lot of “birding potential”. Rice fields and reedbeds once again were filled with Oriental Reed Warblers, Barn Swallows, Grey Herons, Eurasian Tree Sparrows, and a few early migrant shorebirds, such as Wood Sandpipers.
Next was a visit to Geogeumdo, a small island southwest of Goheung connected via bridge. Higher up in the forested hills here proved to be very interesting and a bit busier. The Geogeumdo Natural Recreational Forest was quite birdy higher up on the trails, with Asian Stubtail, Eastern Crowned Warbler, and various woodpeckers actively foraging.
In this same area, an Ashy Minivet was heard calling. The distinctive trilling was slower than the similar Ryukyu Minivet. Unfortunately, despite some brief playback, the minivet was unable to be relocated. Shortly after, while driving along a nearby mountain road, another Ashy Minivet was found, this time seen well, perched on an electric wire. It flew off fairly quickly, but not before making note of the physical features: slender body with long tail, shorter bill, white underparts, grey upper parts, and a grey nape and head, with a white forehead. It should be noted that Matt Poll had found evidence of breeding in Goheung roughly a decade ago. It seems likely then that Goheung is a regular breeding site for Ashy Minivet.
Next, some time was spent birding a temple in a forested mountain on “mainland” Goheung. Here plenty more summer breeders were found, such as Daurian Redstart, Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Japanese Bush Warbler, and a strange sounding bird which ended up being a Eurasian Jay doing their usual varied vocalisations.
The trip concluded with a ferry ride back to Jeju from Goheung, which provided a different birding opportunity. Highlights included large groups of Streaked Shearwaters and Red-necked Phalaropes close to the inner islands, two possible Common Terns feeding and passing by, and many Swinhoe’s Storm-Petrels which continued in relatively high abundance until reaching Jeju City.
