Japan for Bird's Wildlife & Nature Tours - Day 5: 9th February 2025

After breakfast (I still can’t recall the hotel at all – sorry!) we headed down to the harbour in Kadogawa and had a little time spare before getting out fishing boat out to look for the Japanese Murrelets.

Black-eared Kites whinnied around us and were obviously looking out for fishy scraps and both Crows kept them company. There were small birds in and around the fishing sheds with Tree Sparrows, Warbling White-eyes, White-cheeked Starlings, Daurian Redstarts, Oriental Turtle Doves, Black-backed Wagtails and a pair of Eastern Blue Rock Thrush.  The male was especially fine with cobalt blue and deep burgundy contrasting with the cold concrete on which he hopped.

Black-eared Kite

Black-eared Kite

Oriental Turtle Dove

Oriental Turtle Dove

Warbling White-eye

Warbling White-eye

Tree Sparrows

Black-eared Kite

Black-eared Kite - I could not work out why this Kite looked odd until it flew and revealed no tail!

Daurian Redstart

Daurian Redstart

Daurian Redstart

Daurian Redstart - different backgrounds

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

Black-backed Wagtail

Black-backed Wagtail

Black-backed Wagtail

White-cheeked Starling

Daurian Redstart 

There were gulls around the harbour with several Vega and our first Black-tailed which were smaller than I imagined – more on the Audouin’s scale of gullyness.  A pretty gull with blocks of colour and contrast.  Great Cormorants were loafing around on fish nets and several Ospreys were doing circuits and as with many normally silent species, there was more vocalisation due to the proximity of competition.

Vega Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Osprey

We were soon puttering out on the boat.  It was cold but bright with a moderate swell. Our next new bird was a bonus adult Saunders’s Gull followed by a distant Brown Booby out to sea. Another fish pen was home to Great Egrets and Grey Herons and a smoky sinuous neck became an Eastern Reef Egret snuck into view before darting back into the cage to snaffle another fish.

Eastern Reef Egret

Great Egret

Great Egret & Grey Heron

Great Crested Grebes

Great Cormorants

Great Cormorants

Great Crested Grebes bobbed around but of the Murrelets there was no sign but after a tense period Dave announced ‘Target acquired’ and we homed in on three as they bobbed in the rolling swell.  They allowed us to drift quite close and several of us noted their penguin-esque shape in the water.  It has been 35 years since I saw it close Ancient congener on Lundy and it was a little further away when we were watching it on the sea with the Razorbills.  With smiles all round we pushed on and approached the breeding island of Hyuga Biro where countless fisherman cast out from the columnar basalt shores.  Dave had never been out in calm enough conditions before to allow a circumnavigation of the islets so it was a treat for him too.

Japanese Murrelets

The large Cormorants on the rocks out there were not Great but the slightly slimmer green (not bronze) backed Japanese Cormorants (Mr Temminck’s has lost out with his name for this one).  Closer views showed the large white throat patch and smaller orange gular.  Black-tailed Gulls in all plumages drifted towards the boat but there were no further Booby sightings.

Black-tailed Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Black-tailed Gull

Japanese Cormorants

Japanese Cormorants

Up on the Laurel covered cliffs I was lucky enough to see a Japanese Black Woodpigeon fly into the canopy and a few Crows, Kites and Bulbuls were noted along with another Eastern Blue Rock Thrush.  We came back closer to the shore and I was still surprised to seen no rock loving waders and we only picked up a few more Grebes and Cormorants and a pair of Ospreys on a nest. The wooded coast line was punctuated by stands of rusty Cedars and vibrant swaying Giant Bamboo and a pair of Eastern Buzzards drifted above them.

A large cave held a Shinto shrine and roosting Grey Herons and from a distance looks like a sunken eyed Simian.  Japan’s own Skull Island. Back at the harbour there was time for tea with the staff of the little Murrelet tour company before bidding our farewell and heading back into town passing our first Barn Swallows on the way.  

There were ink rubbings of many of the prize fish caught there!

7-11 lunch stop where the prolific cloud topiary was admired and then down to the tip of Cape Hyuga to eat with a view out towards the Murrelet islands and hope that the elusive Black Woodpigeon would end up on everyone’s list.

Guessing it is a 'beware of rouge waves' or 'very angry Tsunamis'

The drive in through Laurel and Bamboo woodland added two new roadside birds with Pale Thrush and a group of brightly coloured Red-billed Leiothrix – a non-native small Laughing Thrush.  Pale Thrushes gave themselves up better whilst we were having lunch and Varied Tits and White-eyes were in the Bamboo thickets.  

What appears to be a Holly Blue - the only invert of the whole trip

Brown-eared Bulbul enjoying the sunshine

I scanned out to sea but found a few more gulls including a Slaty-backed Gull that cruised by closer in and five Eastern Reef Egrets heading across the bay.  Ospreys round here are very happy hunting well out over the water.  Suddenly a Japanese Black Woodpigeon started to sing – a very freaky, almost donkey like braying but it took over half an hour before Garry got a gold star for finding one of these purple black beasts perched up on a snag.  After scope views it even flew over our heads flashing silvery white underwings.

Japanese Black Woodpigeon - Manda Simmons

Thunberg's Bay

Another tricky bird seen well!  Time to head north to Izumi.  The views were fabulous and we picked up a few birds along the way including a party of Eastern Cattle Egrets and a Kestrel. A stop for fuel brought unexpected rewards with a hirundine flock over the river adding Asian House Martins to the Barn Swallow mix.  They were joined by several House Swifts too – the eastern counterpart of Little Swift. The river itself held a few duck along with Green and Common Sandpipers and there were Meadow Buntings in the herbage.

Kyushu does not get much snow but we had heard that another tour group had got snowed in for some time a few days before and as we climbed the snow on the verges became obvious and before we had descended all the way down the other side we pulled off to have a quick dusk look around Kogawa. Our little look around started with a big bang as I found a White’s Thrush on the grass of a little paddock.  We stopped and it flew up into the bare trees but soon came back and put on an amazing performance for both vans.  It was in full bob and weave mode and both Dave and I tried to explain to the crew just how extraordinary the experience was.  I have been lucky and seen this dusk feeding strategy in the UK but to spend time with one doing the same in its native range was very special indeed. A male Pale Thrush joined it on the lawn.

White's Thrush - top drawer bird imho

White's Thrush - Bill Rowe

Just around the corner we stopped to check out the bottom of the dam where Grey and Japanese Wagtails were feeding and a surprise Long-billed Plover joined Common and Green Sandpipers. We had no time to go around the lake but stopped at the main bridge and immediately had a pair of huge Crested Kingfishers were found but it was late and both soon disappeared into the trees.

A Brown Dipper was on the river below and Masked and our first Chestnut-eared Buntings were found in the verges but with dark approaching we pushed on for the hotel in Izumi where an epic sashimi dish of Red Snapper and Bonito steaks.

sashimi - oh my