An overcast day but luckily no rain, Hado-ri Wetland on the east coast of Jeju Island was quite productive and showed that winter is already on its way. Nearly every regular Korean winter duck species was present, aside from Baikal Teal and Shelducks. And there was even a surprise rarity, a male Ferruginous Duck coasting about with Eastern Spot-bills and Mallards. The overall feeling was the wetland was filling in for winter, and a revisit later in November may yield even more if last winter’s visit is any indication.
A list of the different duck species present:
Mallard, Eurasian Wigeon, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Falcated Duck, Eurasian Teal, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, and Ferruginous Duck
Other species included Eurasian Coots, Eurasian Moorhens, Little Grebes, Eurasian and Black-faced Spoonbills, Kentish Plovers, and plenty of Great Egrets and Grey Herons. A large group of approximately 80 cormorants were seen flying around, which were found mostly to be Great Cormorants after scrutinizing their features and tips from friends, with some Temminck’s Cormorants mixed in, too. Perhaps the Great Cormorants were a large group that were on the move, as they seemed to stick in a big group.
As it was quite windy, passerines weren’t too easy to find, with the regular Blue-rock Thrush, Light-vented and Brown-eared Bulbuls (the former being a Jeju regular and growing in population), and Daruian Redstarts. A Greater Spotted Eagle was seen a couple weeks prior but unfortunately was nowhere to be seen. On the upside, a pair of Osprey filled in the gap and put on a show, diving for fish and soaring above, as well as a male Eurasian Sparrowhawk stealthily swooping over the reeds and within the forest.
