Nesting Little Grebes and a few bits and pieces across the fields

It's rare to see a wild bird actually lay an egg. Usually laying takes place out the sight of prying eyes, whether in a deep-cupped or domed nest, a tree cavity, high overhead in a tree or on a cliff ledge. Even ground nesters tend to select a site with surrounding cover. Grebes are some of the few birds which can sometimes have more exposed nest sites but it still takes luck to be in the right place at the right time; luck or more patience than I have.


Last week I was in the right place at the right time as my attention was caught by a pair of trilling Little Grebes swimming quickly in my direction towards some sparse reeds. To my surprise one of them leapt out of the water onto a nondescript soggy patch of waterlogged vegetation and promptly laid an egg. This female then slipped off, dived and I didn't see her again while the male floated around occasionally slapping more gloopy material to the morass. Just before I left the male climbed onto the platform and began fanning the egg with rapid wingbeats, presumably because of the midday heat though I'd have thought that it was sitting in a puddle would have been doing the job just fine.

The weight of the female was enough to tilt the platform causing water to spill across. The male on the right is bringing more material to add to the 'structure'.

The male remained in attendance during the 10-15 minutes I was present.

About 30 seconds of rapid wingbeats was presumably to cool the egg.

And even a little backward fanning.

Little Grebes may build a number of trial platforms before selecting one for the nest but it seems this pair may have been a tad behind on the construction front.


When I returned three days later the premature excuse for a nest, and its egg, was abandoned and in even worse condition than it had been. However after a few minutes I spotted another platform, actually worthy of the name nest, containing two eggs.

The three-day-old egg slowly sinking into the fly-covered mess.

And this is how it should be done.

Egrets were definitely on the move, both Eastern Cattle and Intermediate have reappeared across the fields and were taking advantage of widespread grass cutting around the berms. Another migrant coming through now is Pacific Golden Plover but they can be far more difficult to find as suitable fields are far fewer. However there were pretty good numbers last week, I saw even more of them than the ever present Grey-headed Lapwing. The most unexpected sighting in the rice fields was a Ruddy-breasted Crake. On the rare occasions I see them, or more often hear them, they're in more marshy areas with reeds and pools. This individual crossed the narrow farm road in front of me but despite it being fairly close I could only manage a poor quality shot through the windscreen.

A luck shot through the windscreen of a Ruddy-breasted Crake just before it disappeared into the rice crop.



In contrast to the Crake, Eastern cattle and Intermediate Egrets are conspicuous throughout the area.

Pacific Goldies were in reasonably good numbers last week, I found small parties on several fields.

Grey-headed Lapwings are a fixture here but I never tire of seeing them.

Two one-day trips to Hegura... part one

After bad weather has prevented me from getting out to the island on each recent occasion I've had the free time to go, the forecast finally looked promising for a sailing last Friday. After working till 8pm on Thursday I hurried home and prepared for the drive up to Wajima... by all accounts birding had been great on all the Japan Sea islands a few days earlier, but how much would still be there?


I arrived in Wajima later than usual so couldn't get in any local birding before heading for the ticket office, and once there it was pretty obvious the ferry was running. The car park was packed and nearby roads lined with birders' cars. This was the first time I've had to go to one of the big car parks across the river and walk back.


Once on the ferry I took the opportunity to grab some sleep rather than hang on the rail as there's often little more than Streaked Shearwaters to show for the effort. I find it difficult to get excited about this ferry route to be honest. The crossing was calm and the visibility encouragingly poor with the Japanese mainland quickly disappearing from sight, there might even be the odd new arrival.


I wasn't one of the first off the ferry for a change and was a little surprised to see a knot of people hurrying off towards the centre of the island and decided to follow just in case. It turned out they were headed for a Black-naped Oriole vigil so I dropped out of the race about half way but this quick march in that direction turned out for the best. Some way along the central track I heard a singing Rufous-tailed (Swinhoe's) Robin in the undergrowth to my left, a bird often heard but rarely seen on the islands in spring. Not 50 metres further I paused to check a Narcissus Flycatcher (there's always a chance of Yellow-rumped) lurking down a narrow cut into the sassa, where photographers will often display Olympian patience while tempting skulkers into the open with mealworms, and just below the Flycatcher another Rufous-tailed Robin hopped into my field of view! It posed on a stone for about three seconds then flitted into thick cover on the other side of the cutting. Three seconds... what a view! Though I've heard countless over the years this was only the second I've seen. What a great start to the day!


Yellow-browed Warblers were everywhere, fantastic little birds, but they can be tough to photograph. Sakhalin Leaf Warblers weren't far behind in number judging by all the calls but surprisingly I didn't hear a single Japanese Leaf Warbler. There weren't many Eastern Crowned Warblers around either but as they aren't as vocal as the other phylloscs present it's possible to underestimate their number. These are a few of the warbler shots I managed.

Radde's Warbler... one day there'll be a Yellow-streaked.

Radde's again, that bill looks brutal.

Radde's again.

Sakhalin Leaf.

Sakhalin Leaf.

Japanese Bush Warbler with three more shots below.

It might make a mystery photograph challenge but it's actually one of the few Eastern Crowned I saw that day.

Siberian Rubythroat can be hard to see let alone photograph, I had reasonable views of three birds while I was there.

Not everything was skulking in nature, quite a few things were happy to perch up. None more so than this rather out-of-place Cattle Egret...

This Brown Shrike stayed far enough away to prevent a medium-sized lens like mine making much of it, I should have brought my scope.

More heavily cropped and from a different position.

This bird is confusus I'd guess, but that looks like a black tail through the twigs. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken people's word for this being Brown.

A Bull-headed was more obliging, the Tiger Shrike present was far less so... I didn't even see it.

There are often Siskins on the island and they tend to be far more easily photographed than in the forests in Kyoto.

Female Siskin.

Before I knew it my time on the island was up and it was back to a crowded ferry. I was surprised how many of the same faces were heading back after day-tripping.


Originally my plan had been to head up the coast to the end of the peninsula the following day to see what might be about there. However the forecast insisted there would be heavy rain from midnight to well past dawn. I couldn't make up my mind what to do; if there was going to be filthy weather I'd rather be on flat Hegura than slithering on the steep slopes up the coast. The soles of my boots are worn smooth; I've been meaning to get new ones for ages but when there's a choice between birding and shopping there really isn't a choice at all. Because slithering means at least one eye on the terrain rather than looking for birds Hegura was clearly the better option but this only held true if the ferry sailed. Ultimately, after prolonged dithering, there wasn't enough time to get up the coast before first light so I had to hope the ferry was going. Which turned out very well indeed.

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.

egrets

Kansai may miss out a lot of Japanese birds but we do well enough for egrets. Apart from Eastern Reef, which is coastal of course, all can be seen easily in or around Kyoto city.

Cattle Egrets are numerous passing through Ogura in spring and autumn, in April mixed flocks of  Cattle and Intermediate can be seen flying upstream at Yawata where the rivers Yodo, Kiso and Katsura meet. In autumn they're less hurried and spend time in flocks dotted about the fields at Ogura (and elsewhere). They can still be found in the region throughout summer, birds breeding at Biwako may be the closest to Kyoto city. I've only seen one bird in winter, an oddly pink-footed bird following a plough at Ogura. Some are meant to winter in southern Japan but this was definitely an unusual occurrence in Kansai.

Living up to the name on Yonaguni.

In early May the colourful bare parts as much as the plumage make this a really attractive bird.

 

In June black on the culmen and only a hint of colour on the fore-crown suggest this is 2CY.

Part of a post-breeding flock at Ogura in August. The adults are losing their colour and some juveniles, like the bird on the left, still have black bills.

That the legs and even feet are pink seems very odd, I don't know how often Cattle have pink legs in winter. These images are video-grabs.

Ogura, late December 2004.

Great White Egret can be seen year round and is quite common even in Kyoto city centre where they can be quite tame. I once watched an woman walking her dog along the Kamogawa near the botanical gardens with a loose flock of Great Whites and Grey Herons walking along with her as she threw food to them. I watched them till they were out of sight around a bend. A most peculiar sight for all the world as if she was taking her pet herons for a walk.

This modestus is only just starting to come into breeding condition in March. No doubt why they are sometimes losing out to Great Cormorants in competition for nest sites.

Two full breeding birds in early May (Tsushima, Nagasaki). The rosy-pink tibia, blue-green lores and black bill are a striking combination.

      Below, a full breeding bird with entirely pale pink legs in early May, Mishima, Yamaguchi.

 

I'm uncertain about the status of albus in Japan, according to Brazil (The Birds of Japan, 1991) modestus occurs throughout the year and breeds from southern Japan to northern Honshu and increasingly into Hokkaido but he cites only a few records for albus. However in the Birds of East Asia (2009) albus is said to be the subspecies with the wide distribution with modestus being a summer visitor to southern Japan.

For a long time I was unable to detect any discernible differences between birds I was seeing in Japan and assumed the races must be indistinguishable in the field if both were occurring here. This until I was taking a visiting Australian birder round Lake Biwa one day and he asked about two egrets on a nearby pond. Getting the scope on them, they were both clearly Great White but for the first time I was seeing a very obvious difference between individuals. For the first time I was looking at something which really appeared to be an albus.

Great White Egrets, albus (right) and modestus (left), Lake Sainoko, Shiga January 2012. The albus is obviously larger and heavier with longer tibia and deeper-based bill. This is the first yellow-legged Great White I'd seen here, the legs were yellow to below the knee with tapering extensions down the sides of the tarsi.

Lake Sainoko, January 2012.

Amazingly I found another bird a month later in Sanda, Hyogo (the three shots below). Though alone, it nevertheless gave the impression of being very large and had the same distinctive pattern of yellow on the legs.

A second albus, February 2012.

                                     Below, two shots showing the extent of yellow on the legs.

 

I noticed this albus when going to see three Siberian White Cranes in Sikoku (March 2014), a local birder told me it had been a good winter for them and that there'd been more than just this one in the area.

Intermediate Egret is common in summer and very common around Kyoto in spring and autumn, there can be huge numbers (100s) in paddyfields on passage. Some of the biggest concentrations I see are in Mie but they are common throughout the whole of Kansai.

The obvious short gape line and large eye of Intermediate.

Intermediate coming into breeding condition in early April on Yonaguni.

The rather small size, close to Little, domed head and black-tipped yellow bill in spring and autumn can make them easy to identify even at long range across the fields.

Intermediate 14 September, the dark bill tip is beginning to fade.

Intermediate 18 October, a few migrants are still passing through.

Intermediate and Great White modestus side by side for comparison.

Little Egrets are also out on the paddies but are more a bird of riversides or ponds and they're common on the Kamogawa in the centre of Kyoto throughout the year. There is still a city centre breeding colony in a temple garden but others have disappeared. This is a species that can be found in all lowland areas in Kansai.

A great looking breeding bird in early March foot paddling on the Kamogawa in the centre of Kyoto city.

There are invariably birds fishing at the base of the small weirs along the river in the city.

Little seems far more aggressive than the other egrets here but maybe river sites increase competition compared to open paddyfields.

The Kansai egret you won't find anywhere close to the city is Eastern Reef. They're normally on rocky coasts and the best areas are in Wakayama and southern Mie, though they can easily be overlooked unless you're actively looking for them. The shots below are of a bird passing through Hegurajima in October.

The two video-grabs below are of a couple of Chinese Egrets on the Yodo River at Ebie, Osaka city at the beginning of July 2005. Definitely a species that can't be expected on a visit to Kansai!