Fairy Pitta

I'm sitting here today pondering my leech bites. I've never had an adverse reaction before but a couple of these are really itchy and another very red and splodgy. At least they show I was in good quality forest!


Yesterday I was birding in both Kyoto and Shiga forests and though my day began with four hours continuous rain just below a low ceiling of cloud (as I discovered after daybreak) by 6:30 the rain was easing-off, the morning destined for clear skies and a sticky 100% humidity.


I didn't leave the shelter of the van during the hours of darkness; umbrellas and trees don't go well together in daylight let alone at night. All I heard were three Japanese Scops Owls, none of them close, and barking foxes. At first I heard the foxes snuffling, grumbling and grunting behind me and I could see two adults and at least one half-grown cub on the road. I'm unsure whether there was more than one cub as 'it' was racing back and forth mostly hidden by a bend in the road while the adults sat watching over play time.


Once light began to broaden I couldn't justify sitting any longer so pulled on waterproof bottoms (Does that sound any better than waterproof over-trousers? Didn't think so.), grabbed my umbrella and made my way along the woodland edge. It still wasn't light enough to identify many of the small birds flitting in the tree tops but a Broad-billed Roller suddenly appearing flying away for a brief second was a shock, to say the least. This isn't a bird I expect in Kansai during the breeding season, I think I've only seen one here on passage! Then I promptly began the process of talking myself out of it. "It's still pretty dark, the flight was a bit like a Jay... it must have been a Jay" It was a Jay.


I covered the nearby area as much as possible but under the trees wasn't getting much brighter and just before 7am I was back at the van for a break and some roasted almonds in lieu of breakfast. Then, unbelievably, a Fairy Pitta was singing! The rain had stopped (more or less) so I could ditch the brolly before dashing towards the sound; don't stop... don't stop! I struggled to spot it in the tree tops and after a short pause the song was another 150 metres away. And so began a Pitta chase. For a long while this pattern was repeated, it wasn't bothered by me, I could just never pick it up before it changed song perch. This time perseverance paid dividends, I finally latched onto it, this wasn't going to be one that got away; another one that got away.


I was able to watch it for several minutes before it shifted again.

When I first heard the Pitta it seemed in competition with a Ruddy Kingfisher singing from the same location. The big difference was I was able to connect with the Pitta eventually. The Kingfisher, along with several others heard that day (and countless others) remained just a voice in the forest. The Pitta was a photo tick for me, the Kingfisher will have to wait, yet again.


I heard the Pitta once more, very briefly, but it was way off across a broad valley on an entirely different hillside. A second bird? Or this one moving along?


The morning was heating up as it progressed, so was I, there wasn't a breath of air. I was thinking about a move, trying somewhere else and I'd driven a couple of hundred metres back down the access road enjoying the breeze through the open window but decided to check one last spot. A track led to a clearing through a narrow belt of trees and no sooner had I stopped to check some movement in the bushes than a Roller, living up to its name, flopped rapidly across the open space. Ha! Jays with dark rumps don't exist. No, not even in the early half-light. Note to self: don't talk yourself out of good birds in future.


My next stop was a deep, dark (leech infested) valley bottom. I've seen Japanese Night Heron here in the past, Copper Pheasant too. But not today.

Fire-bellied Salamanders are very common in old wet forest but after a lot of rain you've got watch where you put your feet, they seem to think they own the place wandering willy-nilly from puddle to puddle.

Northern Hawk Cuckoo is a fairly common bird, very vocal at night and into early, post-dawn morning before they notice night has given way they're supposed to melt away with the darkness. Where do they go? They go to dark, deep (leech infested) valley bottoms.

Another feature of dark (leech infested) valley bottoms is shredded trees. Deer rubbing off their velvet? Not going up to four or five metres I'd have thought. Bears it is then, though I've only ever seen one here. Another good bird down there was a Japanese Sparrowhawk. I heard a harsh scolding and saw something dashing towards me with a Blue and White Flycatcher in hot persuit. After a minute I'd persuaded myself that it could have been the Hawk Cuckoo, they look incredibly accipiter-like in flight. I was at it again, trying to deprive myself of a good sighting. But for the second time I had another chance to confirm its identity when after several minutes (where had they been all this time?) the Sparrowhawk and Flycatcher came back up the track. The hawk passed by at head height just a couple of metres away, I don't think I've ever been quite as close to a wild bird of prey.

Before light began to fail I took a thoughtfully place but little used road that crosses the mountain. The best bird (not that I saw it) was a singing Japanese Leaf Warbler, something I hardly ever encounter, plus the only (also unseen) Japanese Thrush. The first Grey Nightjar started 'chucking' while light was still good but it was another 40 minutes before others joined in. While I was waiting a terrific roadside White-backed Woodpecker kept me entertained.

A morning in the woods

I drove up into the forest north of Kyoto city at about midnight last night, my first nocturnal drive this spring. In the end it was a little disappointing, a single Japanese Marten and 26 Sika Deer were the only mammals I saw and a handful of Japanese (Collared) Scops Owls heard were the only birds I recorded. No night displaying cuckoos, no Ural Owls, not even any Grey Nightjars yet, and definitely no Japanese Night Herons.


Things picked up at dawn, first a Blue and White Flycatcher broke the absolute stillness as the outline of the hills began to appear, others soon chimed. The faint sound of an unseen plane floating down pulled me up short, not because the sound itself was intrusive but more because it brought home to me how rarely I experience such silence in Kansai. Not even the snarliest or whiniest motorbike engine can penetrate that far into the hills.


Soon I heard the first of several Oriental Cuckoos higher up the slopes, a Northern Hawk Cuckoo flew over singing and Narcissus Flycatchers were obviously fairly common in the guess at understory. Normally Grey Nightjars and Ruddy Kingfishers would be early voices but they can't have arrived yet.


Finally daylight caught up with the early risers.

A future split... Japanese Jay?

Almost everything else was collecting nesting material or singing!

A Narcissus Flycatcher taking a leaf out of the Blue and White song book? Or maybe it was a North American leaf warbler in a past life?

Would this make a good mystery photograph I wonder? It's surprisingly pigeon-like in the second shot. In fact it's a Northern Hawk Cuckoo displaying, something often heard through the night but usually only seen first thing in the morning.

Long-tailed Tit gathering wispy stuff.

Coal Tit gathering less wispy stuff.

This where I berate myself with a "You call yourself a birder?!". It's only now I see the Coal Tit is pulling material from a pellet which I wish I'd noticed at the time. And it doesn't get any better with the next shots of Asian House Martins collecting mud. Looking at these shots is the first time I've noticed the streaks on the rump, uppertail coverts and vent. No doubt contributing to the greyer appearance compared to Northern House Martin.

pigeons and cuckoos

Black Woodpigeon occurs on islands around the coast of Wakayama and Mie but I've never tried to see them there as they're so much easier to find elsewhere. I usually see them on Hegurajima in October and on Mishima, Yamaguchi in April/May.

A bird just catching the sun in dark woodland on Mishima 30 April 2009.

 

A digiscoped image of one of three or four birds on Hegurajima 16 September 2006.

Oriental Turtle Dove is not only very common throughout the region but also very tame in the city streets and parks.

Extensive black on the outer web of T6.

Presumably stimpsoni on Iriomote 4 April 2013.

There was a Red Turtle Dove in neighbouring Ishikawa in 2012 so it could occur in the region but it would be a major rarity. The only one I've seen was a bird I came across on my first trip to see the cranes at Arasaki in Kyushu many years ago.
Eurasian Collared Dove exits as an introduced but I believe now dwindling population. Otherwise it is a vagrant to Japan. The only one I've seen was a bird that spent a few days at Nanko in Osaka in April 2011, though there was some discussion as to whether it could have been an escape.

Nanko, Osaka 7 April 2011.

Emerald Dove and Ryukyu Green Pigeon are both southern specialities and won't be seen here but White-bellied Green Pigeon is a different matter. It's quite common and frequently heard in the forested hills of the region though getting good views can be a challenge. In winter it sometimes comes into the Imperial Palace Park in Kyoto, I once saw a flock of about 20 from the window of a city bus, but its appearances are irregular.

A typically rather distant view, 5 August 2009.

Ryukyu Green Pigeons were surprisingly easy to see on Iriomote, birds would sit on the wires after rain and seemed more approachable along woodland edge.

Common Cuckoo is the "rare" cuckoo here, I hear a few in spring but it's the only breeding cuckoo that can't be found throughout summer. Oriental and Lesser are both reasonably common in forests even if they are more often heard than seen. I even hear Lesser singing in flight over the city on summer nights. Northern Hawk Cuckoo is also common and frequently heard at night singing over forests. Shortly after dawn is the best time to see them as they often sing from prominent perches before melting away.

A juvenile Northern Hawk Cuckoo on Hegurajima 18 October 2011. Most have already left by this date.

Oriental Cuckoo on Hegurajima October 2007. 

Lesser Cuckoo Hegurajima, 1 October 2007