Blue Eyed Birder: Japan for Bird's Wildlife & Nature Tours - Day 7 & 8: 11th

11th February:

With a fine dawn promised we opted to return to Arasaki for a second session with the Cranes arriving for their breakfast. It was equally memorable but the light this time was magnificent and we watched the sun come up over the hillside while the air echoed with their bugling.

Pre-sun

There are so many Cranes that the sun had time to rise before they had finished passing

Atmospheric

The fields were a lot more lively with small birds too and there were as many Red-throated as Siberian and quite a few Japanese Skylarks. Flocks of Russet Sparrows flew through in chattering flocks and a flock of 111 Daurian Jackdaw headed off high from where ever they roosted. Dave had not seen a such a big group before. Black-eared Kites were already patrolling the fields and down below a Japanese Weasel was ferreting along one of the drainage channels and flushed Chestnut-eared Buntings in the process.

Daurian Jackdaws

From here we moved inland a short way to check a channel for Crakes and Rails but it had been cleared of vegetation and was now home to a few Common Snipe and three Wagtail species. Beyond a small sluice there was exposed mud with Green and Common Sandpipers and a couple of Little Ringed Plovers, and many Oriental Turtle Doves were loafing in the trees before coming down to drink while Dusky and Pale Thrushes and the inevitable Bulbuls were moving back and forth.

Oriental Turtle Doves & a male Dusky Thrush

Oriental Turtle Doves

Grey Wagtail

Japanese Wagtail

Oriental Turtle Doves - sunbathing

A Japanese Bush Warbler was vocal and was found poking around under a pergola of the cottage opposite with some White-eyes and Daurian Redstarts hopped along the paths where Greenfinches fed on seed heads. A Chestnut-eared Bunting perched up long enough for a scope view, showing of its namesake cheeks and a spotty necklace and at last a Japanese Grosbeak was found. It flew past us looking like a stretched Hawfinch and perched up for a short while.

Banos at the visitor centre were next and this gave us a few minutes of quality Crane watching as well as some close views of the glossy Eastern Rooks and a couple of immature Daurian Jackdaws. Two groups totally 58 Common Starlings was a good winter count for the area. As ever, birding is all about perspective and you always end up looking at the familiar birds with a new eye.

White-naped and Hooded Cranes

Eastern Rooks

Common Starlings

immature Daurian Jackdaw

immature Daurian Jackdaw - Simon Stirrup

Eastern Rook - Simon Stirrup

Chinese Penduline Tits were our main target but despite checking various spots we could not find any but there was plenty to see with several pairs of vocal Bull-headed Shrike playing chase, Meadow and Masked Buntings and dapper Daurian Redstarts. A Richard’s Pipit was seen briefly perched up on a clod before shreeeping off but our scans failed to pick up the Swan Goose again.

Bull-headed Shrike

It was Crake time and it did not take long to perused a Ruddy-breasted to pop out to see what was going on. A chunky Spotted Crake sized bird with vivid red legs and eyes! A Zitting Cisticola bimbled past us and dropped into the reeds and Reed Buntings were moving across the channel. There were Little Grebes and Coots and large flights of Spot-billed Ducks were heading towards the sea bay where we saw the Black-faced Spoonbill yesterday.

Ruddy-breasted Crake

I am not quite sure why a Pale Thrush is called as such

Spot-billed Ducks

Black-eared Kites and Eastern Buzzards were being lightly hassled by Thick-billed Half-Ravens above the hillside opposite and the calm conditions seemed to have encouraged some of the Cranes to climb and spiral. Whether they were practicing or actually on their way back north I am not sure but we lost them as dots in that blue canvas.

Hooded Cranes climbing

Our Penduline search took us to the opposite side of Arasaki but again they eluded us but it was a lovely spot and a male Eastern Blue Rock Thrush showed on a lamp post and a Daurian Redstart came within just a few feet of us. Kingfishers zipped on both sides and there were Reed and Meadow Buntings and tacking Japanese Bush Warblers. Spot-billed Ducks (forever now known as Spot Welders…) dozed with one eye warily on us and Green and Common Sandpipers bobbed amongst some feral Red-eared Sliders that were hauled up on the bank.

Spot Welders

White-naped Cranes

Hooded Cranes

Daurian Redstart

Spot-Welders, Sliders, Little Grebes and Little Egret

A couple of Vega Gulls drifted around the bay where fishing pole nets were strung and an adult Taimyr Gull – (part of the Heuglin’s complex) was on a lamppost. To me it felt more Yellow-legged Gull than Lesser Black-backed.

Taimyr Gull

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush - Simon Stirrup

It was time to go north to the estuary complex of Uki. The tide was out and hundreds of ducks were having a nap along the main channel. They were mostly Mallard with shiny green heads but there were Wigeon, Teal, Pintail and even a couple of Falcated Ducks amongst them. Saunders’s (you have to say Saunders-is by the way…) Gulls were the key bird here and were found within just a few seconds. In fact several hundred were scattered across the mud but at no stage were they anywhere near each other. Socially Awkward Gull…

Saunders’s Gull

They are an odd looking bird with almost Black-headed Gull wings but with a small sturdy dark bill in a short fat head. They fly and hunt more like a Gull-billed Tern, patrolling the mud before twist and drop onto their favourite prey – small crabs which are swallowed whole.

Saunders’s Gull - Simon Stirrup

Lunch

We were impressed at just how adept there were at finding the crabs until we noticed that the mud was literally covered with gazillions of the little scuttlers!

Four Taimyr Gulls, a single Vega Gull and at least five Ospreys were patrolling but the mud was disappointingly quiet with about 20 Kentish Plovers, 11 Greenshank, seven Dunlin and a single Spotted Redshank but Dave said that this is quite normal. Scanning around gave us nine Black-faced Spoonbills, several of which were engaged in some serious bill swooshing although I think some of the fish (see video) were a tad large!

Taimyr Gull and Saunders's Gull

Taimyr Gull

Osprey

Black-faced Spoonbills and Grey Heron

Black-faced Spoonbills

There were lots of Wolf Spiders sunning on the wall

With little else actually possible at Uki we opted to return to Arasaki and spent the last couple of hours of the glorious but chilly evening with the Cranes and Corvids. Pipits and Larks were heading off to roost and an Eastern Yellow Wagtail flew over calling to round up a dawn to dusk day in the field.

Hooded Crane - Simon Stirrup

White-naped Crane - Simon Stirrup

Hooded Cranes

White-naped Cranes

12^th February:

It was another big travel day and with light rain we got on the road promptly and headed up to Kogawa to hunt for Buntings and such like. We had a superb couple of hours although the increasing rain dampened things somewhat. Lots of quality flitting Buntings although Yellow-throated eluded us. It is amazing how furtive these birds are and we could see them scurrying mouse-like through the base of the grasses. Several Red-flanked Bluetails were seen with another lovely male and a White’s Thrush flew across the river but the Crested Kingfishers determinedly hid from us.

Ryukyu Minivets were proving tricky but after hearing a couple and seeing one fly across the valley, we pinned one down in a tree by the river that everyone got to see. Our circuit of the lake gave us the same Baikal Teal flock and about 30 Mandarins as well as a male Falcated Duck and we bumped into a few White-bellied Green Pigeons. Dave’s bus even had one feeding on the road in front of them.

Ryukyu Minivet - Manda Simmons

A small flock of Japanese Grosbeaks were feeding in a Maple but did not linger and we added Olive-backed Pipit (typical ‘there it goes’ calling views) and hear the Brown Dippers.

The wet was dampening spirits so we called it a morning and started the drive back to Kagoshima airport to catch our flick back to Tokyo. We timed it just right as the heavens opened and the rain followed us all the way back. The rest of the day was spent in vans, buses and on two planes and but that evening we were touching down in the thick snow at Kushiro on Hokkaido where yet another banquet awaited our dedicated attention.