2022-04 Coastal Birds in April, Jeju-do

 A few photos of various birds that I saw around the coast on Jeju in April. Given that Jeju is an island, there is always potential for surprises in spring. While the Great Knot isn't a particularly rare bird for Korea, this one was giving really clear views while it fed.

Great Knot

Great Knot

Great Egrets can be seen year round in Korea, but this one in particular caught my attention. It was in the middle of consuming a rather large fish.

Great Egret

Pacific Reef-herons are resident birds on Jeju. While they're not particularly rare, they can be easily overlooked, with their dark feathers blending in perfectly with the black volcanic rock along Jeju's coast. This one was on the wrong side of the sun in terms of lighting, but otherwise was quite close allowing for a nice look at the details of this species.

Pacific Reef-Heron

Chinese Egrets breed in some parts of Korea, but on Jeju they're really only seen during spring migration and occasionally summer. This one was feeding on a tidal flat on the east coast. The strong lighting and head plumes blowing in the wind gave this already impressive bird a very dramatic feeling.

Chinese Egret

2022-04 Little Curlew and more, Jeju-do

Jeju Island is a particularly interesting place for migrant birds in spring time, and one of the best spots is in the southwest of the island. While exploring around there one morning in mid April, I inadvertently stumbled across a small group of Little Curlew. This species is rather rare to find in Korea, but are somewhat regular on Jeju during spring migration.

Little Curlew, hiding in the grass and flowers.

Also mixed in with the Little Curlew was a small group of Oriental Pratincoles, which soon began flying around me feeding on insects (much like swallows).

Oriental Pratincole feeding while flying. They're like the swallows of the shorebirds.

 A day after I found the Little Curlews, I stumbled across another somewhat uncommon or rare migrant for Korea, a Curlew Sandpipier. This one was not quite in its full red plumage, but pretty nonetheless. It was also a lifer for me, which added to the excitement of the find.

Little Curlew, not quite in its full red breeding plumage.