Yellow-bellied Tit and a few plastics

I've only ever been to Choshi in summer (thank you Least Tern), rather strange considering how much time I spend gulling you might think. Well, yes, but on the other hand it's a fair old hike from Kyoto. An almost eight-hour non-stop drive in fact. However, when I heard about the arrival of Yellow-bellied Tits a while ago I knew I'd have to get up there some time this winter.

Yellow-bellied Tits at Choshi... again? On the 'wrong side' of Japan and in exactly the same spot. How weird is that. How much of Japan did they fly over to get there? To happen once is quite a surpise, but to happen twice is bizarre. Well as I said, I knew they were likely to stay all winter and that I'd have to get up there at some point. The point came last week.

I didn't do the whole eight-hour drive in one irresponsible stretch, I actually stopped twice. Once at a Tokyo park that just happened to have some Rose-ringed Parakeets flying around making a din and another park where there were Masked Laughing Thrushes bouncing around making a din. Some plastics play hard to get but these were the kind I like best, get'm and go. They weren't the only plastic on this trip I might add. This was a veritable tick-fest with three plastics, one armchair, one heard only and of course the Yellow-bellied Tits. 

Masked Laughing Thrushes: the park even has a Starbucks next to the birds' favourite clump of bushes.

The Tits played hard to get. Not that I blame them so much, more my own expectations. When I originally heard they were in a park, even if it were the size of four football fields, I thought how hard can that be?! A park; a park in this area means manicured lawns with a few trees sticking out, I wasn't expecting a jungle. My heart sank just pulling into the car park for the first time... not to mention each subsequent occasion.

On the first attempt locals told us the best spot to look, they also told us they'd seen one briefly at 10am, too briefly to photograph, and hadn't had another sign since. Hardly encouraging. Here I was at the gulling capital of Japan and I'm stuck in a forest looking for a small passerine. I'm not sure which I felt more strongly, frustration at not gulling or fear that I might not see the Tits, and do no gulling. The next day I managed untickable views, my mate saw two birds together, one was nice and yellow the other was drab and doing a Coal Tit impersonation. I didn't see the yellow one. I glimpsed the impersonator... from behind. This was hard, frustration up a couple of notches. And to make matters worse, all the Great Tits and Varied Tits were chattering away like mad, doing a Laughing Thrush you might say, while in contrast the Yellow-bellieds were almost silent. I say almost because I heard a single call, once. So much for morning activity, try again in the (becoming rather chilly, overcast and even showery) afternoon. But, the third time really was lucky, how rare is that? I saw three different birds and I heard them calling on three or four occasions. Success! Just as well because the following day was pouring rain from beginning to end. I also learned the IOC has bestowed specieshood on the Bonin Greenfinch; armchair! A good day, and by coincidence my birthday.

Yellow-bellied Tit, one of three seen (apparently there are four).

The next day was spent gulling. Gulling from the car it has to be said, because as I mentioned the rain never stopped all day. My mate was hoping to see Thayer's today because he had a flight booked to go after the Black-winged Cuckoo-Shrikes on Ishigaki the following day but sadly the Thayer's (sorry thayeri Iceland) was a no-show.

Not-a-Thayer's Reef Egret

Not-a-Thayer's Temminck's Cormorant

After a night in Narita my next port of call was Mito city. Yes, that Mito city, home of Black Swans. I did warn there was more plastic to come. My mate Richard explained there were two car parks at the west side of 'swan lake', one that costs Y500 and one that does not. So on arrival I rolled into the first jam-packed car park I see, jump out, and head towards the lake only to be buttonholed by an attendant politely demanding Y500. What is wrong with the people of Mito? Why are they squeezing into a pay car park when there's a free one 200 metres further along. I can only imagine they were all, like me, out of towners who'd made a special trip to see the Black Swans.

Black Swan

This was another high quality plastic, stroll up, record shot, back in the van and off to Choshi again. 

The following day was a full day of gulling... more to follow.    

A few interesting birds in Mie

As I mentioned in the last post I went to Mie after seeing the Bluethroat in Nagoya and the following morning I had a good session south of Matsusaka.


Dusky Thrushes are common in winter but normally there aren't so many good looking males this early in the season so the bird in the following images was a stand out.

But when it comes to early breeding plumage, this striking Great Cormorant takes the biscuit. There are thousands of Great Cormorants in this area but not one other bird showed even a smidgen of breeding plumage.

The breeding plumage Great Cormorant again, here with a bird typical for this time of year.

There were a couple of Pelagic Cormorants too. This is a common species in Japan but scarce in this area.

Pelagic Cormorant and Great Cormorant.

I'm not sure which is more surprising, that I saw three Temminck's Cormorants or that I've never seen them here before.

Two Temminck's Cormorants.

The right hand of the two previous Temminck's.

Another Temminck's further along the beach.

I don't see many Pacific Reef Egrets here either but this one was notable in that I first saw it in an 'inland' ditch. Admittedly only about 100 metres inland but that's enough for a bird I associate with coastal rocks.

The Pacific Reef Egret after it moved downstream to a small harbour.

Then it was off to the sea, its inland adventure over.

There were 10 Brent Geese on the sea just off one of the estuaries, this is a regular wintering species but only in these low numbers.

Two of the Brent Geese in with an assortment of duck species. I always expect geese to stand out because of their size but the Brents aren't so much bigger than the larger duck species and the duller hatch-year birds blend in remarkably well.

In the same flock were several Baikal Teal. This was another personal first for this stretch of coast.

The two females here catch the eye more than the two males!

Two more males.

And yet another.

Birds of prey featured well with Peregrine, Eastern Buzzard, Black Kite, Osprey, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Northern Goshawk and Eastern Marsh Harrier all putting in appearances. As well as this bird again...

Our local Turkey Vulture on the look out for a seafood snack.

Far far more expected, at least for anyone who doesn't know there's a lurking Turkey Vulture, is Eastern Buzzard. The Buzzard was trying out a bit of lurking of its own when I first noticed it but it soon moved to a typical perch. I think the lurking idea seems pretty good on the face of it but Buzzards have been making a success out of sitting on exposed perches so long, why fix it if it ain't broke?

Waiting for the Hegura ferry

I arrived early in Wajima early, with enough time to do some birding before the ferry left, otherwise it's such a waste of a bird-filled dawn when sunrise is at 4:30. The sun may rise then but you'd have been forgiven for thinking it simply hadn't bothered that particular morning. Dense fog, or more accurately a blanket of low cloud, kept light to a minimum and gave everything a drippy grey uniformity.


Funnily a female Blue Rock Thrush, which would normally be no more than variations on a grey theme anyway, managed to transform itself into this fetching brown...

There were several singing Kamchatka Leaf Warblers that remained invisible in the foggy tree tops and a Narcissus Flycatcher that brightened the gloom of the understorey. When the clouds eventually began to rise a small number of Pacific Swifts were circling the light house on the hill top. So there were migrants around. Hegura might still produce something at this late date.


Both Japanese Pygmy and Japanese Woodpeckers were easy to see in the early morning murk.

The other highlight while waiting for the ferry was this Pacific Reef Egret. They are often too far out on the rocks to allow photography but high tide didn't leave this bird too many options.

One other pleasant surprise was a bedraggled Japanese Marten but it made off before I could get a decent shot of it.