Northwest of Seoul
• Han-Imjin
River
One of the most interesting, and beautiful, areas near
Seoul, with a wide river, sand-banks, rice-fields and reed-beds. Follow Route 23
out from Seoul: the birding is excellent anywhere between the Ilsan IC and the
resort area at Imjingak. Stopping at the road side is, strictly speaking,
illegal (though this is an opinion not shared by an increasing number of hot
coffee sellers and sightseers!). At the Imjingak Resort, park and climb to the
roof of the restaurant block for wide views of the area and some of the more
bizarre birding to be found anywhere nationwide!
-Star
birds
With freezing temperatures, Cinereous
Vultures move south into
Korea,
becoming numerous in the DMZ and
at the Han-Imjin River |
|
Cinereous Vultures patrolling the winter skies, with a
single flock of 140 in 2002, and hordes of geese create excitement throughout
the winter. Other raptors include White-tailed and occasionally
Steller's Sea Eagles, Golden Eagle, Buzzards and Hen Harriers.
Winter surveys have shown that 40 000 or more waterbirds can be present too,
with top honors going to the rapidly declining Swan Goose (with a peak of
2,500) and White-naped Crane. |
• Ganghwa Island
One of the most popular weekend
destinations for Seoulites (being only 60-90 minutes northwest of the capital by
car or bus), Ganghwa is becoming increasingly developed and accessible.
Nonetheless, its wide vistas, from huge tidal-flats to strikingly green mountain
ridges still contain many habitats and points of interest for visiting
birdwatchers.
-Star birds
Bleak but beatiful: tidal-flat at Ganghwa |
|
Ganghwa, especially near to the southern coastline is great at
almost any time of the year. It is the best place in the world in autumn to see
flocks of the globally endangered Black-faced Spoonbill (with ca 150 out of a
world population of only 850 in 2001), but these are actually present daily from
early May through to the middle of September, along with the elegant Chinese
Egret which also breeds locally. In winter, scan the tidal-flats in the
southeast for the massive and majestic Red-Crowned Cranes (14 were still
wintering here in 2001/2002), while in April and May and again from July to
October, the same flats hold good numbers of shorebirds, several species of
which occur in internationally important concentrations. But Ganghwa is not only
about waterbirds: scrubby hillsides, woodlands and rice-fields support good
numbers of passerines, especially buntings. Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Varied
Tit and Siberian Accentor are three regular species to be found here in winter
too, adding further colour and quality to your day's birding.
|
• Yeongjong
Island
Although large areas have been reclaimed to create the Incheon
International Airport (the arrival and departure point for the majority of
foreign visitors to Korea), tremendous tidal-flats still remain only 5 minutes
from the airport by taxi.
-Star birds
The center of the world's breeding
population of the rakish and
elegant
Chinese Egret is here on Incheon's
tidal-flats. |
|
Remaining tidal-flats, particularly those to the south, often
support at the right season large numbers of shorebirds (especially
Dunlin and Great Knot, but also the occasional in both
April/May and again in September and October) and small numbers of Chinese
Egret and Saunders's Gull from April to September. In winter, there
are fewer birds, but these include good numbers of the highly attractive
Ruddy Shelduck, and small numbers of Red-Crowned Cranes in the
north. Woodland areas are good too, especially those towards the northeast of
the island, which can hold a broad range of migrants during migration,
especially buntings and thrushes. |
• Song
Do
Sandwiched in between reclamation projects, and flanked by a major
road (Route 77) and buildings, the Song Do tidal-flats in southwest Incheon (and
thus strictly speaking, southwest of the center of Seoul), would hardly seem a
great place to go birding¡|however, appearances can be deceptive!
-Star birds
rich muds here are among the most productive
anywhere, and the tide line can hold many thousands of birds at the right
season. Especially in winter, gulls take center stage, with up to 640
Saunders's Gulls in December 2001, and 143 Relict Gulls in
February the same year. Shorebirds can be numerous, with several hundred
Eurasian Curlews and several thousand Dunlin the most numerous,
giving better views here than anywhere else nationwide. |
