Bird news and photos by Leslie Hurteau.
With many interesting sightings made through October in urban parks in Jeju City, November had a lot to live up to. The first couple of weeks certainly had a nice diversity of birds, and then as the month progressed things shifted more towards the arrival of winter visitors.
In terms of smaller songbirds, there were a few notable birds in my local urban parks in Jeju City. Two Siberian Rubythroats were found, one a possible female or immature male, and a week later a nice male was seen very briefly in the same park. Another interesting sighting were two Narcissus Flycatchers, one in Shinsan Park and another in Sarabong Park. Female or immature types, I can only assume they were for sure Narcissus Flycatchers, although some suggestions were made by others that the one in Shinsan Park was potentially a Ryukyu Flycatcher. A third particularly interesting sighting was a very late Eastern Crowned Warbler, possibly one of the latest known records in Korea. This species is usually gone by September, but this was seen in early November.
Most raptor migration had finished by this point, but in one early evening before sunset an Amur Falcon was seen flying around Shinsan Park. Other than that individual and the usual resident Peregrine Falcons, no raptors were observed until later in November when Eurasian Sparrowhawks and Eastern Buzzards made a return for the winter.
Along the coasts Great Cormorants began to come back and join the mostly resident (?) Temminck’s Cormorants. One particularly nice day at Tapdong Plaza had a Pelagic Cormorant mixed in with a group of gulls. Around the same time, a Common Gull was found in a group of gulls. Despite their name, they aren’t very common on Jeju. Although annual in small numbers, unlike other parts of the country where they can be found in greater numbers. Early on in November, three Chinese Egrets were found in Tapdong Plaza area as well. This seemed like a similar time as last year, when one individual was found in Oedo Eco Park in the west of the city, and stayed through into part of December.
Some brief visits were made to some of the small freshwater stream and wetland habitats within the city limits. A lone Barn Swallow was seen flying over a stream in Oedo Eco Park, as well as many ducks returning to overwinter, such as Mallards, Eurasian Green-winged Teal, Northern Shovellers, Falcated Ducks, and Gadwalls. One male Baikal Teal was also spotted in nearby Gwangnyeong Reservoir. This reservoir had recently had a fence put up to prevent fishermen from entering the reservoir. I hope this feature serves as an adequate barrier throughout the future.
Various late migrants and early winter visitors began to appear in the parks by mid month, including Red-billed Starlings, a species once rare in Korea but can now be seen throughout many parts of the country. This species has continued its colonisation of Jeju, with groups of individuals showing up within Jeju City in recent winters. Another recent coloniser, Light-vented Bulbul, has becoming increasingly more common within the city itself, with a pair (or more?) making regular appearances in downtown Jeju throughout October and well into November.
Early winter visitors included flocks of Brambling and the odd Goldcrest or two in the hills in Sarabong Park. The usual mixed groups of smaller birds are mostly Asian Tits (formerly named Japanese/Eastern), with a few recent Varied Tits joining in, perhaps the same individuals that arrived in September. A Coal Tit or two are mixed in, which seems to be regular over the past couple of winters, as well as a Pallas’ Leaf Warbler was seen one morning. Yellow-bellied Tits don’t seem nearly as numerous this year as last, with only a few individuals being found in Sarabong Park and basicaly none or only a couple seen in Shinsan Park so far. Groups of Rooks arrived by early November as well, with the numbers growing as the month progressed.
Winter bunting visitors began to make appearances in parks as well, mainly Sarabong Park. Yellow-throated Buntings can be found year round, but by mid month Black-faced, Masked, and Grey Buntings had returned to their favoured habitats within the parks.
As the month came to an end, Dusky Thrush began to arrive, which in my experience means the beginning of winter on Jeju. Some decent numbers of individuals in Shinsan Park, including one Naumman’s Thrush mixed in on one morning. Olive-backed Pipits also joined the mix, along with the numerous Pale Thrushes in the local parks.
