A few left over images of Mie birds from last week

Grey Plover at sunrise.

Garganey; a regular migrant at this time of year.

Little Grebe; this nest is bigger and stronger every time I see it.

Juvenile Little Ringed Plover.

Adult Little Ringed Plover.

Whimbrel.

Brown Booby, Taimyr Gull, Daurian Jackdaw and a few other birds in Arasaki

After leaving Isahaya I drove round the bay overnight. My satnav insisted I take the Shimabara - Kumamoto ferry even though the last sailing was at 5:30pm; this is so irritating. It doesn't matter how often I explain to her something can't be done she just won't budge. Another example, my final evening I wanted to drive from Miyazaki to Kyoto she stubbornly held that the only way to go was ferry to Shikoku, drive across the island and use the Nishi Akashi bridge; again if I could have connected with a ferry this may have been the quickest way but there simply wasn't a ferry to catch.


I thought about dropping in to the reclaimed land at Tamana but checking the tide tables I decided to give it a miss and head straight to Yatsushiro. High tide was due at 10:30 so I thought this would provide an excellent opportunity to watch the birds getting pushed closer while the light wasn't too strong from directly across the estuary. As it things transpired there was an exceptionally high tide that morning and by just after 8am the mudflats were drowned and the birds gone. Before everything flew off there were good numbers of waders, plenty of Saunder's Gulls of course but the highlight was a Caspian Tern that dropped in very briefly. I saw three Caspians here last winter but this one was closer and still with an almost full black cap. Unfortunately I didn't get any shots of it due to photographer incompetence; he's gone just as soon as I can find a replacement.


The next stop was Arasaki with a plan to cover the whole area and the luxury of three nights in a hotel while doing it.

One of the highlights was a Brown Booby in Akune harbour. Though they are to be expected along this coast in winter this is the first time I've seen one here, it was great to watch it plunge diving in the harbour.

One of only two adult Daurian Jackdaws I saw at Arasaki and only three on the whole trip compared to 30-40 first winters.

Another bird in the same flock has a very prominent neck patch recalling Eastern Jackdaw. Pity it's dark-eyed!

First winter Daurian Jackdaw.

First winter Daurian Jackdaw.

A bird with much greyer underparts (more like juvenile plumage but presumably first winter unless some second winters don't look full adult?) and again with a prominent pale collar.

I only saw two first winter Taimyr Gulls in the area, this one lingered just long enough to get a few images.

These images are slightly lightened to show more plumage detail so the actual colour fidelity shouldn't be relied on. The primary window was darker when the wing was spread compared to the birds I typically see in Kansai. I have no idea whether it's possible to separate Taimyr and Heuglin's at this age or whether the darker window would have any significance. It's a pity this gull didn't hang around, I'd have loved to get a better view than just the couple of fly-bys before it wandered off from the river mouth.

Early each morning there were 13 Eurasian and three Black-faced Spoonbills in the same spot before they dispersed for the day.

Long-billed Plovers were easy to find inland along rivers but on the Arasaki fields, as you'd expect, Little Ringed was the only plover present. Eight was the biggest group I saw but they were dotted around the large expanse of fields.

Common Snipe.



Green Sandpiper.



Bull-headed Shrike.

A few waders in Mie and Kyushu

I hinted in the previous post Nordmann's Greenshank post that some waders have been more cooperative recently and here are a few shots of a few of those birds.

LRP

LRP

Greater Sand Plover

Whimbrel

Far Eastern Curlew

Far Eastern Curlew. You might be forgiven for thinking this is a Whimbrel at first glance because of the short bill and what appears to be a latteral crown stripe.

Common Redshank

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Grey-tailed Tattler

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Red-necked Stint

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Arasaki January 6th

The 6th was my first full day in the area and a priority for anyone coming here has to be the cranes. Obviously that's how my day began, watching thousands of cranes on Higashi Kantaku, but because I'd heard the Scaly-sided Mergansers were back on the upper reaches of the Sendai River a lot of the day was spent in a fruitless search for them.


I first saw Scaly-sided back in 1988 - and I walked 50km that day to do it - but I haven't seen another since. It's not that I haven't tried, believe me I have. Let's just say if you want to see Scaly-sided, don't come birding with me. And lookout for my forthcoming publication "Viewpoints Along Hard To Access Rivers In Japan", it's sure to be a best seller... aren't tricky species supposed to get easier once you've finally connected with one?


Back to Arasaki where at least the cranes are hard to miss.


It's sometimes said that less is more and this is my attempt to prove it... a nice solitary Hooded Crane. Solitary Hooded Cranes are a great rarity here.

I don't know who said that though, so down to business...

...cranes as far as the eye can see. Add to these the flock in front of the crane centre plus all the birds that don't make this their first port of call and we're talking serious crane numbers.


Below is the second (and closer) of the two Common Cranes I saw that morning but looking at the images now I'm wondering if it isn't a Hooded hybrid. The other Common Cranes I saw didn't have the suspicious darker grey patches on the back and the head markings don't look as clear-cut as "real" Common Cranes. I'll have to look into it when I get back. Nice bird though.

Our Hoodies also come in a fetching range of greys...

From a distance I thought the pale bird in these shots was going to be my first Sandhill of the trip. Most birds seem to vary from mid- to blackish-grey but this was by far the palest bird I saw and by the final day of the trip was still an outlier.


Speaking of Sandhill...

...five was the most I ever saw together.


While Hooded come in a convenient frame filling size and Sandhill are positively dinky, White-naped is heading in the other direction. They're absolutely huge, well, as long as there aren't any Siberian White around.

And just to show it's not all larger-than-life glitz and glamour I'll end this with a couple of Little Ringed Plover shots before starting my (I'm guessing) 14 hour drive back to Kyoto.