Jeju Birds: January 2026

2026-01-10

2026-01-10: Surpries Cranes and Bonus Gull

A day after the Green Pigeon on Hallasan, we went off to the east coast to see three Siberian Cranes at Hado Wetland. It was super cool to see this species finally, making it the last crane species to see in Korea of the species known to occur in Korea. A week prior to this I saw a Demoiselle Crane up on the mainland, so it was very unexepected to see another new crane species so soon.

After soaking in the nice crane views, we went to the coast to see what was around, and found a Pallas's Gull mixed in with a large group of gulls. What a bonus!

Siberian Cranes

Greater Spotted Eagle, attempting to steal the show.

Pallas's Gull!

Vega Gull

Taimyr Gull

Vega Gull (?)

Black-tailed Gull

2026-01-09

2026-01-09: Green Pigeon in the White Snow

I went up to 1100 Altitude Wetland up on Hallasan in the morning to see a White-bellied Green Pigeon that has made the odd decision to overwinter in a snowy area at 1100 meters. It was quite confiding, just casually eating small berries. I heard a few weeks later that later it had a collision with a car and flew off into the forest, not to be seen again by birders.

White-bellied Green Pigeon

Perched in a tree

Varied Tit

Brown-eared Bulbul

2026-01-04

2026-01-04: Mara-do

A short trip to Mara-do in early January to see what was around. Well, not much aside from a nice variety of gulls mainly, and three Osprey which is more than the usual one or zero I see on Mara.