Jeju Birds

2026-11-01

2026-11-01: Stone Park

We took a trip to the Stone Park to see part of the Jeju Biennale, and the weather was so nice we stuck around for a while to walk around. The last time we were at this park was in rainy June with lots of mist and fog. It made for good atmosphere, but it sure was great to see the park in sunshine and autumn colours. Stone Park is probably the best theme park in all of Jeju. For starters, its completely relevant to Jeju (rocks, culture, art, history) without being tacky. Also, it's just damn gorgeous and well done. It's a great walk and plenty of indoor spaces for those rainy and bad weather visits. Anyways, this isn't a promotion piece, here's some wildlfe photos.

Large-billed Crows munching on persimmons.

White-backed Woodpecker

White Wagtail

Grey-steaked Flycatcher

Brambling

Spotless Grass Yellow Eurema laeta

2026-10-31

2026-10: Seonheul Gotjawal in October

My exploration of my favourite park in Jeju continues on. The weather cooled down nicely throughout October, and while some species became a lot harder to find, others became a bit easier to see. Long gone were Paradise Flycatchers and even the usual Eurasian Jays I was finding, but in their place were Daurian Redstarts, Bull-headed Shrikes, and raptors moving through the skies. A few nice butterflies were still around as well, including that pretty blue Japanese Oakblue.

Grey-backed Thrush

White's Thrush

Grey Heron

Bull-headed Shrike

Yellow-browed Warbler

Daurian Redstart

Japanese Oakblue Arhopala japonica

Siberian Weasel

Mankyua chejuense, a type of fern only found on Jeju Island

2026-10: Daeseom (Jocheon) Birds in October

I've been trying to visit Daeseom in Jocheon-eup more regularly as it's fairly convenient for me at the moment, and so far the going has been good. It's a nice patch, easy to access, a short brief circuit around a coastal path and a slightly inland brackish lagoon area. I've gotten a decent number of species through my visits so far, and October a few neat migrants drop in.

Peregrine Falcon

Vega Gulls

Mallard and Eurasian Wigeons

Eurasian Wigeon

Little Egret

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Light-vented Bulbuls feeding in a tree.

Brown-eared Bulbul

Black-faced Bunting

2026-10-13

2026-10-13: Spotted Dove Spotted in Hallim

During a morning of birding with some visitors on the northwest of Jeju, I heard a slightly different song. Initially I brushed it off as a rooster crowing from some local village farm, but after it repeated a while it began to sound familiar. Then I remembered I had hear this call often when visiting China and knew what it was. I scanned the park we were in and quickly saw a Spotted Dove cooing from the top of a light pole. What a great find! This species is very common across the Yellow Sea in China, but Korea has only a handful of documented records. I believe this was the second record for Jeju, the first being a month earlier on Mara-do.

2026-09-30

2026-09: Seonheul Gotjawal in September

A few photos from Seonheul Gotjwal in September.

Long-tailed Tit

Black Paradise Flycatcher

Eurasian Jay

Oriental Honey Buzzard

Jeju Striped Fieldmouse

Tiger Keelback

2026-09-25

2026-09-25: eBirding on Mara Island in Early Fall

Fall migration can be very interesting on Jeju. It's not as dynamic as spring migration, but it can bring unique opportunities to see some species fairly well (Pechora Pipit in this case), and also simply enjoying the cooler weather after a hot summer.

I received an email from Marshall Iliff, one of the main members of the eBird team, letting me know that he had a Jeju trip planned to visit Mara. I met Marshall several years ago while he was staying in Korea, and thanks to him I am able to play a role in the local Korean eBird team as a reviwer for Jeju. Being very grateful for that, I was more than happy to meet up with him and show him around Mara Island.

We met at Unjin Harbour, and shortly after got on the boat. The boat ride itself wasn't particularly birdy, aside from an Osprey (or two). Mara was not exactly booming with birds, but we found one of his targets right away: Pacific Reef Heron. This was a Korean first for him, so rather exciting to get one so early on.

I led him on the grand tour, showing my usual route. There was only one other birder there that day, who we met briefly and did the usual exchange of birding info. A Spotted Dove was seen by that birder the day before, but none of us could relocate it. Not exactly a rare bird in the global context, as it's incredibly common in China just across the sea, but it being a Jeju first I was particularly interested.

We found a variety of species, including several Little Buntings, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, a Black Paradise Flycatcher, and some Leaf Warblers (being as challengig as they always are). We did find a Great Spotted Woodpecker, which was found by the other birder originally. I only got brief views, but thankfully Marshall got sound recording which helps confirm the sighting.

Bird of the day really had to have been Pechora Pipit, with several flying over, but one landing in a tree right at our lunch spot on the south end picnic tables. This was a visual lifer for Marshall, and personally I'm always excited to see this species as they're not easy to get a good view of.

The return ferry had a few Streaked Shearwaters, but nothing really remarkable. We spent the rest of the daylight birding the airfield, where we found many Richards Pipits, White Wagtails, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and an immature Citrine Wagtail. The Citrine was spotted by Marshall, and after examining the features carefully and comparing it with references photos on our phones, we were fairly satisfied with the ID.

All in all a great trip with one of the heads of eBird, and a pleasure to get to show him around a bit on Mara Island.

eBird checklist here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S396046404

Pechora Pipit

Little Bunting

Common Kingfisher

Black Paradise Flycatcher

Red-necked Stint

Bull-headed Shrike

2026-09-24

2026-09-24: Hallasan Hike

A long day of pleasant hiking up and down Hallasan in early fall. It was about 3 years since we went up to the peak so long overdue. Plenty of nice wildlife including a Siberian Roe Deer, as well as many birds and insects. It was a bit chilly for the insects it seemed as not many were present, but did manage a new species of butterfly. I had a personal mission to look for some special plants up there, but unfortunately not located. A return trip next year is on the list!