Some migrants on Yonaguni

I've already posted regarding the most important migrants from a personal perspective, the Himalayan Swiftlet and Citrine Wagtail, but here are a few other migrants, some more to be expected than others.

There was only this one pair of Garganey during my stay. Last time there were quite a few on a tank favoured by Common Teal. These birds were on the pond/lake at Kubura.  

Grey-faced Buzzards are a daily occurrence, perhaps they are wintering birds rather than migrants, and often easily photographable on utility poles. I've gone with this poor, distant shot because this was such a striking bird, beautifully sandy above and mainly white below. 

There were a lot of Chinese Pond Herons on the island, though six was the largest group I saw they could be seen singly or in twos in many places.

This Whiskered Tern only spend about five minutes over the flooded fields at Hikawa before purposefully heading north over the island never to be seen again.

The only Oriental Cuckoo I saw perched, and the only non-hepatic.

Brown Shrikes are common and found in gardens, field edges and open scrubby areas.

Chestnut-cheeked Starling is a common spring migrant throughout Japan.

Daurian Starling on the other hand is not. There were at least three in the above flock of Chestnut-cheeked and I'd only previously seen a single bird on Mishima (Yamaguchi Pref).

Phylloscopus warblers were disappointingly scarce, I heard one Yellow-browed and eventually saw this Dusky Warbler which was singing from dense cover.

Stejneger's Stonechat is another common migrant throughout Japan and there were several dotted around the island.

The only Richard's Pipit of the trip, briefly on the school playing field. I saw several last time.

Red-throated Pipit could be seen daily, there were usually a few around the margins of flooded fields. 

I was surprised to see a Brambling but I came across two more singles on subsequent days.

Little Bunting is a fairly common migrant on migration islands but this was the only one I saw on Yonaguni. Masked was common and there were a few Black-faced but buntings, like warblers, were disappointing.

Perhaps it was a little early for some migrants even this far south? Perhaps a little late for others as I didn't see any Oriental Plovers or Upland Buzzard though I suspected I might miss these two Yonaguni specials before going.

One of the Oriental Plovers from my previous visit to the island, It's such a great bird I don't need much of an excuse to dig up an old shot.

Mishima May 5: ocularis White Wagtail at last

A number of species I've always taken for granted here in the past don't seem to be present. Peregrine is a good example, I must have seen it every day on all previous visits. Another, taxon rather than species, is ocularis White Wagtail, and there've precious few lugens to be honest, but it finally showed up this morning. No doubt about this bird with it's very different coverts, secondaries and black chin.

Other expected firsts for the trip were Eurasian Teal, Red-rumped Swallow and Yellow-browed Warbler. More surprising were Bulfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker neither of which could be thought of as rarities but I don't think I've had either on my trips here before. The other was Japanese Leaf Warbler.

Blue and White Flycatchers have all but disappeared while Narcissus and the two common warblers are still numerous in places but birding is much harder work than when I first arrived. On the plus side there were many reports of Mugimaki Flycatcher today, I only saw two but also heard three others singing.

The better looking of two Chinese Pond Herons on the paddies at Utu village today.

Narcissus Flycatcher.

A spodocephala Black-faced Bunting with a twig strategically hiding most of its grey breast.

A female Japanese Yellow Bunting, one of several today and perhaps the commonest bunting on the island.

Probably the highlight of the day was hearing a mole shrew! Why should I be so surprised that mole shrews squeek? Well not squeek exactly, or at all in fact, more of an electronic dzzzz  dzzzz. I was sitting quietly in fairly dark woodland and almost fell off the log when when I heard it. It had to be some mega I'd never heard before creeping round on the forest floor just 15 metres away. Small plants were twitching! It came closer, I could follow the movement of plant stems. Closer, damn my bins were always trained on the wrong gap between plants, I never saw it hop across. Then I saw movement under the leaf-litter and the penny dropped. I finally saw it pop up, its back arch then straight back under. A terestrial version of the finless porpoises I saw recently; on this goes dzzzz dzzzz. Not a mega then, but how could I be disappointed.

Birds seen today:-
Eastern Spot-billed Duck   2
Eurasian Teal   8
Little Grebe   2
Black-crowned Night Heron   heard over my accommodation after dark
Chinese Pond Heron   1
Cattle Egret   13
Grey Heron   12
Great White Egret   8
Intermediate Egret   10
Little Egret   8
Great Cormorant   1
Osprey   2-4
Black Kite   common
Eastern Buzzard   1
Black Woodpigeon   1 heard
Oriental Turtle Dove   common
Oriental Scops Owl   1 heard
Pacific Swift   c5
Great Spotted Woodpecker   1 drumming
Ashy Minivet   several
Carrion Crow   1
Large-billed Crow   common
Great Tit   1 heard
Barn Swallow   common
Asian House Martin   c6
Red-rumped Swallow   3+
Brown-eared Bulbul   common
Japnese Bush Warbler   1 heard
Oriental Reed Warbler   10+
Yellow-browed Warbler   1
Japanese Leaf Warbler   1
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler   common
Eastern Crowned Warbler   common
Japanese White-eye   common
Japanese Thrush   1
Pale Thrush   1
Brown-headed Thrush   1
turdus sp   only a few left\
Siberian Rubythroat   2-3 heard
Siberian Blue Robin   1
Blue Rock Thrush   2
Asian Brown Flycatcher   c10
Narcissus Flycatcher   common
Mugimaki Flycatcher   2 plus 3 heard
Blue and White Flycatcher   1
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Grey Wagtail   1
White Wagtail   1 ocularis
Olive-backed Pipit   2
Buff-bellied Pipit   1
Brambling   c18
Oriental Greenfinch   common
Eurasian Bullfinch   1
Japanese Yellow Bunting   several
Black-faced Bunting   1 personata, 1 spodocephala

bitterns & small herons

Eurasian Bittern formerly bred at larger reedbeds near the south east of Lake Biwa but habitat reduction had a severe effect. I haven't tried to listen for them in recent years and I'm unsure about their current status but I believe they do still occur. Perhaps Lake Sainoko just to the north would be a better place to try nowadays. Small numbers also occur in the region in winter, I've seen three birds together at Lake Shinji just to the west of Kansai so it's certainly possible here but bitterns being bitterns, aren't always cooperative.

There was a rather atypically behaved bird in a park in Osaka a few years ago. It you were there at the right time, it would parade around on the lawn in front of the reeds giving great views. But what really set it apart was its habit of flying off into the woodland where it would hunt along small streams under closed canopy or sit motionless in sasa on steep wooded hillsides.

   Lurking in sparse sasa on a steep woodland slope, the most improbable Bittern I've seen here.

Yellow Bittern is another bird that can be found at the larger remaining reedbeds at Lake Biwa. There are also some good reedbeds along the Yodo River between Osaka and Kyoto to look for them too. Unfortunately, the large reedbed further upstream on the Uji River at Ogura is harvested then burnt-off each winter and is only beginning to re-grow when the Bitterns are returning.

If there was ever any reliable chance of seeing Schrenck's in Kansai, I'm sure that time has long gone. The only ones I'd seen until recently were at Lake Kasumigaura in Kanto when they were still regular breeders there and a spring migrant on Tsushima. However, in November 2014 an obliging individual turned up at a small pond in Nishinomya, Hyogo and provided wonderful photographic opportunities for those with better equipment than me.

Schrenck's Bittern, November 2014.

Cinnamon Bittern is no more likely to occur in Kansai but it is reasonably common in the Nansei Islands and can be seen easily at Kijyoka, Okinawa.

Female Cinnamon Bittern Kijyoka, Okinawa.

Male Cinnamon Bittern, Kijyoka, Okinawa. This is without question the best place I've visited to see this species with several flying around and reasonably approachable by car.

Striated Heron isn't rare in Kansai but it is hard to find, not just because it's an unobtrusive and solitary species but also the population density seems low. Having said that I used to see them more often than I do now. The bird below on the Katsura River is unusual in such an open setting, the September date suggests it's a migrant. Local birds are more often found further up stream along wooded stretches of river.

Straiated Heron, Katsura River, Kyoto city. 

                                  Japanese Night Heron, Osaka Castle Park, April 2013.

                                 Japanese Night Heron, Osaka Castle Park, April 2013.

Japanese Night Heron breeds in Kyoto prefecture forests but is difficult to find and the average visitor probably wouldn't want to invest the time listening out for singing males night after night with no guarantee of seeing one. Spring migrants can often be found on islands in the Japan Sea but perhaps the best chance a visitor has of seeing one is if their trip coincides with the arrival of a migrant in a city park. This isn't quite as improbable as it sounds because birds do drop into parks with reasonable regularity. There have been two in Osaka city this year (2013) and it isn't unusual for them to stay two or three days. Interestingly these birds seem to show no fear of humans, unlike birds in the forests, and I remember one in Kyoto Imperial Palace Park strolling between tripod legs, causing confusion and amusement amongst the photographers. No doubt for every bird stopping off in a park there must be many more moving through surrounding forests and I've bumped into three September/October migrants at Mt.Inari in Kyoto as well as one or two others in the area. Apart from seabirds this is perhaps the most difficult species for a visiting birder to connect with.

Malayan Night Heron can't be found in Kansai but is easily seen in the Yaeyama Islands in the far south. Driving on rainy nights on Iriomote it's possible to get great headlight views of several birds taking advantage of all the frogs crossing the wet roads. They can also be found during the day, usually asleep in village gardens or more actively foraging in the forest, particularly on wet days.

Black-crowned Night Heron on the other hand is a common breeder in Kansai and they're easy to see in the centre of Kyoto city on the Kamogawa from the breeding season when adults are fishing round the clock and through summer when juveniles start to appear. As with many herons, small weirs along the river through the city are a focal point. While larger species might wade into the faster water the Night Herons are usually standing hunched on the bank. At other times they can often be heard overhead just after nightfall as they make their way to feeding areas. There are a number of roosts at temples and shrines for example at a small pond on the north side of the main precinct of Fushimi Inari Shrine.

       Presumably a sub-adult with bi-coloured bill and grey in the crown on the Katrura River, Kyoto city.

A roosting juvenile along the Uji River, Kyoto city.

Chinese Pond Heron is definitely not to be expected in Kansai, though it is regular on islands in the Japan Sea, particularly in spring.

Presumed 2cy on Tsushima, early May 2012.

Adult Mishima, early May 2005.

Adult Yonaguni, early April 2013.