Last week I took a morning trip to Mara-do to catch the early parts of fall migration. Shortly after arriving, I noticed a small bird land in some nearby grass. I thought it was a snipe at first, so I investigated further to help work on my snipe ID. As I got closer I couldn't see anything, until I noticed small rail-like feet and a long bill showing from underneath a rock. I crouched down and got a better look and found that the bird was a juvenile Baillon's Crake, hiding under a rock. I got quite a bit of time with the bird before it made off into the grass.
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| Baillon's Crake hiding under a typical Jeju lava rock. |
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| After a while, the Baillon's Crake creeped out from underneath the rock. |
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| Baillon's Crake in all its beauty in daylight. Not a common sight to see in Korea (or anywhere?). |
Everything else seen that morning paled in comparison (what can compete with excellent looks of a crake?) but still plenty of great birds around. Stonechats and Brown Shrikes were somewhat common, Pacific Swifts and Swallows filled the skies, and even a mystery snipe (Lathams maybe?).
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| Pacific Swift filled the sky, along with Barn Swallows. |
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| A mystery snipe, possible Latham's due to the elongated body, taller stance, longer legs, paler colour, grassland habitat etc... but, still can't be confirmed. |
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| Another shot of the snipe. |
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| Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens) |
The boat trips there and back were fairly uneventful other than nice looks at flying fish. The fun didn't stop there. While waiting for the bus I watched a Common Kingfisher grab a fish from a small stream.
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Flying Fish seen from the boat.
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| Common Kingfisher, perched on a rock with its catch. |
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