Common Starling

This year I finish work at lunchtime rather tham late afternoon on Saturdays, which gives me an excellent opportunity to visit the Yodo River at Hirakata. The river is becoming much wider here at the mid-way point between Kyoto and Osaka and a broad cycle path running alongside the river gives good access.

The highlight today was a Common Starling in with hundreds of White-cheeked Starlings in the berry trees by the river.

There was a reported Red-billed Starling in the same trees last week but the closest I came to that was a melanin deficient White-cheeked with an entirely white head and breast. That wasn't the only plumage aberation of the day with odd-looking Common Coot and Meadow Bunting too.

 Another bird of local interest was an American Wigeon with the other ducks on sandbars in the river and I was told there was also a Common Shelduck about 1km down stream. Of more interest to me were a number of Vega Gulls on the sandbars, this is something of a rarity in Kyoto city not much further north and is really indicative of the change in aviafauna heading towards the coast. Great Crested Grebe and Dunlin were two species on the river here that I'd normally associate with the coast (or Lake Biwa).

Other minor surprises were seeing 15-20 Long-tailed Rosefinches yet not a single male and a Green Pheasant up a tree at midday in bright sunshine. Pheasants aren't so unexpected in trees early or late and they often perch in branches in the rain but sunny midday was maybe a first for me.

hirundines to Long-tailed Tit

Four hirundines can be seen in Kyoto depending on the season and three of them breed in Kansai. Barn Swallow is a common and widespread breeder in urban as well as rural areas. It's not unknown for the race tytleri to occur in northern Shiga in mid-winter, I've seen a flock of about 30 in late December one year and a single in January in a subsequent winter. The flock were moulting primaries so presumably unlikely to travel far. It's strange to see Swallows flying low over a snow covered landscape as though it were a summer meadow.
Red-rumped Swallow only breeds at a couple of locations in Kyoto city and compared to Barn is also more localised as a breeder throughout the region. It's a common migrant over the city rivers, passing through later than Barn in autumn, there can be large numbers well into October.
Asian House Martin is a common breeder usually in association with rivers in forested areas and frequently nests under road bridges. The only urban colony I know of near Kyoto is under an elevated stretch of railway between here and Osaka. Sometimes parties can appear in in the city in mid-winter but they never linger long.
Sand Martin is purely a migrant and in autumn it can pass through over quite a protracted period. Again it can be seen along all the rivers and often over the fields at Ogura.

These Sand Martins were photographed on their breeding grounds in Hokkaido in August 2012.

Barn Swallow at Ogura, 18 August 2011.

These two are Pacific Swallow photographed in Okinawa, 2 August 2011.

Asian House Martins gathering nest building mud in a village near Ashyu Forest, 13 May 2012.  

This was another of the birds I photographed near Ashyu. I was puzzled by the dark patch on its breast side and when I cropped the image I was amazed to find another wing.  A heavily cropped version showing more detail is repeated below. As looks perfectly healthy and was gathering mud the supernumerary limb mustn't impare it in any way. Not having noticed this in the field, I'm left wondering whether it has a matching pair.

Red-rumped Swallow over the Katsuragawa at Arashiyama, Kyoto city 29 October. It isn't unusual to see birds as late as this, long after Barn Swallow has disappeared.

Some of a flock of about 150 migrant Red-rumped Swallows in Ishikawa in October 2014.

Long-tailed Tits are very common in and around the city as well as throughout Kansai in general. They can be found in woodland, in riverside scrub and city parks.

Long-tailed Tits along the Katsura River in Kyoto, 3 October 2010.

Adult caudatus in Hokkaido, 31 December 2012.

A juvenile caudatus in Hokkaido, 12 August 2012.