Sunday Afternoon on the Green Mile

Well, after spending the previous weekend and this Saturday exploring Uijongbu and Seoul, I was ready for some nature. So Sunday afternoon I loaded up the binoculars, camera, field guide and headed off to see what was flying around the "Green Mile." This is a stretch of perimeter on my installation that is hilly and wooded. It makes for some good exercise and usually, some good flying things.

There is a stretch of the Green Mile that I've nicknamed "Roller Alley" because I can pretty well count on finding a Broad-billed Roller Eurystomus orientalis along the stretch. I was not disappointed. Unfortunately from a photography standpoint, they prefer to sit way at the top of some poles in order to hunt insects.



Also sharing the pole-tops was a Brown-eared Bulbul Ixos amaurotis. These birds often strike me as looking rather "scruffy."As you can see, they like to be noisy as well.




As I moved past "Roller Alley" I came upon a group of Tits foraging in the trees and as I watched them I was treated to my first Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos kizuki. I was even able to catch a few blurry photos.



I also saw a flock of Vinous-throated Parrotbills, but, as is their custom, they stayed unphotogenically concealed in the brush most of the time. I also was able to see my first Eurasian Nuthatch.

Butterflies were actually the big story of the day, however, as I was afforded the opportunity to photograph several different species. The most numerous were the Arygronome ruslana a pretty orange-and-black species.




The rather oblong Neptis sappho was an interesting, if fleeting, subject.



Artogeia melete is a small, mostly white butterfly that seems to like these little white and yellow flowers.



This little gem has the rather geometric sounding name of Polygoniac areum.



And, of course, what would a walk through nature be without a mystery. I haven't been able to identify this rather cryptic-colored one. (I'm not even sure it's not a moth!)




You'll pardon me if I sound out of breath, I hope, I did mention this walk is hilly, right? Yes, they are as steep as they look!




My only dragon of the day was both fairly plentiful and very patient with me as I tried to get my camera to focus on them. I finally managed some shots not focused on the background of Sympetrum abfuscatum. They are of the same genus as the North American Meadowhawks.



Finally, as my walk began to wind down (literally the downhill side!) I interacted with a immature Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus. These fairly common small thrushes are probably my favorite Korean bird so far. I'm not sure why, they just appeal to me for some reason. Since they're my favorite and this one was so cooperative, here's two pictures.





Finally, as I made my way out of the woods, I snapped a picture of part of the Uijongbu skyline. Hard to believe until fairly recently the government prohibited buildings taller than 5 stories in this part of the country due to military concerns.



Well, thanks for joining me on yet another virtual hike through the outdoors in search of winged wonders. I snapped this one in a traffic mirror on the way back to my quarters.