It wasn't only Isabelline... there's a Tree Pipit mis-ID

I covered most of the island in my allotted 4.5 hours but finding anything is even more a matter of luck than usual. Mugimaki Flycatchers were hard to miss, possibly the most numerous flycatcher on the island, I've only been once when there were more present. But not a single male!

This Mugimaki looks like it's just done 10 rounds with a local moggie.

Of more interest was a male Common Crossbill, an island tick for me, but its presence wasn't so surprising given this winter was an invasion year. The number of spodocephala Black-faced Bunting was also good to see, it's nice to get so many clear-cut males.

Thrushes were well reasonably common with Brown-headed, Dusky and a single White's seen. There were a few robins too, one Siberian Blue was particularly popular with photographers and had quite a crowd gathered for its sporadic appearances atop a rock in the sasa. I didn't have time to hang around and wait for it to appear but on both occasions I walked past the shutters burst into action and there it was. I heard another in deep undergrowth and likewise two trilling Japanese Robins. I also heard two Siberian Rubythroats and managed to glimpse one as it flashed across the track. Things were easier on the phyllosc front Eastern Crowned, Yellow-browed and Sakhalin Leaf were all reasonably easy to see.

Sakhalin Leaf in woodland understorey.

As departure time drew closer I headed back down to the harbour and it seemed fitting that another good find was waiting on "the green", two Tree Pipits flew up and perched on the fence just metres from where the Isabelline Shrike had been a very short four hours earlier. My snap identification before I had to dash for my ferry was erroneous, they were Olive-backed. Nevertheless these birds are of interest and I'll post more later on these two.

The ferry trip back to Wajima, so often a let down, was quite good this time. A diver, possibly Red-throated flew by and Two Japanese Murrelets which dropped onto the sea were something I hadn't previously seen from this route. There were several flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes too, I tried to take some shots of the nearest flock without getting great results but when I checked I was completely taken aback to see a breeding plumage Grey (Red) Phalarope amongst them!

Spot the odd one out.

The ferry docked at 16:30 and rather than the usual mad dash south I took a leisurely drive along the beautiful coastline in glorious late afternoon sun to check out Rokkozaki. Its position of the tip of the Noto Peninsular looks favourable to pull in migrants and satellite imagery seems to show a good variety of interesting habitat. I thought that if it were as good as it looked the place could be a great alternative to Hegura if the ferry were cancelled. I'll post the results later but below is a full list of species seen or heard on the 6th.

Eastern Spot-billed Duck   several Wajima and elsewhere
diver sp   1 from the ferry
Streaked Shearwater   fairly common from the ferry
Grey Heron   2
Great White Egret   4
Little Egret   1 near Kanazawa
cormorant sp   1 in Wajima harbour
Pelagic Cormorant   c15
Peregrine   1
Black Kite   1
Eurasian Sparrowhawk   1
Pacific Golden Plover   1 heard near Kanazawa
Common Sandpiper   1 Wajima
Red-necked Phalarope   c90 from the ferry
Grey Phalarope   1 from the ferry
Black-tailed Gull very common
Japanese Murrelet   2 from the ferry
Oriental Turtle Dove   2-3
Feral Rock Dove   Wajima
Oriental Cuckoo   1-2 heard
Common Kingfisher   1
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker   1 Rokkozaki
Ashy Minivet   1
Isabelline Shrike   1
Jay   1 near Wajima
Rook   1
Carrion Crow   Wajima
Large-billed Crow   1-2 (plus elsewhere)
Varied Tit   heard Noto Pen
Barn Swallow   a few, common elsewhere
Asian House Martin   c25 Rokkozaki
Skylark   2
Zitting Cisticola   1heard Noto Pen
Brown-eared Bulbul
Japanese Bush Warbler   common
Asian Stubtail   1 heard Rokkozaki
Yellow-browed Warbler   several
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler   3-4
Eastern Crowned Warbler   several
Japanese White-eye 2-3 heard
Wren   several heard near Kanazawa
White-cheeked Starling   Noto Pen
White's Thrush   1
Eye-browed Thrush   several Rokkozaki
Brown-headed Thrush   c10
Dusky Thrush   several
Siberian Rubythroat   1 plus 1 heard
Japanese Robin   2 heard
Siberian Blue Robin   1 plus 1 heard
Sibeian Stonechat   2
Blue Rock Thrush   3+ Noto Pen
Asian Brown Flycatcher   2
Narcissus Flycatcher   several
Mugimaki Flycatcher   10-15
Blue and White Flycatcher   several
Eurasian Tree Sparrow   Noto Pen
White Wagtail   several, one fly-by was a non-lugens
Japanese Wagtail   1 Rokkozaki
Tree Pipit   2
Olive-backed Pipit   1
pipit sp   1
Brambling   c10
Oriental Greenfinch   common
Common Crossbill   1 male
Japanese Grosbeak   2 Rokkozaki
Meadow Bunting   1 off the top of my head this might be a Hegura first for me!
Little Bunting   2-3
Black-faced Bunting   common including several spodocephala