Japan for Bird's Wildlife & Nature Tours - Day 1: 5th February 2025

An early rise with a grand view towards the city and the gleaming Mount Fuji before catching the bus into town to the station.  I am not a urbanite but could not fail to be impressed by the sheer colossal scale of place with its towering office and housing blocks crammed into any available vertical space, offset by sweeping elevated roads and bridges, curving monorail and gleaming waterways.  Everything was clean and shiny.  We were efficiently deposited at the railway station to catch the Shinkansen to Karuizawa.

The exceptionally well organised taxi rank

Getting a sense of the speed of the Bullet beast was difficult until we were out in the countryside and at that point we topped at 277kph.  Little was seen as the landscape hurtled by but Fuji was still unobscured by cloud.

We arrived in snow and picked our way through the skiers and snowboarders to the first vans of the trip. Travelling out of town, we made our first 7-11 lunch stop where the magical world of a Japanese convenience store was laid out before us.  Grub in hand we moved just up the road and stopped in the shadow of recently dormant volcano by a traditional red bridge. 

Grey-capped Greenfinches, Tree Sparrows and Brown-eared Bulbuls were around us and the reed fringed river held several Teal and a mixed flock of Rustic and Meadow Buntings that then moved into the adjacent field to feed on the grasses poking through the snow.

Rustic and Meadow Buntings

Onwards to Lake Toden and the stony, braided Chikuma River where we hoped to find the scarce Long-billed Plover amongst other things.  It was now windy and bitterly cold but it was a good first session in the field and we soon found two of our target waders pretending to be river cobbles.  Duck were everywhere with all the regular dabblers and our first flouncy Falcated Ducks. 

Long-billed Plover

Long-billed Plover - Dave Farrow

Long-billed Plover - Dave Farrow

Pintail

Falcated Duck

The lake held a large number of Spot-billed Ducks along with Goosanders, 14 Smew and other dabbling ducks while a huddle or Grey Herons hunkered down on the bank out of the wind. 

Spot-billed Ducks

Smew and Teal

Grey Herons feeling the cold

Black-eared Kites scoured the river for scraps with our first Oriental Crows in tow and the ever present Thick-billed Crows kronking away. A pale Eastern Buzzard – like a small Rough-leg – hovered overhead and was buzzed by a Peregrine. 

Black-eared Kite

 Eastern Buzzard

Oriental Crow

There was plenty of small bird action too with raspy Japanese Wagtails and chiswicking Black-backs, a stunning adult male Bull-headed Shrike, Rustic Bunting and a male Daurian Redstart down in the willow margins.

Japanese Wagtail

With the cold getting through and a drive ahead of us we retraced our steps and spent a few minutes watching Grey-capped Greenfinches around the car park where White-cheeked Starlings and Tree Sparrows were feeding in the shrivelled Persimmons on a tree there.

White-cheeked Starling

White-cheeked Starling

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow Tree

The weather soon deteriorated and we cut through countless tunnels between valleys with different levels of snow cover.  It was quiet bird wise but thousands of White-cheeked Starlings swirled over the road in response to a male Goshawk. It was dark and snowing by the time we arrived at our hotel in Udanaka where a lavish Kaiseki banquet awaited us.  It was a little daunting but we were now in no doubt that we were visiting a very different culture to our own.

The tatami mat rooms were exquisite but I required more than one floor mattress to get myself comfy!

Japan - a prelude and Day 0: 4th February 2025

My journey to Japan actually began on the 2^nd February with my trip south towards my parents in Ilford.  This time I actually made it to Abberton and its wonderful selection of water birds.  A fine few hours were spent in the good company of folks who I have not seen for a while and the birds performed too.  The drake Ring-necked Duck was on show with the Pochard when I arrived (a site tick for me – not that I have a list) and spun in sleepy circles with the Pochard.  No one had been able to find the Canvasback so I was delighted to find him within just a few minutes feeding actively along the back of the flock.  This was the first time I had seen him since my initial discovery way back in November 2023. 

The rest of my visit added a female Red-crested Pochard, two gleaming male Smew, nine Greater Scaup, 30 Goosander, 14 Black-necked and two Slavonian Grebes, Black-throated Diver, six Russian White-fronted Geese and six Great Egrets.  It was cold, crisp and still – all very unlikely conditions for the reservoir.  I very happily continued on my journey.

After lunch with the Jacksons at TTNP (where no one in the centre was interested in Avocets or Peregrines) I dropped in to Rainham just before closing to wish my ex colleagues the best in their future endeavours and shared a raised glass as the café and shop closed for the very last time.  A very sad moment for those that have given so much but hopefully a new chapter awaits for the marsh I gave over twenty years of my life to.

A good night’s sleep and then off to Heathrow with Yvonne.  Days got a bit confusing from here on in but I left on the 3^rd and arrived in Haneda airport in Tokyo on the 4^th and was greeted by the sun illuminating a gleaming pink, snow capped Mount Fuji with not one cloud in view. It felt like an auspicious beginning.

Day 0: 4^th February: (well the trip officially started the next day!)

We dropped our bags at the Royal Park Hotel and by 8am myself and six of the crew headed out on a venture into the city on the monorail in search of the Tokyo Port Bird Park.  We spent the next few hours exploring the woodlands, ponds and scrubby areas and of course many of the species seen were new to us all and bumped into Dave Farrow – our guide – too. 

A welcome from Mount Fuji

Amongst the familiar Mallards, Shoveler, Teal and Gadwall were striking Eastern Spot-billed Ducks and on a deep area we found Scaup, Pochard and Tufted Ducks along with Great Crested and Little Grebes.  An Osprey incongruously fished amongst them.  There were Great Cormorants, Coots and Moorhens, Great and Little Egrets and Grey Herons too.

Grey Heron

 

Large-billed Crows raucously circled and gave the Black-eared Kites and Eastern Buzzards a hard time while Oriental Turtle Doves rocketed through on barrel bodies.  Noisy flocks of Brown-eared Bulbuls introduced themselves to us and became one of the very few ‘everyday birds’ and Grey-capped Greenfinches fed on Maple seeds above gently ticking Masked Buntings which were feeding around the cut reed margins.

Black-eared Kite

Large-billed Crow - like a Raven in a Rooks body

Brown-eared Bulbul

Brown-eared Bulbul

Masked Bunting

Japanese Bush-Warblers could be heard tacking and we actually got excellent views too along with reed bed dwelling Warbling White-eyes that were insect hunting much in the manner of winter Chiffchaffs back home.

Warbling White-eye with Reedy B behind

Warbling White-eye

Japanese Tits were found with them, looking like slim pallid Great Tits and the local race of Reed Buntings showed pallid plumage and a thicker more conical bill than those in the UK.  Tree Sparrows and Black-backed Wagtails (the local White) were on the grassy areas and scanning around gave us White-cheeked Starlings and several Dusky Thrushes along with two Bull-headed Shrikes and a female Daurian Redstart.  Common Kingfishers were zipping around and posed nicely and wintering Common Sandpipers added to the familiar feel.

Common Kingfisher

Bull-headed Shrike

Bull-headed Shrike

A splash of early Prunus blossom

It was very cold and the wind was biting so we retraced ours steps to T3 but were still too early for the Royal Park check in so some of us headed out again (once we had worked out the correct escape route…) and made our way to the Soramunado Green Space along the waterfront where an immaculate prom allowed us to watch the water and the birds upon it.

Over 400 Greater Scaup were counted and we added three Black-necked Grebes and Wigeon too amongst the numerous Great Crests and Cormorants.  The same three herons were seen again but Common Sandpiper was the only species of wader found which felt a little odd.

Great Egret

Great Egret

Great Crested Grebe

Greater Scaup

Greater Scaup

Greater Scaup

There were gulls too with Black-headed and Kamchatka Commons and several hulking Vega Gulls with their bright pink legs.

Two different Vega Gulls

Kamchatka Common Gull

Kamchatka Common Gull

A first winter male Eastern Blue Rock Thrush followed us up and down and when close, you could see some of the rich vinous colour on the underparts.  There were more Black-backed Wagtails and our first Siberian Pipits and even at this stage I was taken by the very Meadow Pipit-like calls.

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

White-cheeked Starling

Thick-billed Crow

Black-backed Wagtail

Siberian Pipit

Siberian Pipit

We were cold and tired but very happy with our first dive into Japanese bird life but it was now time to retire to our rooms before meeting up with Dave and the rest of the group at dinner in the hotel restaurant.

The sunset was very much in the style of Eye of Mordor

Toilet control panels would be come an almost daily topic of discussion

The sashimi for dinner got the stylish Japanese food off to a flyer