An early breakfast in the Royal Park Hotel and then it was
case wheel up and off down to the bus into Tokyo across so many bridges and
through the shimmering, towering skyline to catch the Shinkansen towards Nagano.
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| Arrivals became a little crowded when Mr G arrived. |
After navigating the station and its thronging commuters we
made it to our train and were soon powering through the suburbs and subsequent
countryside at times over 270 kmh. As we neared our stop it was clear that
there was little snow cover in comparison to last year and it was a dry scurry
across the road to collect the vans for
the first leg of the adventure.
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| We were moving so fast that Jenny could not keep Dave in focus... |
The inaugural 7-11 stop followed and the crew had their first tentative exploration into the wonders of Japanese lunchtime cuisine and we drove just a short way into the outskirts of Karuizawa to eat at the red bridge over the Yu River. It was a snow free zone but it was certainly chilly! |
| Mount Asama - Jim Willett |
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| Mount Asama - Jim Willett |
We had only been there a couple of minutes when Dave found a
couple of Japanese Waxwings in the Mistletoe in the trees overhanging the river
and we all abandoned food and trooped up to the bridge to look for them. This was one of the most wanted birds on this
trip having been completely absent last year.
Front on they felt like a cross between a Bohemian with more eye makeup
with the sulphur yellow belly of a Cedar but side on things changed with rich
chestnut coverts and red, not yellow tail tips.
The speed with which they digest the berries was captured elegantly by
Chris. Berry, berry, berry, sit and
digest and release!
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| The bridge arch - Alexis Bodycomb |
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| Japanese Waxwing |
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| Japanese Waxwing - Jim Willett |
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| Japanese Waxwing - Chris Darby |
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| Japanese Waxwing - well that one is on the poo list! - Chris Darby |
A Brown Dipper flew noisily under the bridge and around the
bend and a quick exploration of the river margins gave us Tree Sparrows, dapper
Meadow Buntings and a group of seven Rustic Buntings. A Hawfinch flew over calling and we also
found a Great Spotted Woodpecker and both Japanese and Coal Tit while
Black-eared Kites circled above in the blue.
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| Rustic Buntings - Chris Darby |
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| Rustic Bunting - Chris Darby |
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| Rustic Bunting - Chris Darby |
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| Meadow Bunting - Jim Willett |
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| Coal Tit - Periparus ater insularis - Jim Willett |
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| Tree Sparrow - Chris Darby |
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| Tree Sparrows |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker - Dendrocopos major japonicus |
Onwards to our next stop along the Chikuma River where the
adjacent Lake Toden was almost completely frozen. Our walk along the river
quickly gave us the hoped for Long-billed Plovers along with Black-backed, Grey
and our first Japanese Wagtails with their raspy calls. There were plenty of
dabblers on the rocky river and the far pool held Tufted Ducks, Pochard and
Little Grebes while three Great Egrets stalked the shallows.
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| Long-billed Plover - Chris Darby |
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| Japanese Wagtail - Jim Willett |
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| Japanese Wagtail |
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| Japanese Wagtail |
A fisherman below us flushed a small wader which looped past
us before heading further down the river. It felt like a Jack Snipe and I got
bins on it to confirm as such and even managed to get some of the others on to
it. We caught up with Dave and the group
in front and told him, little knowing that Jack Snipe (at least according to
e-bird) has only been recorded three times before in Japan. If anyone knows how and who to submit the
record to, it would be much appreciated.
The side tributary gave us good views of Japanese Bush
Warbler and Daurian Redstart in the margins and there were several furtive
Hawfinches and some Long-tailed Tits that looked much like our ones back home.
Our loop took us around the lake and closer to the wildfowl around the opening
in the ice. There were many dabblers
with Mallard, Pintail, Spot-bills, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler but we
counted 17 Falcated Ducks and an equally spangly bonus drake Baikal Teal. There were Tufted Ducks and Pochard, a pair
of Goosander and an almost unbelievable count of 49 Smew – certainly the most
any of us had seen at once.
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| Smew & Eastern Spot-billed Ducks |
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| Smew, Mallard, Falcated Ducks, Mallard & Pintail |
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| Baikal Teal, Eurasian Teal, Pintail, Smew, Mallard, Wigeon, Falcated Duck |
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| Smew - Chris Darby |
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| Eastern Spot-billed Duck - Jim Willett |
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| Northern Shoveler - Jim Willett |
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| Falcated Duck - Jim Willett |
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| Eastern Spot-billed Duck |
The local Grey Herons and Cormorants were loitering around for the start of the breeding season and we picked up two Eastern Buzzards amongst the spiral of Black-eared Kites. Oriental Crows joined the Large-billed Crows and there were gangs of Tree Sparrows around the car park where three Bull-headed Shrikes hunted.
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| Great Cormorant - Chris Darby |
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| Grey Herons on ice |
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| Black-eared Kite - Jim Willett |
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| Black-eared Kite |
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| Black-eared Kite |
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| Black-eared Kite |
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| Black-eared Kites |
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| Eastern Buzzard |
With the day pressing on we continued on our journey to Yudanaka through a glorious landscape of steep, tree covered hills and white volcano tops.
That evening we sat down to our first traditional evening banquet.
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