Banner photo: Monticila solitarius philippensis, a subspecies of the blue rock thrush, which it in fact a type of chat and not a thrush at all, following reclassification using DNA analysis.

Olle 13

2 February 2025

The route starts at Yong's-pogu with its "Catholic Water Temple". This is associated with St. Andrew Kim Taegon, who was Korea's first Catholic priest and became a martyr on being beheaded a the age of 25. He was canonised in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. I think it is interesting how its tower looks like a lighthouse.

Below: Red-billed starling (Spodiopsar sericeus) - Greatly cropped - I could have done with my 300mm prime lens. This was "shot" at the long end of a 70-200mm lens.

Some way into the walk, there was a small chapel and a little further on, some cylinders that I was trying to decide if they were for accommodation like the many wigwams in the UK. Across the road, were a couple of peregrine falcons, which proved difficult to photograph, but I have included a photograph of the male.

​The route continues past fields of crops including red cabbage and beetroot until reaching Nakcheon village which has a thing about making chairs (apparently about 1000 of them and of all types and sizes) and has a heater-skelter-like observation tower.