Monday, April 05, 2004
In search of Cranes, @ NorthKorea Border
Another solo backpacking/birding trip, in search of the magnificent Japanese Cranes/ Red-Crowned Cranes,
wintering in the high-security military area along the NorthKorea border.
(Some stuff from DMZ, the DeMilitarized Zone, North Korea border... the "remotest" place I've been to! There was a National Geographic cover story on Korean DMZ, July 2003)
SouthKorean Army checkpost at high-security DMZ.
On SK highways, camouflaged towers called TankTraps are wired to explode and block the advance of North Korean tanks.
(Guess the army guards wouldn't have let me click if they had noticed ! Got away with it)
Mine-Country! Landmines!!
Mine field cordoned off with barbed wire fence, bordering DMZ
( According to the cover story of NatGeo Jul'03,
"Landmines occassionally explode in the distance, set off by some unlucky deer" )
DAY 1
Sat, 27 Mar 2004 :
'Tis past midnight hours, at the Ecology Academy/Nature Study centre
here in the high-security military area just next to North
Korean border, enjoying the amazing
hospitality of Korea Bird Protection Association.. (as I came
here to watch the rare Red Crowned Cranes).
It's been a very interesting experience from the time I disembarked from the bus at this border town of Cheorwon. When I rang the KBPA guys, was told someone will be at the bus stand shortly to pick me up. It was a pick-up van that looked like from a farm, that stopped and asked me to get in! :) The sprightly Mr Kim, an activist of KBPA was at the wheels, who said in broken konglish and signs and sounds of gunshots while driving :), that he tries to prevent those shooting the migratory birds for fun. Dr Im, a vet surgeon was sitting next. They drove me straight to a traditional Korean restaurant. I was offered free stay at the Ecology Centre next to DMZ.
Area close to DMZ is out of bounds for foreigners and require passport and entry permissions. But since I's going around with the KBPA regulars in the area, nobody at the army checkposts
bothered about any security checks. Well, in effect I roamed free, thanks to KBPA.
I've been offered 3 welcome drinks of Soju tonight at different
places.. with new faces joining, and they took me to the KBPA site office
where some injured/rescued birds are kept and trained for
releasing back in to the wild.. (a Red Crowned Crane, white-naped
crane, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Common Buzzard, Black
vulture and a magpie).. The Buzzard had a gun-shot
wing, now operated and kept 'on-sling' with a
steel-rod.. tomorrow morning they'll take it for
training to release back.. all birds are attended to
by vets from top Korean university..
After everyone else left, it was only 3 of us here at the Ecology Academy building with a very rural setup.
We talked into the midnight and beyond.. It is such a unique kind of thrill,
being a lone wanderer in the midst of people who find it
quite difficult to communicate, with very few english
words they know and a smattering of korean I could pick up
(except for this lady naturalist, Ms Chang who can handle
decent broken 'konglish'..
She volunteers for field work with school children-
to build nature-awareness, to instil a sense of responsibility etc to the
new generation kids- just a generation ago, this border area
had almost completely a peasant society )
What's most interesting is the fact that with our
common interest, on either side, there's such a
strong urge to share, that the language barrier
becomes less of a barrier- when you take delight in
crossing it !
I guess I missed a great deal of birding here in Korea.. Because am
getting to know these people only now.. (during previous visits, I
had tried to get hooked to some birding circle by
emailing to some Korean in Birdingpal.org.. but
unfortunately, didn't hear from any.. and felt it may be a small circle
of guides only catering to mainly American and British birders
who come for specific 'Birding Tours')
I was sharing with these guys that, while in Chicago, there's a place I'd planned to visit to watch the Cranes - The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin ( http://www.savingcranes.org/ )
The korean lady was excited and pulled out some print outs about ICF.
It was around 3am when we went to bed.
DAY 2
"Migratory Pit Stop -->1km", read the brown country-road signpost pointing deeper into the vast dry brown rice fields.
As I read it, the SUV veered onto the gravel road through the fields, and then on there was long dust trails behind. In search of the last of the wintering rare Cranes, we'd already covered
more than 20 kms through this high-security military area bordering the out-of-bounds Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along North Korean border.
I was offered this free ride by Ms Chang who does voluntary work at the Ecology Centre. She arranged for the vehicle of an acquaintance, also interested in birding, who came along with his SUV to drive us around.
I've been told by Ms Chang when we started from the Nature Camp, to consider myself lucky if I get to watch the cranes, as it is the very fag end of the winter migratory season.
It's been more than an hour and a half of sifting through the interiors of the dry rice fields with the SUV. Did watch some flocks of migratory Geese (Bean Goose, White Fronted Goose etc.). But for the cranes, lady-luck didn't smile.
I was almost crest-fallen as the Crane craze had consumed me fully by then. Suddenly Ms Chang
sprang with excitement from her seat, "Jogi!!"(over there) she was pointing. I couldn't make out;
Some almost indistinguishable specks in the distance, as the slightly warm air in the midday sun was creating those rippling like in a mirage. But her trained eyes were glinting with delight and her ebullience was contagious. Now driving was cautious not to disturb the birds with the whir. Stopped the vehicle more than 100m away. Binocs were pulled out with the instinctive ease of birders, as if they are an extension of yourself.
Thus finally I watched the last group of wintering White Naped Cranes,
~65 birds about to leave for their breeding grounds in Russia.
But the most high-profile of the cranes, the Red Crowned Crane/Japanese Crane with so much cultural significance attached to it, which can be seen in so many of traditional art work, was not around- the last batch had left under a week ago.
I've been enjoying the great hospitality of KBPA and curious, cutely strange experiences, from the time I landed at the local bus stand!
Earlier that day, Ms Chang's colleague at the Ecology Centre took me for an early morning birding walk to the nearby "Tokyo Reservoir", near which in the peak winter season, most of the Red Naped Cranes could be seen. From there, the hills of North Korea is visible at a close range. He showed me the place near to the reservoir which is the site of the 2nd North Korean Infiltration Tunnel ending, discovered in 1975. Later that day, I's reading a palmphlet for tourists, which said "If you are caught in the area near the Tunnel without carrying proper documentation to prove your identity, you can be arrested and treated as a RedBandit/Spy"!
Ohmegosh ! I couldn't stop laughing out loud. A Red Bandit!, A Spy! I wanted that experience too! :)
Epilogue:
The plan for the trip had taken shape a few months back, the day I picked up an old issue of NatGeo magazine from Bangalore's Strand bookshop. 'Divided Korea', said the cover with an unusual cover photo, portrait of an alert soldier in camouflage paint. There was a small picture of a Crane taking off in the cover story, and I's stung by shutterbug, I yearned to be there with my camera!.
Ms Chang, a naturalist at the Ecology Centre next to DMZ had informed me over phone that almost all cranes have already left and it'd be very difficult to spot the remaining few yet to leave, when I rang up while planning the trip. Decided to go ahead with the trip, as this could be the last chance to watch those magnificient birds.
The fact that this year the winter stayed on late, and the occurance of a heavy March-snow gave more room for hope that some cranes could still be around this late, though usually all the large raucous migrants leave by mid-March. It's first time in almost a century, that it snowed here in March. My Luck ! But it snowed so heavily that at many a place, roofs caved in ! Their bad Luck !
Most of the Cranes which winters in this area, do so to escape the harsh Siberian or other northern winter. They mate here during winter, and return to the breeding grounds far north by Spring. Now it's the fag end of winter and Spring has already arrived at the southern end of the peninsula. almost all the birds have left as temperature started touching doubles digits from sub-zero levels.
Before I read about these Cranes courting in the snow, I never thought,
for 'Wintering' (avoiding harsh winter in their summer habitat and travelling to warmer climes
when winter comes), birds would migrate to a place where it snows in winter. Well, may be they are avoiding much harsher winter further north. But still it surprised me.
[But the biggest surprise I had was that the very next week after my trip, while browsing books in the office library, picked The latest Apr/04 NatGeo magazine which was delivered the previous day, and it had this Special Feature on Cranes, with XACTLY the same kinda photo which I's dreaming of the whole of March and craving for framing that shot !- Red Crowned Cranes' courtship on snow!! I felt ssso miserable for the lost chance. They don't come often. Not sure when the next chance would be, if at all any pops up for me ]
The popularity of Cranes for use in artwork is due to the fact that they are known
to choose a mate for a lifetime.That loyalty and their elegence and size has inspired mankind
across cultures for thousands of years.
--x--
Links
Cranes @ NatGeo Magazine :
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0404/feature2/
Biology of Cranes
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/gee/cranbook/cranebook.htm
http://turumi.go.kr/
Creanes in Ancient Literature:
http://turumi.go.kr/
Birds Korea : http://www.birdskorea.org
---
Cranes Seeking Mate in Winter
( Audio File [00:26.9] available here)
Belonging to Guruidae of Guruiformes, crane has been designated as Natural Monument No. 202, and registered on the Red Data Book as 'endangered birds of the world'. It has a length of 136-140 cm and a wing span of about 240 cm. It weighs about 10 kg. It has white feathers almost all over the body with a red spot on the top of the head. It has partly black feathers between the forehead and the neck.
Korea has been traditionally an ideal place for the cranes in winter, and thousands of cranes
annually came over to Korea in the past to escape the cold weather in Siberia.
Nowadays, only 120 to 150 cranes are coming to spend the winter at Ganghwa region, DMZ,
and its adjacent areas, due to shortage of habitats and the reduced number of them.
Cranes are known not to change its mate for a lifetime. It mates in February and March, and returns to its home in March to lay eggs.
Cheorwon is completely covered with snow after a snowstorm. There in the open fields of Cheorwon you can hear the cry of cranes. Males make a loud cry at the top of its might towards the sky, as if to show off.
They were singing in chorus, while flapping out their wings to the fullest extent and holding their beaks upwards to the sky. A couple of cranes, male and female, dance at the corner of the field. They skip along towards and around each other, and then stand facing each other, and make a cry with their beaks poised up towards the sky.
They repeat dancing for a while, and begin mating.
wintering in the high-security military area along the NorthKorea border.
(Some stuff from DMZ, the DeMilitarized Zone, North Korea border... the "remotest" place I've been to! There was a National Geographic cover story on Korean DMZ, July 2003)
SouthKorean Army checkpost at high-security DMZ.
On SK highways, camouflaged towers called TankTraps are wired to explode and block the advance of North Korean tanks.
(Guess the army guards wouldn't have let me click if they had noticed ! Got away with it)
Mine-Country! Landmines!!
Mine field cordoned off with barbed wire fence, bordering DMZ
( According to the cover story of NatGeo Jul'03,
"Landmines occassionally explode in the distance, set off by some unlucky deer" )
DAY 1
Sat, 27 Mar 2004 :
'Tis past midnight hours, at the Ecology Academy/Nature Study centre
here in the high-security military area just next to North
Korean border, enjoying the amazing
hospitality of Korea Bird Protection Association.. (as I came
here to watch the rare Red Crowned Cranes).
It's been a very interesting experience from the time I disembarked from the bus at this border town of Cheorwon. When I rang the KBPA guys, was told someone will be at the bus stand shortly to pick me up. It was a pick-up van that looked like from a farm, that stopped and asked me to get in! :) The sprightly Mr Kim, an activist of KBPA was at the wheels, who said in broken konglish and signs and sounds of gunshots while driving :), that he tries to prevent those shooting the migratory birds for fun. Dr Im, a vet surgeon was sitting next. They drove me straight to a traditional Korean restaurant. I was offered free stay at the Ecology Centre next to DMZ.
Area close to DMZ is out of bounds for foreigners and require passport and entry permissions. But since I's going around with the KBPA regulars in the area, nobody at the army checkposts
bothered about any security checks. Well, in effect I roamed free, thanks to KBPA.
I've been offered 3 welcome drinks of Soju tonight at different
places.. with new faces joining, and they took me to the KBPA site office
where some injured/rescued birds are kept and trained for
releasing back in to the wild.. (a Red Crowned Crane, white-naped
crane, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Common Buzzard, Black
vulture and a magpie).. The Buzzard had a gun-shot
wing, now operated and kept 'on-sling' with a
steel-rod.. tomorrow morning they'll take it for
training to release back.. all birds are attended to
by vets from top Korean university..
After everyone else left, it was only 3 of us here at the Ecology Academy building with a very rural setup.
We talked into the midnight and beyond.. It is such a unique kind of thrill,
being a lone wanderer in the midst of people who find it
quite difficult to communicate, with very few english
words they know and a smattering of korean I could pick up
(except for this lady naturalist, Ms Chang who can handle
decent broken 'konglish'..
She volunteers for field work with school children-
to build nature-awareness, to instil a sense of responsibility etc to the
new generation kids- just a generation ago, this border area
had almost completely a peasant society )
What's most interesting is the fact that with our
common interest, on either side, there's such a
strong urge to share, that the language barrier
becomes less of a barrier- when you take delight in
crossing it !
I guess I missed a great deal of birding here in Korea.. Because am
getting to know these people only now.. (during previous visits, I
had tried to get hooked to some birding circle by
emailing to some Korean in Birdingpal.org.. but
unfortunately, didn't hear from any.. and felt it may be a small circle
of guides only catering to mainly American and British birders
who come for specific 'Birding Tours')
I was sharing with these guys that, while in Chicago, there's a place I'd planned to visit to watch the Cranes - The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin ( http://www.savingcranes.org/ )
The korean lady was excited and pulled out some print outs about ICF.
It was around 3am when we went to bed.
 |
| The injured Common Buzzard (with a gunshot wing) in a rehab aviary, just a few days from being set free by the Korea Bird Protection Assocn, at the Ecology Academy/Nature Study centre next to DMZ. >.> |
DAY 2
"Migratory Pit Stop -->1km", read the brown country-road signpost pointing deeper into the vast dry brown rice fields.
As I read it, the SUV veered onto the gravel road through the fields, and then on there was long dust trails behind. In search of the last of the wintering rare Cranes, we'd already covered
more than 20 kms through this high-security military area bordering the out-of-bounds Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along North Korean border.
I was offered this free ride by Ms Chang who does voluntary work at the Ecology Centre. She arranged for the vehicle of an acquaintance, also interested in birding, who came along with his SUV to drive us around.
I've been told by Ms Chang when we started from the Nature Camp, to consider myself lucky if I get to watch the cranes, as it is the very fag end of the winter migratory season.
It's been more than an hour and a half of sifting through the interiors of the dry rice fields with the SUV. Did watch some flocks of migratory Geese (Bean Goose, White Fronted Goose etc.). But for the cranes, lady-luck didn't smile.
I was almost crest-fallen as the Crane craze had consumed me fully by then. Suddenly Ms Chang
sprang with excitement from her seat, "Jogi!!"(over there) she was pointing. I couldn't make out;
Some almost indistinguishable specks in the distance, as the slightly warm air in the midday sun was creating those rippling like in a mirage. But her trained eyes were glinting with delight and her ebullience was contagious. Now driving was cautious not to disturb the birds with the whir. Stopped the vehicle more than 100m away. Binocs were pulled out with the instinctive ease of birders, as if they are an extension of yourself.
Thus finally I watched the last group of wintering White Naped Cranes,
~65 birds about to leave for their breeding grounds in Russia.
But the most high-profile of the cranes, the Red Crowned Crane/Japanese Crane with so much cultural significance attached to it, which can be seen in so many of traditional art work, was not around- the last batch had left under a week ago.
I've been enjoying the great hospitality of KBPA and curious, cutely strange experiences, from the time I landed at the local bus stand!
Earlier that day, Ms Chang's colleague at the Ecology Centre took me for an early morning birding walk to the nearby "Tokyo Reservoir", near which in the peak winter season, most of the Red Naped Cranes could be seen. From there, the hills of North Korea is visible at a close range. He showed me the place near to the reservoir which is the site of the 2nd North Korean Infiltration Tunnel ending, discovered in 1975. Later that day, I's reading a palmphlet for tourists, which said "If you are caught in the area near the Tunnel without carrying proper documentation to prove your identity, you can be arrested and treated as a RedBandit/Spy"!
Ohmegosh ! I couldn't stop laughing out loud. A Red Bandit!, A Spy! I wanted that experience too! :)
Epilogue:
The plan for the trip had taken shape a few months back, the day I picked up an old issue of NatGeo magazine from Bangalore's Strand bookshop. 'Divided Korea', said the cover with an unusual cover photo, portrait of an alert soldier in camouflage paint. There was a small picture of a Crane taking off in the cover story, and I's stung by shutterbug, I yearned to be there with my camera!.
Ms Chang, a naturalist at the Ecology Centre next to DMZ had informed me over phone that almost all cranes have already left and it'd be very difficult to spot the remaining few yet to leave, when I rang up while planning the trip. Decided to go ahead with the trip, as this could be the last chance to watch those magnificient birds.
The fact that this year the winter stayed on late, and the occurance of a heavy March-snow gave more room for hope that some cranes could still be around this late, though usually all the large raucous migrants leave by mid-March. It's first time in almost a century, that it snowed here in March. My Luck ! But it snowed so heavily that at many a place, roofs caved in ! Their bad Luck !
Most of the Cranes which winters in this area, do so to escape the harsh Siberian or other northern winter. They mate here during winter, and return to the breeding grounds far north by Spring. Now it's the fag end of winter and Spring has already arrived at the southern end of the peninsula. almost all the birds have left as temperature started touching doubles digits from sub-zero levels.
Before I read about these Cranes courting in the snow, I never thought,
for 'Wintering' (avoiding harsh winter in their summer habitat and travelling to warmer climes
when winter comes), birds would migrate to a place where it snows in winter. Well, may be they are avoiding much harsher winter further north. But still it surprised me.
[But the biggest surprise I had was that the very next week after my trip, while browsing books in the office library, picked The latest Apr/04 NatGeo magazine which was delivered the previous day, and it had this Special Feature on Cranes, with XACTLY the same kinda photo which I's dreaming of the whole of March and craving for framing that shot !- Red Crowned Cranes' courtship on snow!! I felt ssso miserable for the lost chance. They don't come often. Not sure when the next chance would be, if at all any pops up for me ]
The popularity of Cranes for use in artwork is due to the fact that they are known
to choose a mate for a lifetime.That loyalty and their elegence and size has inspired mankind
across cultures for thousands of years.
--x--
Links
Cranes @ NatGeo Magazine :
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0404/feature2/
Biology of Cranes
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/resshow/gee/cranbook/cranebook.htm
http://turumi.go.kr/
Creanes in Ancient Literature:
http://turumi.go.kr/
Birds Korea : http://www.birdskorea.org
---
Cranes Seeking Mate in Winter
( Audio File [00:26.9] available here)
Belonging to Guruidae of Guruiformes, crane has been designated as Natural Monument No. 202, and registered on the Red Data Book as 'endangered birds of the world'. It has a length of 136-140 cm and a wing span of about 240 cm. It weighs about 10 kg. It has white feathers almost all over the body with a red spot on the top of the head. It has partly black feathers between the forehead and the neck.
Korea has been traditionally an ideal place for the cranes in winter, and thousands of cranes
annually came over to Korea in the past to escape the cold weather in Siberia.
Nowadays, only 120 to 150 cranes are coming to spend the winter at Ganghwa region, DMZ,
and its adjacent areas, due to shortage of habitats and the reduced number of them.
Cranes are known not to change its mate for a lifetime. It mates in February and March, and returns to its home in March to lay eggs.
Cheorwon is completely covered with snow after a snowstorm. There in the open fields of Cheorwon you can hear the cry of cranes. Males make a loud cry at the top of its might towards the sky, as if to show off.
They were singing in chorus, while flapping out their wings to the fullest extent and holding their beaks upwards to the sky. A couple of cranes, male and female, dance at the corner of the field. They skip along towards and around each other, and then stand facing each other, and make a cry with their beaks poised up towards the sky.
They repeat dancing for a while, and begin mating.
