26 June 2006

Sincheon River


I took a bus to Dongdecheon Sunday afternoon and walked about 8 miles on this river-walk they have along the Sincheon River. It was warm, and breezy. The first thing that hit me once I got to the river was the smell. Now I have since read that they have made great strides in cleaning up the Sincheon River. I will admit it didn't look bad...But at least the first half of what I walked had that distinct odor of raw sewage. I had visions of adding to that infamous sub-set of my life-list, "Birds I have Thrown Up While Seeing." 8 species..Monterey Pelagic, small craft advisory...But I digress.

Of course there were plenty of Grey Herons (Ardea cinirea) around, and like their North American cousins the Great Blue Heron, they are one of my favorite birds.




There were also good numbers of Little Egrets (Egretta garzetta) plying the shallow river in search of food.



I saw my first Korean ducks as well, the Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilarhyncha). A Relative of the Mallard, and very similar in habits from what I saw.



Water birds weren't all I saw, however, as a White Wagtail (Motscilla alba leucopsis) came to the river for a visit as well allowing a few photographs.




Among the shorebirds present, I saw a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata), Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) and Long-billed Plover (C. placidus), pictured here.



I also managed my first two ode pictures in Korea. This first one was a lucky in-flight shot of one that was hawking near a drainage culvert. It's little fuzzy but I'm pretty confident it is a Pseudothemis zonata.



The second ode was much more cooperative and perched nicely on the walk so I could get a picture. Here's my first Orthetrum albistylum speciosum.




I'm not sure if this sign I saw several places was directed toward dragonflies, though I have a hunch the basic message is, "don't eat the fish!"



It didn't stop these local fishing buddies, however. (I also noticed several of the humanoid variety as well)



I turned around once I reached a rice paddy. Though I searched in vain for Intermediate Egret, the best I could do was Little and Great Egrets and, more Spot-billed Ducks.



Overall, I was very impressed with the walk. It seemed well-maintained and well used.



All in all my 4 hours were enjoyable and gave me lots of time for reflection, just like this last photo....

17 June 2006

Land of the Morning Calm

Greetings from South Korea!

I am now in Uijongbu, South Korea for a year. I've only been here a few days and I am starting to get used to having my days and nights reversed. I don't the separation from family thing has even begun to sink in yet....

But, I did manage to get some pictures of an Artogeia canidia. Not only that, but I managed to identify this Korean butterfly on a web page that is all in Japanese except for the Latin names...Anyway, here's the picture.

08 June 2006

75 Miles West

From Ohio, 75 minutes west into Indiana and a few days around New Castle. For our purposes though, a couple of hours around Memorial Park turned up some interesting sights. One of the first was an Eastern Comma Polygonia comma that caught my attention and then was kind enough to hold still for some pictures.


Common Whitetails Plathemis lydia were in abundance as well. Here is a juvenile male I caught on digits.

I wasn’t the only one in the park looking for bugs, either, or so it seems….

There were several damsels around as well but with a variable wind, they were tough, to say the least. My best bet was what I am relatively confident to call a Powdered Dancer Argia moesta.

A Jade Clubtail Arigomphus submedianus and Eastern Amberwing Perithemis tenera made a nice pare on a partially submerged log.

Finally, a Widow Skimmer Libellula luctuosa rounded out the day by perching for a photo as I was heading back to the van.

04 June 2006

Ohio Explorations

Took a trip this week to see my parent's new place in Darke County, Ohio. While there, I had to see what was out and about. I had some good shots and added several species to various lists--life, state and year.


Female Common Whitetail, Libellula lydia


Twelve-spotted Skimmer, Libellula pulchella


Calico Penant, Celithemis elisa


Silver-spotted Skipper, Epargyreus clarus


Zabulon Skipper, Poanes zabulon


Black Swallowtail, Papilo, polyxenes