On a recent trip to Switzerland I spent some time staying at Zermatt where I took a mountain railway up into the mountains to Gornergrat, an observatory close to the famous Matterhorn. The scenery on the way up grew ever more spectacular, through Larch forests turning autumnal colours into Alpine grassland and finally arriving on a rocky, snow-covered outcrop overlooking a glacier. After admiring the views, as a bird watcher, it was hard to ignore the groups of Alpine Choughs that were hanging around, being fed scraps of food by tourists eating their packed lunch. Read more »
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Birding South Korea – Top Quality Birds in Abundance
October 10th, 2015 
Nick 
On the Southern half of the Korean peninsula is the Republic of Korea, more widely known as South Korea. Despite being one of the most modern and influential countries in Asia this is a nation much overlooked by westerners but one which has a lot to offer to birders. Better known for companies like Samsung and Hyundai South Korea stretches from the subtropics of Jeju Island in the far south to temperate areas along the North Korean border with summer high temperatures in the thirties to winter lows of minus twenty the climate makes for a high diversity of species throughout the year. Although South Korea is a highly industrialized country there are still many areas that attract large numbers of birds including forests, farmland, lakes, rivers and estuaries all of which contain a surprising abundance of bird life throughout the year.
Few have explored the possibilities of a South Korea bird tour yet the country contains some true spectacles of nature that should not be missed, where some exceptional birding can be enjoyed at all times of the year. Whether it is an abundance of breeding woodland birds in the Spring and early summer, impressive levels of migration of passerines and waterbirds in Spring and Autumn or large numbers of wintering Cranes, Wildfowl and Gulls there are always interesting birds to be seen including some of Asia’s most threatened species. Think about Steller’s Sea Eagle, Spoon-billed Sandpiper, Relict Gull, Black-faced Spoonbill, Red-crowned Crane, Scaly-sided Merganser, Asian Rosy Finch and Spectacled Guillemot, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Long-billed Plover, White-naped Crane and Japanese Wagtail and you start to understand the quality of birding in South Korea.
One of the themes of Korean birding is the joy of seeing birds in great abundance. Even in forested mountain parks in the capital city, Seoul, there are plenty of birds breeding in Spring and Summer filling the woods with their song.
Top South Korean Birding Sites
- Cheorwon – Cranes, Buntings
- Namhansanseong – Woodland birds
- Paldang – Steller’s Sea Eagle
- Northeast Coast – Alcids, Loons, Gulls
- Nakdong Estuary – Steller’s Sea Eagle, Relict Gull
- Junam Reservoir – Cranes, Swan Goose, Raptors, Wildfowl
- Suncheon Bay – Hooded Crane, Raptors
- Geum Estuary – Oriental Stork, Baikal Teal
Birds such as Marsh Tit, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Eastern Great Tit, Grey-backed Thrush, Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and Yellow-throated Bunting are common in woodland and woodland edge everywhere you go, in fact birding in a South Korean woodland is just as it ought to be, bursting with dawn chorus and woodland birds everywhere you look. A Black-faced Spoonbill colony surrounded by major roads tells you everything you need to know about the proximity of breeding birds to humans here.
Spring migration can be described as “spectacular” with large numbers of Buntings, Warblers and Thrushes passing through but it is on a winter South Korea bird tour that you really experience the magnificent numbers of birds. Try standing near the border in the North and watch the procession of White-naped and Red-crowned Cranes that come out of the demilitarized zone. Stand on an East coast beach and see tens of thousands of gulls. See flock after flock of Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese in farmland as you travel. See an amazing group of 400+ Cinereous Vultures feeding together. Witness thousands of Grebes, Loons and Alcids on the sea from a boat trip. Any of these is likely to be one of the most memorable massed bird experiences any birder will see but they can all be witnessed on one birding trip to Korea, all within a few hours drive of each other. Add to that 20000 Rooks or half a million Baikal Teal on one lake and it is clear that South Korean birding is not to be missed.
South Korea Winter Birding Tour 2019: 3rd January – 15th January
Join me for my third mid-winter birding tour to South Korea where we will see one of the world’s most impressive raptors – Steller’s Sea Eagle. A few of these birds winter at regular sites in South Korea every year and getting good views will be one of the top priorities. We can be assured of superb views of large numbers of Hooded, Red-crowed and White-naped Cranes but this spectacle may be eclipsed if we find a flock of 500000 Baikal Teal on one of their favourite lakes.
Previous Trip Reports
South Korea Winter Bird Tour Trip Report January 2017 A very successful and enjoyable 11-day birding tour of South Korea. Highlights included Steller’s Sea Eagle, Hazel Grouse, Red-crowned Crane, Sandhill Crane, Solitary Snipe, Yellow-bellied Tit, Pallas’s Rosefinch, Lesser White-fronted Goose, Oriental Stork, Hooded Crane, Scaly-sided Merganser, Swan Goose.
South Korea Winter Bird Tour Trip Report January 2016 A great first winter trip to South Korea for 9 days with many excellent birds including Steller’s Sea Eagle, Oriental Stork, Red-crowned Crane, Solitary Snipe, Scaly-sided Merganser, Swan Goose, White-naped Crane, Baikal Teal, Pallas’s Bunting, Hooded Crane.
Gulls Gorging on Fish – Bird Behaviour
September 18th, 2015 Nick I have taken advantage a few times recently of an area where gulls congregate to feed on discarded fish heads at the rear of a fish shop at Dungeness, on the Kent coast, but today there was a real feasting session with a large group of gulls devouring a large amount of fish heads and guts. Getting the lion’s share of the food were the huge Great Black-backed Gulls but a few opportunistic Herring Gulls were darting in to steal pieces of fish from the clutches of their larger companions. The resulting chaos and desperate gorging of food was quite a sight; a number of photos of greedy gulls follow.
Baikal Bush Warbler Abundance: Thailand Birding
September 15th, 2015 Nick Bush Warblers are a group of birds that are extremely difficult to observe on their wintering grounds even when they are abundant and few people manage many/any observations of these birds when visiting Thailand. Baikal Bush Warbler was split from Spotted Bush Warbler some years ago and range maps for this taxon show that it is widely distributed in Thailand so why is it that so few people ever see this bird? Well one reason is certainly that it is extremely skulking but another reason is that people do not realize how common it is and do not spend time looking for it; indeed, on several trips to Northern Thailand earlier this year many observations of this secretive bird. Read more »
Minsmere & Dunwich Heath: British Birding
September 11th, 2015 Nick I have mentioned before that Dartford Warbler was the bird that got me into birding when I was 7 years old and whenever I am back in UK I always make a visit to a location where I can see this species. With fine weather today it was a good opportunity to find these birds which can be quite skulking, particularly in bad weather, so I made a trip to Suffolk to visit RSPB Minsmere and adjacent Dunwich Heath, owned by the National Trust. Before stopping at Minsmere I made a short stop at Sizewell Nuclear Power Plant where I found 24 Little Gulls and a Black Tern a little offshore, feeding with some Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. A good start to a day which turned out to be full of good birds. Read more »
Migrants at Dungeness: British Birding
September 4th, 2015 Nick By early September bird migration is well and truly in progress. For many species it has not yet reached its peak but for the next few months birders should be able to find migrating birds at any coastal location. With this in mind I made another trip to Dungeness yesterday as it can be a migrant hotspot and there had been several reports over the previous few days of some interesting species. Over the previous few days the weather had been more or less ideal for finding grounded migrants; blustery with sporadic heavy showers and patches of sunshine but unfortunately yesterday the conditions changed and were quite sunny in the morning with the winds from the wrong direction, although it did cloud over later with some showers. Still, on getting out of the car the first bird I saw was a nice Lesser Whitethroat followed by several Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, a Sedge Warbler and a singing Willow Warbler. However, the bird I was anticipating was a White-winged Black Tern which had been reported over the previous few days.
Birding at Namhansanseong, South Korea
August 30th, 2015 Nick In June I made a very enjoyable trip to South Korea. This was not a birding trip as we spent most of our time doing typically touristy things but before my visit I emailed Nial Moores of BirdsKorea to ask him whether there were any locations close to the capital city, Seoul, where I could spend a morning or afternoon seeing some of South Korea’s typical woodland species. He suggested visiting Namhansanseong Provincial Park which is a UNESCO World Heritage site with lots of good quality forest. The site was easily accessible by underground and then bus from central Seoul and with beautiful weather, an abundance of birds, some nice historic ruins and good food available we ended up staying the whole day.
