Spring migration was picking up in mid-April on the mainland of Jeju, so it was expected that Mara-do would have lots of surprises. I made a plan to visit for two days one night, and booked my accomodation at a minbak on the island (minbak is a small home styled accomodation that's common throughout the country particularly in rural areas). Right away I was finding interesting migrants and the whole island had a birdy feel. Highlights of the first day included Ryukyu Minivets, Oriental Pratincoles, and a Yellow Bunting.
The next morning I woke up to find the island completely covered in fog. This made spotting the birds difficult, but was also somewhat easier to get closer to the birds. The mornining started with a White-breasted Waterhen, another Yellow Bunting, and plenty of thrushes. As the morning warmed up, more and more songbirds came out for feeding. It was really spring birding on Mara! A couple exceptional highlights was a Tree Pipit (a lifer for myself), and a female White-throated Rock-thrush. Tree Pipits are not recorded often in Korea, although given how difficult it is to distinguish them from the very common Olive-backed Pipit, it's likely that they are simply underreported.
As the morning continued, I learned that the boats were canceled because of the fog. After some confusing situations with the single passenger ferry that ran that day, I managed to make an escape from the island through a different boat with some other local residents.
eBird checklists here:
April 19 - https://ebird.org/checklist/S226919798
April 20 - https://ebird.org/checklist/S227785038
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| Mara-do north fields, April 19th |
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| Mara-do north fields, April 20th. The fog had really rolled in. |
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| Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola |
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| Oriental Pratincole Glareola maldivarum |
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| Yellow-browed Bunting Emberiza chrysophrys |
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| Eastern Red-rumped Swallow Cecropis striolata |
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| Chinese Blackbird Turdus mandarinus |
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| Ryukyu Minivet Pericrocotus tegimae |
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| Yellow-throated Bunting Emberiza elegans |
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| Mara-do at night, lots of lights shining out of towns and villages on mainland Jeju. |
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| Japanese Thrush Turdus cardis |
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| Yellow Bunting Emberiza sulphurata |
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| One of many cats that live on Mara-do. A couple years prior there were many more cats, which casued an issue for migratory and locally breeding birds. The majority of them were relocated to shelters on mainland Jeju. |
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| Taimyr Gull Larus fuscus taimyrensis |
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| White-throated Rock-thrush Monticola gularis |
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| Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis |
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| Tree Pipit Anthus trivialis |
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| Blue Rock-thrush Monticola solitarius |
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| View of the south coast of Mara-do |
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| Evening meal at the minbak, 닭도리탕 |
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