Hokkaido I

After several stressful weeks, unable to decide whether we could travel to and back from Britain, we finally had to abandon the plan and decided to go on a short trip to the Eastern parts of Hokkaido instead.

YES! CRANES! EAGLES! & SNOW! ⛄

 

Our first encounter with Red-crowned cranes (Tanchoタンチョウ)

three White-tailed eagles (Ojirowashiオジロワシ) & a Steller's sea eagle (Oowashiオオワシ)

Sika deer (Ezoshikaエゾシカ)

Red fox (Ezokitsuneエゾキツネ)

 

We came across some amazing wildlife there and would like to share some of it with you:)

South Korea VII Royal Tombs

Cemeteries are always wildlife-friendly - little disturbance and lots of green.
Byoungwoo, our excellent bird guide, took us to one of the big royal tombs and we saw a lot of woodland birds there!

Great Spotted Woodpeckers (Akageraアカゲラ)

White-backed Woodpeckers (Ooakageraオオアカゲラ)

After a white-backed woodpecker pecked the tree a bit, a Grey-headed Woodpecker (Yamageraヤマゲラ) took over the place! what a bully!

a bit like Humpty Dumpty...

male Red-flanked Bluetail (Ruribitakiルリビタキ)

Nuthatch (Gojukaraゴジュウカラ)

male Elegant Bunting (Miyama-hoojiroミヤマホオジロ) or Yellow-throated Bunting

Jay (Kakesuカケス)

Water Deer (Kibanoroキバノロ)

Water deer are an endangered species in China but, according to Byoungwoo, they are thriving in South Korea. We saw them quite a few times although they are thought to be very shy. We may have been very lucky:)

King's tomb

The shrines and tombs for high class people have a stone corridor straight from the main shrine building, which is apparently a path for the sacred spirits to be led to the shrine. Interesting.

Korean lunch - dried cod soup & kimchi & little dishes

Korean light supper - cold noodles with chili paste covered with nori seaweed

Thanks to Byoungwoo, we really had a great time in South Korea. Nearly 60 species of birds in two days, some of which were lifers for us. It is a very good number considering the fact that Japan and Korea share many species. And of course we totally enjoyed his excellent choice of Korean cuisine as well!

Byoungwoo's Birding Korea site is here:
https://www.birdingkorea.com/

South Korea V Cheorwon

Apart from the cranes and geese, we were lucky to have seen quite a few juvenile White-tailed Eagles (Ojirowashiオジロワシ) on the paddy field in the DMZ.

We could not find any carcass so we could not figure out why they were there with lots of Common Magpies (Kasasagiカササギ).

A very nice picture of a White-tailed Eagle from our guide Byoungwoo

Whooper Swans (Oohakuchoオオハクチョウ) were in the water near the paddy fields.

From the hide in the observatory, we saw a large number of ducks, mainly Mallard (Magamoマガモ).

There were a small group of Baikal Teals (Tomoegamoトモエガモ) among the mallard. (a lovely photo taken by Byoungwoo)

A Bull-headed Shrike (Mozuモズ) was posing for us:)

Water Deer (Kibanoroキバノロ) (also taken by Byoungwoo)

Korean-style dinner - Tofu hotpot & kimchi dishes

very hot (spicy) & hot (temperature) and delicious!

& Korean-style breakfast - many little dishes with rice & soup

another great photo taken by Byoungwoo in Cheorwon

Mr Byoungwoo's "Birding Korea" site is here
https://www.birdingkorea.com/

Spain V - Doñana National Park

Small birds were much harder to take photos of as the area was so open like this.

I managed to shoot some of them.

Crested Larks (Kammuri-hibariカンムリヒバリ) - resident

Spanish Sparrows (Supein(Spain)-suzumeスペインスズメ) - resident

Both are females, which very much resemble the female of the House Sparrow.
I failed to take photos of males, which have a chestnut-coloured crown and nape.

Corn Buntings (Hata-hoojiroハタホオジロ) - resident

They were singing every 30 meters or so and probably one of the most sighted birds during our 2 daytrips.

Common Snipes (Tashigiタシギ) - wintering

Western Yellow Wagtails Motacilla flava iberiae 
(no Japanese name ニシツメナガセキレイ？) - summer birds

White Wagtails Motacilla alba alba? (Haku-sekireiハクセキレイ) - resident

Common Sandpiper (Isoshigiイソシギ) - resident
& Corn Bunting & House Sparrow (Ie-suzumeイエスズメ)

Common Sandpipers & House Sparrows - resident

a common view of swampy areas

Little Egrets (Kosagiコサギ), Great Egrets (Daisagiダイサギ), Grey Herons (Aosagiアオサギ), Purple Herons (Murasakisagiムラサキサギ), Western Cattle Egrets (Nishi-amasagiニシアマサギ), Eurasian Spoonbills (Herasagiヘラサギ), Purple Swamphens (Seikeiセイケイ), Glossy Ibis, White Storks were the most common in those habitat. We heard a Great Bittern (Sankanogiサンカノゴイ) booming!

That was about it for the day 1 in Doñana National Park with Vicent.
We counted more than 90 species, which I think was great.

a deer was watching us watching birds:)

Click here for Vicent's Doñana Wings