Joohee Lee, EAAFP Intern
Group photo at Seosan Birdland ©EAAFP/Eugene Cheah
On 24 October 2015, Tomoko Ichikawa (EAAFP Communication Officer) along with Joohee Lee (Intern) and Eugene Cheah (Photographer) participated in a birdwatching trip to Seosan Birdland, Republic of Korea organised for SangIncheon Middle School students. This trip was led by Sunjeong Nam school teacher, a member of Incheon-Gyenggi Task Force and the leader of the Black-faced Spoonbill Network in Incheon. Other teachers and members of the network also joined the trip.
Lecture in the bus ©EAAFP/Eugene Cheah
Birdwatching was a new activity to the students. On the way to Seosan, Tomoko gave a lecture about migratory waterbirds, their habitats and some tips for bird watching, and asked them to share their findings and happy moments. Then, teacher Nam gave ‘missions (task papers)’ to the students to be completed during the trip.
After arriving in Seosan, a staff member from Birdland joined us as a guide for Cheonsu Bay [EAAF046]. We stopped at a birdwatching point with a hide, then helped students to find birds and work on their missions. They enjoyed listening to birds and watching their big flocks in flight. They tried hard to look for identification clues, such as the colour and the shape of the bill. Later, we went to Birdland and learned more about migratory waterbirds in the Seosan area.
We saw Bean Goose, White-fronted Goose, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-faced Spoonbill, Eurasian Curlew, Mallard, Spot-billed Duck, Cormorant, Great Crested Grebe, Common Teal, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Black-tailed Gull, Peregrine Falcon, Cattle Egret, Black-billed Magpie, Tree Sparrow and Rufous Turtle Dove.
Students during bird watching ©EAAFP/Eugene Cheah
On the way back to Incheon, the students shared their impressions. One of them said, “now I can identify Bean Goose and White-fronted Goose!” For sure that they will enjoy bird watching in the future too!
