Making The Most Of Our Seoul Layover

October 21, 2024

Laura and I had a long layover scheduled in Seoul, South Korea. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that there were no visa requirements for Canadians and so we schemed how we could leave the airport to go see some new birds. Neither of us had explored this part of the world before and so even the common birds would be new. 

I reached out to Birding Korea as they regularly accommodate "layover birding" from the Seoul airport. However, I was dismayed to see their quote was 650 USD to pick us up from the airport at 6 AM, take us birding for the day, and drop us back off in the afternoon. I also work as a fellow birding guide, so I understand the value that guides can provide and I also realize that you pay a certain price to have this expertise. But I've never been quoted a price even remotely as high as this. Obviously this company gets enough business regardless, so it must be a viable strategy. Or perhaps the guide didn't feel like guiding us that day, so they gave us a ridiculous price to make it worth their while? Regardless, Laura and I weren't going to pay that. We figured that we could find some birds on our own by taking the metro for a small fraction of the price!

Oriental Magpie - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

And that is just what we did. It took a bit of time but eventually we were able to figure out payment for the metro (strangely, none of the machines accept card and so we had to take out cash). I had researched a few decent looking parks not far from one of the metro lines. We settled on Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park and braved rush hour pedestrian traffic on the metro. By 8:30 AM, we had arrived. 

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

We emerged from the metro station and were met by autumn in the northern hemisphere. It was familiar and comforting, and quite a contrast to the Bornean jungles we had just departed. There was something about the cool autumn breeze, the rustling of leaves just starting to change colour, the scent of the forest and the sounds of gulls and corvids off in the distance that made it feel like Canada in early fall. Even some of the weedy plants beside the road were familiar enough (the most common aster was Symphyotrichum pilosum, which is common where I live in Canada). 

Symphyotrichum pilosum - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

But of course, a glance at a street sign, a vehicle or even a closer inspection of those gull and and corvid sounds made it clear that we were in South Korea and not Canada. It was a little strange to be somewhere so familiar yet foreign at the same time. 

We quickly shook off the cobwebs from our overnight flight and made the thirty minute walk from the subway station to the park. We ventured over to an observation platform overlooking the Han River. I was glad that I had my scope with me; the tripod was in my checked bag that remained at the airport and so I rested it on the railing for stability. 

Spot-billed Ducks - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

The Spot-billed Duck was one of several guaranteed lifers here. This is quite an attractive duck and we came away with excellent views of many of them. It may be an abundant duck in this part of the world, but it was one that I was happy to share a moment with for the first time. 

Spot-billed Ducks - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Many of the birds here fill similar niches to "our" birds back home, but with some minor differences. Instead of Double-crested Cormorants, we watched Great Cormorants flying up and down the river. Instead of Ring-billed Gulls, there were far superior Black-tailed Gulls. Gray Herons replaced Great Blue Herons, while Vega and Mongolian Gulls were present instead of American Herring Gulls. 

Great Cormorant - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Black-tailed Gull - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

This Gray Heron was swimming in the middle of the river, a behaviour that I don't think I have witnessed before. 

Gray Heron - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

While scoping the river a group of five Tundra Bean-Geese flew over, while some dedicated scoping finally produced a group of Common Pochards, a Tufted Duck and a Great Crested Grebe.

Tundra Bean-Geese - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Oriental Magpie - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Laura and I turned back inland and focused on the landbirds in the woodland patches along the river. This was exciting as almost half of the species were lifers! 

Brown-eared Bulbul is a common and conspicuous resident in Seoul and we had fun observing our first ones. 

Brown-eared Bulbul - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Tits and woodpeckers were quite common. We found dozens of Asian Tits, a flock of Long-tailed Tits and a small group of Marsh Tits. Woodpecker-wise, we noted Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Gray-headed Woodpecker. 

Gray-capped Pygmy Woodpecker - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Long-tailed Tit - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

The day's highlight for me was finding and sorting through quite a few buntings (genus Emberiza). Here there is an interesting mix of resident and wintering species, and at this time of year they are in their nondescript winter plumages. In total we found over twenty buntings of four species. Black-faced was the dominant species, along with a few Tristram's Buntings and a single Reed Bunting and Rustic Bunting. 

Black-faced Bunting - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Tristram's Bunting - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

The default dove type here is the Oriental Turtle-Dove. 

Oriental Turtle-Dove - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

This insect was very exciting for me, as I immediately knew what it was; a highly invasive species called the Spotted Lanternfly which has recently started to colonize Ontario. They are invasive here in South Korea as well; their native range includes parts of China and Vietnam. 

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

As the morning progressed the occasional sprinkles of rain ended, and a bit of sun peeked through the clouds. This improved my photography efforts, while it also helped us find several species of butterflies and dragonflies. 

Brown-eared Bulbul - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Arctic Warbler - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Asian Green-veined White (Pieris melete) - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Asian Comma (Polygonia c-aureum) - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Short-tailed Blue (Cupido argiades) - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Laura and I lingered in this area for an extra few minutes. I love this sign! It reads "The Area Where Snakes Appear". If only it was that easy...

We found a nice mixed flock of birds in this area that contained mostly buntings but also an Olive-backed Pipit, while a Siberian Weasel provided brief glimpses as it slunk around near the riverbank! My photos of the weasel barely count as record shots so I will spare you. 

Black-faced Bunting - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Olive-backed Pipit - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

It was around this time that the exhaustion from not really sleeping during our overnight flight was starting to catch up to Laura. While I was birding a mixed flock she was investigating the back of her eyelids while somehow staying upright. Impressive work!

The birding continued unabated and we added several lifers in short order. First up was a flock of handsome Yellow-billed Grosbeaks. A few minutes later we connected with a band of gregarious, noisy Vinous-throated Parrotbills. Laura's Bird Of The Day was secured when the parrotbills appeared. 

Yellow-billed Grosbeak - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Vinous-throated Parrotbill - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Vinous-throated Parrotbill - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Two species of magpies reside in Seoul and they are both rather common and easy to find. Oriental Magpies were everywhere. We only found a handful of Azure-winged Magpies towards the end of our walk. 

Oriental Magpie - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Azure-winged Magpie - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Commotion at the side of the path grabbed our attention, and Laura noticed this female Ring-necked Pheasant trying to remain hidden in the low grasses. 

Ring-necked Pheasant - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Another familiar species from back home. This is a Chinese Mantis, but here it is a native species. 

Chinese Mantis (Tenodera sinensis) - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

We picked through one final mixed flock near the end of our visit. This one was extra birdy as it also contained a Daurian Redstart and Mugimaki Flycatcher. Laura also had a very brief view of a thrush that was almost certainly Naumann's Thrush, but it vanished before we had confirmatory views. 

Mugimaki Flycatcher - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

Daurian Redstart - Gangseo Wetland Eco-Park, Seoul-T'ukpyolshi, South Korea

We spent most of the day here, finally returning to the airport in the early afternoon. We didn't quite have enough time to make any more birding stops, but we added one final lifer with several Black-faced Spoonbills seen from the metro. All in all, an excellent way to spend the day. I am sure Laura and I will be back in South Korea in the future so that we can see more of what this beautiful country has to offer. 

Borneo: One Final Day At Kinabalu Park

October 20, 2024    

And just like that, it was our final day in Borneo. The previous afternoon saw Laura and I driving to the town of Kundasang which is the main jumping off point to visit Kinabalu Park. There remained several Bornean endemics that would be lifers for Laura here, including Bare-headed Laughingthrush, Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher, Bornean Forktail, Whitehead's Broadbill and Pale-faced Bulbul. I still needed the bulbul as well, despite having spent around ten days in this park over the years. In addition to the allure of potential new birds, we were also looking forward to the cool mountain air and birding mixed flocks on our own. 

We were met with cool, foggy conditions upon our arrival. Vehicle access is now restricted to park vehicles and workers along the main park road beyond the Hill Lodge and so we parked at the Liwagu Restaurant, loaded up our day packs and began hiking up the road. 

One of the first species we observed was not a bird, but this Small-toothed Palm Civet trotting along the utility wire alongside the road. 

Small-toothed Palm Civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata) - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

We quickly found one of Laura's targets, the Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher. This species is a relatively common inhabitant of the understory of montane forests of Borneo. They often hunt alongside the road in Kinabalu Park, as this one was doing. 

Eyebrowed Jungle-Flycatcher - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

We continued up the road towards Timpohon Gate which is the furthest that one can go unless they are signed up for an expensive, multi-day guided trek to the summit. Unfortunately, bird life was almost nonexistent other than a couple of small mixed flocks containing just the common birds. I kept an ear out for our other bird targets, but not much of anything was vocalizing. However, we came across another mammal highlight. 

This Tufted Pygmy Squirrel is an endemic species to Borneo's highlands and it also happens to be one of the smallest squirrel species in the world. We had only seen one with the group earlier in the trip and Laura had missed it, so this was a big highlight for her. We watched the squirrel for a few minutes as it frenetically scampered around the tree limbs, stopping only briefly to scrape the lichen off the bark (delicious!). 

Tuted Pygmy Squirrel (Exilisciurus whiteheadi) - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Eventually Laura and I reached the Timpohon Gate. We spent a couple of hours in the vicinity as the birding here is often great. Occasionally, Pale-faced Bulbuls can be found in the trees here but we had no luck. If only we were allowed to walk further beyond Timpohon Gate. Not only is the bulbul much easier beyond the gate, but that is the only way to see the Friendly Bush-Warbler or the Sundaic Island-Thrush, neither of which we had seen before. Oh well!

Snowy-browed Flycatcher - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

The birding was excellent and we quickly found two endemic bird species that are often targeted by visiting birders here: Fruit-hunter and Mountain Black-eye. 

Fruit-hunter (female) - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

The female Fruit-hunter, above, is clad in orange, tan and black, while the male has an interesting combination of slate gray, black and tan. These nomadic thrushes are endemic to the highlands of Borneo, where they move around altitudinally in search of specific fruiting trees. 

Fruit-hunter (male) - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

A pair of Mountain Black-eyes were sneaking around some of the fruiting trees, allowing me to capture my best photos so far of this species. 

Mountain Black-eye - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Mountain Black-eye - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Mountain Black-eye - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

I purchased some coffee from the shop at Timpohon Gate to prolong our visit by a few minutes, just in case a pair of Pale-faced Bulbuls decided to come through. It didn't work. 

Gray-chinned Minivet - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Eventually, we cut our losses and began walking back down the road. We hoped that the occasional ray of sunshine and the slightly warmer temperatures would stir up some bird activity.

Not 15 minutes into our walk Laura got on a couple of interesting birds in the canopy, which she identified as Pale-faced Bulbuls! They flew back from the roadside before I could see them well and ten minutes quickly passed without a reappearance. I was debating whether the fleeting glimpse was enough to count (I could see its pale face, after all), when suddenly they appeared in the shrubbery right beside the road!

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

As much as I have a hard time getting excited about a bulbul, this one was a big highlight for me. It seemed everybody but me could find these things at Timpohon Gate and finally, on my fourth trip to Borneo, I connected. Laura and I spent about ten minutes with the bulbuls as they fed on fruits just a few meters from us. 

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

And just a few more photos...

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Pale-faced Bulbul - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Laura and I continued birding our way down the road, hoping for a Whitehead's Broadbill but coming up short. We turned off the road at the Mempening Trail to escape from from the occasional vehicle and other pedestrians along the road. The forest was beautiful. 

We found a mixed flock right away but this was a special mixed flock as it contained a bunch of Bare-headed Laughingthrushes! These bizarre birds are actually a type of babbler, and they are only found in montane forests in Borneo. I had only seen one before (on my very first trip here in 2017) and never managed any photos, so I was pretty excited to have another encounter with this species. It was, of course, a new one for Laura. Though they were a little shy and I never managed the photos I had hoped for, we had an awesome experience with them. 

Bare-headed Laughingthrush - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

We followed the Mempening Trail all the way back to the headquarters area, though bird activity was quite low. We saw a male Crimson-headed Partridge on the trail and I heard a distant Orange-backed Woodpecker, but mostly I occupied myself with investigating the plant life. 

Heptapleurum bipalmatifolium - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Lindsaea oblanceolata - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Bulbophyllum sp. - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Medinilla crassifolia - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Rain was threatening upon our arrival at the park headquarters. However, before the precipitation arrived with earnest we were able to turn up a pair of Bornean Forktails, another lifer for Laura! Luckily, one perched on a rock in the creek for a minute or so which allowed prolonged binocular views. We had already seen White-crowned Forktail and Chestnut-naped Forktail in the Danum Valley, so this completed the Borneo forktail sweep for us. 

Bornean Forktail - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

Bornean Forktail - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

And then the rains came. Laura and I took this time to have lunch at the Liwagu Restaurant and wait out the weather. The restaurant is quite over-priced compared to options just outside the park gate but we were willing to pay for the convenience this time. 

The rain eventually subsided, allowing Laura and I to hit the trails once again. Our afternoon session was less productive as bird activity had dropped and the Whitehead's Broadbills remained unaccounted for. One final highlight was a pair of very cooperative Orange-backed Woodpeckers along the Silau-Silau trail. 

Orange-backed Woodpecker - Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

And with that, we called it quits and began the drive back to Kota Kinabalu. The drive was uneventful and the rental car exchange went well, and we soon found ourselves in the airport waiting for our flight. It had been an incredible trip!

In total, we found 313 species of birds on the trip, of which 110 were lifers for Laura and 19 were lifers for me. We also documented 31 species of mammal, 34 species of reptile, and 10 species of amphibian, along with countless insects.