23 July 2007

Tennessee-ing

Well, I have returned to the US after a year in the Land of the Morning Calm. Packed up the family, and moved from South Carolina to Central Texas. On the way, we spent some time in Tennessee. While there, I got these shots one afternoon.

Common Whitetail

Blue Skimmer

Slaty Skimmer

Spangled Skimmer

Eastern Amberwing

22 April 2007

Just a Little Walk...

Well, I've been back in Korea about a week and a half after an extended leave (and illness) stateside. I wanted to get out and enjoy the Spring weather and see what birds I could find so, in good Thoreau fashion, out the door I went....

I went to what I still call "Uijenongbu City Park" because I don't know what it is really called. I noticed they had a new trail roped off going up toward the area I was interested in birding so...off I went. It turned out this is the trail that goes over Highway 3 and into Bukan National Park. Well, why not? So I kept on trucking.

In the early stages of my hike, there were many reminders of where I was, from a military standpoint. I was on the western border of the Uijeongbu Corridor, a historical invasion route of the peninsula from the north, and a direct route from North Korea to Seoul. Many of these fortifications are still maintained, at least to some degree, by the looks of it.



On the way up the ridge line, I saw several birds, including Long-tailed Tit, White-Backed Woodpecker, Pygmy Woodpecker and Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler. The temperature was pleasant, and the trail was busy. Spring is starting to really take hold here and I saw lots of bushes with these pretty purple flowers.



On one overlook I was able to get a picture of where I had gone so far. You can see Camp Red Cloud in the upper left. I walked through town behind the high-rise apartments to the right and then up the ridge in the right foreground. (was it really that far?) The haze/pollution is evident in the picture.



The mountains are rugged and beautiful with lots of outcroppings.



I saw lots of these banners throughout the park, I assume this is the Korean equivalent of Smokey Bear? I saw him and his little friend on some different signs as well, maybe they are the Korean National Parks mascots? This one seems to be about fire prevention.



It's places and days like this that God just soothes my soul. How can you not feel His goodness walking down a path like this?



After going along the ridge line for a while, I decided maybe I should head back down before I wore myself out completely. So I found a path headed down to Uijeongbu and it followed a growing mountain stream for a good part of the way. I took several pictures. Here's one of them. The sound of the rushing water was very nice.



As I came closer to the bottom, I came across a Buddhist monastery. It marked the farthest part up that you could drive. (Well, you might drive, parts of it looked pretty hairy to me!)



Apparently, the ascetic life isn't quite what it used to be. (Note the two satellite dishes and propane tanks next to the houses in the foreground.



Once I reached the entrance to the park, I stopped at a local shop and bought a Korean-sized bottle of orange juice. This was quite refreshing as I hadn't brought quite as much water as I would have if I had known how far I was going to go. (Korea has bottles of juice that are 1.5 liters in many stores.)

I was then faced with a dilemma, well two, actually. The most pressing one was finding a subway stop. That I accomplished in short order with the help of a street sign pointing me in the right direction. (I really appreciate how much English is in this country!) Then I had to decide to go shower before meeting friends for dinner or go to Eungbang Station near the Han river and look for ducks.

Ducks won. (Sorry, guys!)

Once I remembered what line I wanted to transfer to, I arrived and started looking to see what was around. I was soon greeted by this lovely couple.



Mandarin Ducks! These relatives of the Woodduck are quite the sight to behold. I sat and watched them for almost 30 minutes before I had to head back north.





I also saw the more common ducks for this spot, including Mallards and Eurasian Teal





As I was starting to think about leaving, a Great Cormorant flew in and decided to dry off for a while.



I finally succumbed to my schedule and took the subway back to Uijeongbu for my dinner engagement. We ate at the Spaghetti House and then topped it off with ice cream at Baskin Robbins. A good day, a refreshing day, and yet, at the end, I was tired and glad to shower and hit the sack.

Until next time...

05 January 2007

Changdeok Palace

Tuesday, I went down to Seoul to spend some time with my brother-in-law and his wife and my mother-in-law who was visiting us in Korea. This, of course, let me go through one of my favorite subway stations, Naksapyeong.



It might be a little goofy to have a favorite station, but after a while, you get to know some of them and their various personalities.

The agenda for the day was to go and see some of the palaces in Seoul...So after lunch, onto the subway and away we go....To our first stop. Now, I'll be the first to admit, my Korean is minimal and I can't read a lick of Hangul. But even I can figure this sign out.



Well gee, here's what we could have seen...



So, now doubting our printed guide, but pressing on anyway, we went to a market, whose name I can't recall--lot's of "food" that was across my "line" and bunches of clothes and textiles. Then we walked over to Dongdaemun Stadium and its flea market. (Is it possible to go to Seoul without visiting this place?)

Then, tentatively putting our trust in our guidebook again we headed for Changdeok Palace and the promised 1550 English-speaking tour.



We made it and enjoyed the tour, which takes about 90 minutes and entails about 1.5 miles of walking. The view above is the Main Hall, just inside (can you guess?) the Main Gate! Below is a detail shot of figures on the corners of some of the roofs. They have significance in Buddhism, but I didn't catch what, exactly, that significance was.



Hers is a view looking toward the Main Gate from the front of the Main Hall.



And then a shot of the "throne" in the Main Hall. The Main Hall and courtyard were only used for large and important ceremonies, according to our guide.



We then progressed from the Main Hall area on the rest of our tour. Here is a shot of some of the grounds. Rather pretty, even in the dead of winter.



Here is a shot of our tour guide, and the family standing behind her....yeh. (You had to be there.)



The quarters of the royal family (king and queen) were the next main attraction. There are covered walkways between the various buildings of this complex.



At various spots around the grounds, near major buildings, are these large water-pots. Our guide explained that they were for fire prevention, though not the way most of us would think. The idea was, when the fire gods would come down of the sky, they would see themselves reflected in the water, be frightened, and run away, not causing fires.



Most of the main buildings were exquisitely painted. It would be a full-time job just to be on the paint crew for this palace. Here is a shot showing some of the detail.



Some areas had small gutters and downspouts, which were also decorative as well as functional. I am assuming the downspout is supposed to resemble a Tufted Duck, which is fairly common in Korea.



Yes, we are still in the royal quarters, let's look at roof lines for a moment. Here is the king's quarters.



And the queen's quarters. (yes, apparently it isn't that good to be the king.)



Notice the lack of the ridge on the queen's quarters? There was a lot of symbolism in this, and I didn't catch it all. Part of it had to do with spirits coming down to their children at birth and the roof with a ridge would block that somehow.

Moving on from the royal quarters, here is a view of the interior of a random room.



And a gate in one of the internal palace walls. (This is a large complex and is subdivided, I assume for both security and aesthetic reasons.)



And here is a little garden area as we leave the royal quarters compound.



Speaking of gardens, the palace has a "secret garden." Here is the "approach" to this special area.



One of the main features of this large garden area is the library. The building in the center is the main library, with reading areas on the second floor. The building to the left is additional book storage. You can also see the main gate leading up to this structure.



Here is a gazebo, also located next to the pond from the picture above. It has a non-traditional roofline and more corners than the typical building. All of this is supposed to help it represent a lotus flower. (That's what she said, honest!)



compare the above with this more "typical" pavilion and you can see the difference.



A closer view of the library and the main gate leading up to it.



When you get close enough, you find this little gate to the left of the main gate for the library. This is the gate that most people who were allowed to come to the library had to use. Only royalty and certain officials could use the big gate, apparently.



Near some of the buidlings were these sundials, which I found interesting. I don't know what all the markings mean, but they look pretty advanced, I assume showing equinoxes and the like.



As we progressed on our tour, and I kept taking photos, I knew I wanted to write this up on my blog....But my blog is about flying things.....Oh, look! A Eurasian Magpie!



And not even a good picture of it at that, but I've satisfied my OFTC rule. (Obligatory Flying Thing Content).

And of course, what would any palace be without servant's quarters? (Well, it would be a pain to clean and maintain, that's for sure!)



And that completes our tour together. Thanks for joining me. Until next time.....