Chicken Information by Leslie Hurteau
Round mid-June, I camped at Seogwipo Pure Leisure Forest, up on the south-west slope of Hallasan. There had been earlier sightings of Ruddy Kingfishers, Black Wooden Pigeons, and Northern Hawk Cuckos at this park in previous years, so I gave it a shot. None of these species have been discovered on this go to (sadly), however loads of different species have been round regardless.
Sunday night was spent doing a fast stroll by means of some roads and trails earlier than sundown. Loads of Gray-backed Thrush have been heard in track, and a pair Lesser and Widespread Cuckoos. Loads of anticipated species, akin to Oriental Greenfinch, Brown-eared Bulbul, Warbling White-eyes, calling Ring-necked Pheasants, and Japanese, Lengthy-tailed, and Various Tits. A number of Giant-billed Crows may very well be discovered looming about, in addition to Oriental Magpies by the car parking zone. One shock was an Ashy Minivet heard calling from the cover. It was not discovered or heard once more, however I did handle a sound recording.
Simply after sundown an uncommon name was heard as I used to be nearing a bend within the path. it was a 3 syllable name that sounded in contrast to something I had heard earlier than. After listening and doing a fast recording I made a decision to do playback with some flycatcher calls to hear for a response and see if I type out the thriller chicken. It responded instantly to a Narcissus Flycatcher name, however after listening to the Narcissus track it wasn’t matching the thriller track. I remembered that Ryukyu Flycatcher appears to be like fairly much like Narcissus so I performed its track to match and surprisingly it matched. It was fairly darkish at this level so I made a decision to maneuver on and take a look at the following day at daybreak.
The remainder of the evening was uneventful with no owls calling, though loads of White’s Thrushes have been heard singing. The journey again to my tent was satisfying with varied moths, spiders, and fireflies that got here out with the darkish.
The following morning had an early predawn begin, with a attainable singing Japanese Scops Owl heard from my tent. The decision was a bit larger than I anticipated, reminding me a little bit of the knocking heard at Buddhist temple, very constant pulsing however not as quick as a nightjar. With no temples round, I may solely assume an owl. Sadly it stopped earlier than I may report it.
I took a path to the lookout level earlier than dawn. Round 4:50am, about 20 minutes earlier than gentle, the forest started to return to life with all types of birds calling, together with many of the beforehand seen birds, and Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Wrens. I made my means again to the world with the fascinating flycatcher and it was shortly refound singing. This time the track was extra complicated, with much more variation added. After making some sound recordings I managed some beauty and photographs. It had much more black, making it match a Narcissus Flycatcher as an alternative of Ryukyu. Afterward after checking photographs and sound recordings with others (many because of Dr. Nial Moores, Tim Edelsten, and Neil Davidson), it appeared that it was most certainly a Narcissus Flycatcher primarily based on bodily look and track phrases not heard in Ryukyu Flycatcher. Provided that Narcissus Flycatcher is thought for mimicry (one thing I discovered lately), it’s attainable this male discovered a Ryukyu Flycatcher track sooner or later and now had it as a part of its repertoire. Regardless, a Narcissus Flycatcher in mid-June on Jeju is a nice report, and if it breeds it will be the second identified breeding report for Jeju.
The remainder of the morning was spent strolling the remainder of the paths. Highlights included Black Paradise Flycatcher (seen nicely), Fairy Pittas (heard extraordinarily shut however not seen in any respect!), a dozen or so Yellow-rumped Flycatchers, and one unlucky Northern Boobook getting mobbed by a riled up group of Tits, White-eyes, and Bulbuls.
eBird checklists may be seen right here: June 18 and June 19
