Stayed at the Dragon City Novotel Hotel in Seoul for a meeting but there were precious few green patches near the hotel for my usual morning bird ramble….a local friend suggested the Seoul Forest Park about 15min away by taxi so I set off at 6am….
The taxi dropped me off at the car park right at the top of this map…I walked the route indicated in red and returned to the car park at the end to catch a cab back.
On walking through the car park, I noticed a charming little garden on the left where summer blooms and bird song beckoned….
Path leading into the garden…I could hear the sound of Marsh tits and vinous throated parrotbills…the garden was Monet..ish in character…My old friend the brown eared bulbul was the first to show…Sitting amongst the flowers, the tits flitted around but it was difficult shooting them in their exuberance… nevertheless, sitting amongst the summer flowers and just viewing them was pleasant enough. Cutting through the garden, I skirted the car park towards the main part of the park along Apple tree road…Apple tree roadJust wandering around the water plant at the end of Apple tree road, I came across the Experiential Yard, which was a mini auditorium like space and seating around it…it’s no.33 on the mapSurprisingly there was an old piano under the shed and there being no one around at that time, I played a couple of verses from Carole King’s Tapestry….’My life has been a tapestry, of rich and royal hue….’ I normally don’t mix birding with music but it just felt right that morning to indulge in two of my favourite hobbies…birding and tinkling on the piano…..life is good!This eurasian tree sparrow was the only witness to my playing!I then walked along the side of the Insect house arriving at this lovely walkway behind the water plant….this is Cherry Tree path…about 200m long leading to the deer corral….I spent most time on this short walkway as the birds were most active here….First bird in the distance was a grey heron perched on the roof of the water plantand then this handsome fellow flew right down in front of meAn Asian tit, formerly known as the Cinereous Titthen in a flurry of activity, this lovely chestnut capped bird and a few of his mates flitted around…the Vinous throated parrotbill! Also known as Webb’s parrotbillVinous throated parrotbillsOriental magpies were common too..more brown eared bulbuls showed upthis is the far end of cherry tree path beyond which you walk under a huge overpass to the deer corralthere is an elevated skybridge over the deer corral, leading to the main road and the Han river at the other end…Water bodies along the way and lots of oriental magpiesthere was an interesting modern sculpture at the begining of the skywalkanother brown eared bulbulthen on my way back, several active Marsh Tits appearedMarsh titthe Asian tit also came againAsian titand among the ferns the vinous throated parrotbill also posedVinous throated parrotbill beautifully contrasted by the silver ferns
This was a great way to spend 2.5 hours on a warm summer Seoul morning….I did not visit the museums, insect gardens etc etc but still had a great walk around, surrounded by birds and flowers ….doesn’t get much better than this! It was easy enough calling a taxi by the Korean App called K-ride and I was back in my hotel by 9am.
The Natural Traveller 