Blue and White Flycatcher with blue undertail coverts

It's the fore- and upperparts that normally attract attention when it comes to male Blue and Whites, so just to be different here's one where the underparts take centre stage. These blue centred longest undertail coverts came as a surprise, so much so that I was thinking "Do they always look like this and I've never paid any attention, or is this unusual?". Fortunately, it isn't something obvious that I've always overlooked and does appear to be unusual, although quite how unusual, I don't know. For what it's worth, I haven't been able to find any online images that match it. I saw this bird on 4th May in Kanazawa, Ishikawa.

What appear to be blue feathers, slightly masked by overlying white, on the lower breast also catch the eye.  

Below is a female photographed the following day on Hegurajima.

 

Black Woodpecker and Hazel Grouse... we don't see these in Kyoto!

Most of my trips to Hokkaido are in winter when snow can make getting into Black Woodpecker and Hazel Grouse habitat more challenging. Plus to be honest, fantastic as these two are, there are more compelling reasons to be on the coast; woodland birding takes a back seat. When I go up there in summer I tend to have a specific target in mind or the place is no more than the turn round point for seabirding from the ferry. Either way, most trips don't afford the opportunity of seeing these two birds but in May this year I was able to get excellent views of both.

The first, utterly unforgetable, Hazel Grouse I ever saw was in South Korea. I just couldn't see the small bird making that call, bending this way and that to peer through the foliage I suddenly saw the culprit, a Hazel Grouse not 10 metres from me. I was so shocked, it's one of those birding memories that stay with you.

Black Woodpeckers are fantastic birds too but usually all I'll have to show for my attempts to photograph them will be a tail disappearing out of the frame or a shadowy motion blur zipping through a gap in the trees. Thus this trip was very satisfying, my best views ever.


I mentioned compelling reasons to be on the coast in winter and for most people the Sea Eagles are one such reason. I suppose I'm spoilt in that we have a local over-wintering Steller's in Kansai, but White-tailed is harder to come by down here, and of course it's the archetypal Haliaeetus from a European birders perspective. Seeing them inland in summer is still very special for me and a noisy adult seeing-off an immature in central Hokkaido one evening raised a smile.

Right overhead calling, not the youngest judging by the head and breast colouration.



It was determined to make its point, this lake and surrounding forest is taken.

It sat there well into dusk, certainly till after the first Eurasian Woodcocks were roding.

Oriental Cuckoo is common enough in the Kansai mountains but, a bit like our woodpeckers, they are far less easy to see well compared to their Hokkaido counterparts. Or that's how I always feel.

Oriental Cuckoo was common, the only Common Cuckoo was sitting on wires in the middle of a village.

Hardly a Hokkaido speciality but it was easier to photograph than the Grey Buntings we were after.

blue-breasted Blue and White Flycatcher

There was recently some online conversation about images of a Blue and White Flycatcher, which had been posted on a blogspot in Japan and can be seen here http://russelljenkinsstoop.blogspot.jp/2016/05/search-for-blue-blue-and-white.html. The bird had a black mask standing out against the otherwise bluish throat and breast which should be equally black in cyanomelana. There was therefore far less contrast between the upperparts and underparts along the side of the neck than is expected in the Japanese race. The conversation revolved around whether it could be intermedia or if cyanomelana can ever show such a blue throat. To me the upperparts looked too similar too cyanomelana to be anything else but that also begs the question just how blue can cyanomelana get? Zappey's Flycatcher, as far as I understand it, should look relatively distinctive given a reasonable view.


According to Leader & Carey (Forktail; August 2012) intermedia, occurring in north-east China, south-west Russia and the Korean peninsula, is morphologically distinct from the Japanese cyanomelana. The latter having pure glossy black throat, breast as well as ear coverts and lores whereas intermedia "...are matt-blackish on the throat, breast and ear coverts (only very rarely pure black), and usually show a bluish wash or distinct blue tones to the throat and breast."


I always check Blue and White in migration hotspots, aware of the possibility of finding an intermedia or better still a Zappey's, but only rarely during the breeding season within normal range. Not least because the birds sing from tree tops and views don't often allow close scrutiny. However I had excellent, if brief, views of a bird in central Kyoto prefecture last week that is also surprisingly blue breasted. At first the bird was seen low in the trees giving an opportunity to observe it more closely than is often the case but it was nevertheless against diffuse understorey light and didn't raise any red flags. When it came down to ground level into some tree roots on the steep hillside next to the track and then into low bushes it was far easier to judge the true colour of the bird. It was then that it began to look somewhat atypical. Unfortunately it soon flew further back into the trees and I wasn't able to spend longer looking for it.


The first thing worth considering is that the greater coverts clearly indicate this is a 2CY bird and I wonder if this may be the reason for its much bluer than normal appearance. Do 2CY males look different to adults? Another interesting feature I didn't notice in the field but is apparent in the images is that the back has a slightly more turquoise tint than normal Blue and Whites I see in Japan, this is more of an intermedia feature, and it's quite obvious where there is a very clear-cut division between the lower back and deeper blue of the lower rump and uppertail coverts. This could be more apparent because the neutral light allows a clearer assessment but I don't think that's the case. Could it then be another potential feature of young males?


I confess that for years I've been guilty of ignoring Blue and White's on the breeding grounds other than to enjoy the stunning appearance of birds that happened to be, like this one, closer than usual. However there now seems reason to give these easy-to-ID inland Blue and Whites a second look rather than simply appreciating their beauty.


Questions that spring to my mind are do 2CY males look different to adults, closer in appearance to intermedia, if so then do 2CY intermedia also look any different to adults? How might this affect identification of spring migrants on off-shore islands where intermedia might be more likely to occur? Might some intermedia pass through mainland Japan on a broad front just as Grey-streaked Flycatcher does? Unnoticed because of their similarity to the local taxon which ostensibly doesn't present any identification challenge.

This is how we initially saw the bird, it didn't strike me as odd in any way and I was keen for my companion to get good shots of it rather than looking closely myself. With the hindsight images bring I can now see there is a distinct border between the lighter lower back and the rump, this would probably be explained away as shadow in the field even if it were noticed at all.

When the bird dropped lower and the sloped forest floor became the backdrop the subtle colouration became more apparent.

There's now a distinct blue wash to the throat. Leader and Carey state with regard to cyanomelana "...a small number of specimens have narrow bluish tips to the breast and throat feathers". They don't give dates for these birds, it's possible this might only be present in fresh birds with the tips wearing off to reveal the glossy black throat.

It seems the angle and lighting play a part. Here the throat looks a dull matt-black faintly washed blue, perhaps still closer to intermedia than to cyanomelana. Note the distinct division between the back and lower rump / uppertail coverts.

It has a strikingly blue face in this image with black restricted to the lore and chin. The border between nape and ear coverts has all but disappeared - this looks extreme. Below is a more heavily cropped version.

The lore and chin are black but the throat, upper breast (at least) and ear coverts are strikingly blue tinted. The back clearly leans towards turquoise and contrasts sharply with the uppertail coverts, the contrast is even more marked than that between the face and nape.

A typical Blue and White at the same location. Of course the lighting is very different but there's no hint of contrast on the upperparts.

A typical spring cyanomelana with a glossy black throat and distinct black and blue border down the neck.

Another example in late April this year. Again the glossy black throat and blue / black contrast are obvious.

An October 1CY male. If the adult-type back feathers are acquired much earlier than rest of the upperparts might later grown feathers be a different shade and account for the colour contrast between back and rump?  

It seems there are still reasons to keep looking closely at Blue and White Flycatchers.

A few bits and pieces from the April trip

My three-day trip last week, taking in The Tsu city / Matsusaka (Mie), Hegurajima and adjacent coast (Ishikawa), and on the final day a morning at Kenmin Kaihin Park Kanazawa (Ishikawa) and evening near Yogo (Shiga), was great fun birding across such a wide range of habitats and a great success birdwise recording 131 species. Well above my usual week-long off-shore island totals at this time of year.

Mergansers and boats; an early morning fishing competition in Mie.

Mie provided a few spring arrivals such as Cattle Egret and Chestnut-cheeked Starling...

 

 

As well as the usual suspects, Chestnut-eared Bunting and Green Pheasant...

 

On Hegurajima Pale Thrushes are still quite common but I was surprised to find a Long-tailed Rosefinch. Most have already left and I'm more accustomed to finding the scarce Common Rosefinch at this time of year.

Along with Buff-bellied and Red-throated Pipits, I had two Olive-backed. The very fine flank streaking on the bird below suggests it could be yunnanensis. I've posted previously on two birds I believed were yunnanensis on Hegura.

The northern Ishikawa coast was a little disappointing but one spectacular sight was thousands of Black-tailed Gulls flying up wooded valleys onto fields in the process of being flooded prior to planting rice.

The following morning I was at Kenmin Kaihin Park in Kanazawa. There were lots of thrushes around, especially Japanese, Dusky and Pale. Even with very high ISO it was difficult to get a shot of this Brown-headed in the very early morning when thrushes still venture into the open.

Blue and White Flycatchers had been more common on Hegura, I only saw three here.

In the hills several newly arrived Oriental Cuckoos were singing but Copper Pheasants and Japanese Scops Owls had fallen silent, though the weather wasn't the best when I was there. It was probably still too early for Grey Nightjars and the other cuckoos, either that or the weather didn't encourage song.


There were a couple of Ashy Minivets in Kanazawa but they were quite common near Yogo, about 15 was the largest group I saw. Both places had lingering Rustic Buntings, it was a little surprising I didn't see any on Hegura though time on the island was brief.

Hegurajima: April 22 day trip

After spending a day and a half in Mie I made my way slowly to Ishikawa. The weather was dreadful, heavy rain throughout and a diversion due to a bad traffic accident didn't help. Of course I didn't mind in the slightest what the conditions were like on a relocation day and all that rain followed by forecast patchy fog over the sea the following morning had me rubbing my hands at the thought of all the migrants that might have made landfall on Hegurajima.


I picked up a few birds on the way, Brown Dipper was the only one I was unlikely to see elsewhere. I was curious what kind of bird list I could build driving round compared to my usual week spent on an off-shore island at this time of year. I was confident I could do better with numbers but could I get the quality?


The ferry to the island is usually an anticlimax, I rarely see much on this route, however there were a few things this time. An Arctic Skua was a first for me on this stretch of water, though I did once have a South Polar. Two groups of presumed Japanese Murrelets I saw turned out to be Ancient when I looked more closely. Two very distant parties of waders flying in close proximity, birds in one group slightly larger, were probably Red-necked and Grey Phalarope as both parties settled on the sea. Streaked Shearwaters were as common as ever.

Morphing murrelets; these expected Japanese turned out to be Ancient.

 

One of the second group of four which was closer.

A Streaked Shearwater letting its inner Colonectris really shine through; it could almost be a Cory's.

Approaching the island Pelagic Cormorant became common, I only saw one Temminck's out there.

 

Once on the island it didn't take long to see there were plenty of birds around. There were two or three Daurian Redstarts in the harbour, it's about three weeks since I saw my last around Kyoto, and Bramblings were everywhere, some looking very smart now. They've already disappeared from my usual haunts too. On the incoming side of the balance, Stejneger's Stonechats were very common on the island. Surprisingly I hadn't seen any prior to these this spring, they're usually one of the earlier passage birds on a broad front through my region.

A smart looking Brambling.

 

Stejneger's Stonechat was possibly the commonest migrant on the island, certainly the most conspicuous.

It didn't take long to find the first non-common bird, well Hoopoe is hardly rare, on the lawn behind the doc's. I bumped into it again later and heard it several times on my for-hour dash to cover as much of the island as practical before the ferry went back. In fact I hardly scratched the surface.

 

Hoopoe isn't a big rarity but they're always nice to see.

From there I quickly had a look at the coast and found a Swinhoe's Snipe on the grassy path to one of the headland shrines, then into the woodland where I flushed a Woodcock. There were plenty of Great and Coal Tits about, the odd Eastern Crowned Warbler, a Goldcrest and three or four Japanese Robins, heard only of course. A Long-tailed Rosefinch was a surprise, I've seen far more Common Rosefinch on islands in this season over the years.


No mega then; time to move on. Just as I was coming out of the trees I noticed a Japanese Sparrowhawk mobbing a Goshawk, or so it seemed at first glance judging by size but when I got the bins on them I was surprised to see a Northern Sparrowhawk mobbing a smallish harrier. Was this going to be the mega?! No, a Hen. I should have guessed, why do I get so excited over every bird? Because it's Hegura I suppose, it could have been a Pallid...




A mega approaches?

It's almost as if it sees me watching so closes its fingers to keep me guessing.



I wasn't fooled for a moment.

Next stop the harbour edge, it always holds something of interest. On the way I noticed there were no photographers at the hide, platform I should say, overlooking a shallow pool constructed to attract whatever is lurking in the undergrowth. It's funny really, two other people had taken the same ferry out in the morning and I only saw two others on the island. Great season, great weather, loads of birds and the place is all but deserted. Yet in a week, the Golden Week holiday, I bet the place will be packed to the gills. It's so difficult to book accommodation then which is fair enough with so many birders having inflexible work schedules but a good few of the visitors are retired. Why aren't they there now? The birding is fantastic and I very much doubt the Japanese national holiday will loom large in the birds' migration strategy. But as I was saying, the observation platform, I'm glad I stopped to take a peek. There was nothing rare but there were tons of birds flitting around, the best for me was an Asian Stubtail. Stubtails were singing all over the place, they're a common summer visitor around Kyoto, but they aren't the easiest thing to photograph.

Asian Stubtail: a photo tick.

One of 12 Blue and White Flycatchers I saw on the island (nine were males).

Red-flanked Bluetail.

Presumably a 2CY by the look of it.

I finally got down to the harbour area where the highlight was a party of three Greater Short-toed Larks. I see this species every spring, but three, I've never seen a flock of them before!

Red-throated Pipit with Greater Short-toed Lark.

A "flock" of Greater Short-toed Larks.



 



Then it was ferry back, a bite to eat behind the wheel and check out some fields further up the coast for waders to make use of the remaining day light. This wader checking idea was on the strength of having heard a Greenshank's chu-chu-chu behind Wajima that morning but apart from a snipe (I suspected Latham's) that crept off through the grass and into thicker cover before I could get down to the serious business of identification there was nothing.


So the wader idea was a bust but it had been an enjoyable day. In terms of quality I'd come up with a few species I don't see very often and in the numbers game, after 2.5 days in the field, I was on 123. This was definitely better than being based on an off-shore island. One more day to go.


List of species recorded today:-
Green Pheasant   2 plus 2 heard
Eurasian Wigeon   2 NP (Noto Peninsular)
Eastern Spot-billed Duck   7 NP
Eurasian Teal   c40 NP
Streaked Shearwater   100s
Little Grebe   1 NP
Grey Heron   3-4
Great White Egret   5 plus 7 NP
Little Egret   1 plus 4 NP
Great Cormorant   2 Wajima harbour
Temminck's Cormorant   1
Pelagic Cormorant   c50
Osprey   1 NP
Black Kite   2
Hen Harrier   1
Northern Sparrowhawk   1
Woodcock   1
Swinhoe's Snipe   1
snipe sp   1 NP
Common Greenshank   1 Wajima
phalarope sp   two small flocks seemed to be one of Red-necked, the other Grey
Black-tailed Gull   common, c1000 on flooded fields NP
Vega Gull   5
Slaty-backed Gull   1
Arctic Skua   1
Ancient Murrelet   8
racing pigeon   1 the pigeons on Hegura are always kitted out in racing legwear
Rock Dove   several NP
Oriental Turtle Dove   several
Common Kingfisher   1 NP
Hoopoe   1
Bull-headed Shrike   1 heard NP
Carrion Crow   c50 NP
Large-billed Crow   1
Great Tit   several
Coal Tit   several
Barn Swallow   3-4, several NP
Asian House Martin   c20 NP
Greater Short-toed Lark   3
Brown-eared Bulbul   fairly common NP
Asian Stubtail   2 plus many heard
Japanese Bush Warbler   common
Arctic Warbler complex   1
Eastern Crowned Warbler   c10
Japanese White-eye   common
Goldcrest   1
Chestnut-cheeked Starling   3 NP
White-cheeked Starling   1
White's Thrush   1
Japanese Thrush   1 plus 1 heard
Eyebrowed Thrush   1
Pale Thrush   common
Dusky Thrush   common
Japanese Robin   5 heard
Red-flanked Bluetail   1
Daurian Redstart   8
Stejneger's Stonechat   common
Blue Rock Thrush   1
Dark-sided Flycatcher   1
Asian Brown Flycatcher   1
Narcissus Flycatcher   1
Blue and White Flycatcher   12
Eurasian Tree Sparrow   several NP
Grey Wagtail   1 plus 2 NP
White Wagtail   several
Japanese Wagtail   several NP including a juvenile
Olive-backed Pipit   2
Red-throated Pipit   2
Buff-bellied Pipit   1 plus c10 NP
Brambling   30+
Oriental Greenfinch   common
Eurasian Siskin   1
Long-tailed Rosefinch   1
Hawfinch   1
Meadow Bunting   sev NP
Elegant Bunting   1
Japanese Yellow Bunting   1
Black-faced Bunting   common plus 1 spodocephala and 1 possible sordida (this isn't on the Japan list according to the most recent OSJ list, more of this later)