Still no gulls in Mie

I'd hoped to get across to Tsu city more often from early November to check out the Taimyr Gull passage but there were always other things getting in the way. I had already seen a few incidental Taimyr on October 20th but my two gulling focused trips (Nov 11th and 30th) were disappointing, the latter date might already be late for large numbers of Taimyr and Vega don't arrive in significant numbers until around now (the second week of December) but November 11th should have been more productive.


Coming back to the 30th, the primary early morning aim was to get decent shots of the returning Canvasback. This was a great success with the bird closer than I've ever seen, just over the embankment from the car park in the early half light. As the sun came up behind me the conditions were excellent and brought out the best in this and the accompanying Common Pochards, I was really quite pleased with some of the images I managed to get... some eye-catching shots of a small white feather drifting above the ducks' heads and the Canvasbacks surprise and reaction. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted the whole file; no doubt with time the quality of the images will get even better in my memory. So, while on the one hand I think another early morning visit is in order if I want to improve on last winter's images of the duck, the fact is I don't really have any great enthusiasm for it. The chances of getting equally good views are probably slim to zero even assuming the bird is actually on the river rather than with the huge rafts of ducks out at sea. I just don't have the photographers' patience I'm afraid.


Content with my photographic haul I checked whether there were any gulls about, there weren't, though I hadn't expected there to be any to be honest. The early hour along with the high tide pretty much guaranteed they'd all be off somewhere else feeding. Therefore I headed south with the intention of returning in the afternoon.


It was just as well I did head south because by far the most unexpected bird of the day was an immature Temminck's Cormorant in Matsusaka. I've seen no more than a handful each of Temminck's and Pelagic Cormorant's along this coast and they've always been on tetrapods facing the open sea. This bird was right at a river mouth issuing into a shallow bay. It's the closest I've come to an 'inland' Temminck's.

There were other photogenic birds around but nothing to really get the pulse racing.

Sanderling

Northern Lapwing

Common Sandpiper

Meadow Bunting

Back up to the gull beach in the afternoon. There were around 50 large gulls in two loafing clumps compared to the hundreds there will be later in winter; Taimyr c10, Vega c40, Slaty-backed 2. Disappointing if not entirely unexpected, however, definitely unexpected was a passing finless porpoise! They are fairly common in these waters but I rarely see them because most of the good birding areas are next to shallow water and by the time reach places with a steeper fall-off the all too frequent stronger afternoon wind puts too much chop on the water.

Not so easy to spot even on calm days.

A few recent birds in Mie

During my last few visits to to the Matsusaka and Tsu area there have been a lot of decent birds, or decent shots of ordinary birds, that haven't found there way into blog posts for one reason or another. These are a few of those birds.


Starting off with one that's already featured, the current star bird of the area, Canvasback.

As has Goldeneye.

One Swallow may not make a summer but the first one passed through on March 13 and Japanese Skylarks were singing everywhere, this one as it was walking along the roadside.

There are still a few Buff-bellied Pipits around but I was more surprised to see an Olive-backed on the beach, they're usually under pine trees here.

White-cheeked Starlings seem very variable when it comes to the extent of white about the head. Might this be age related or just individual variation? Could they even be prone to leucism? I saw the first of these bird a couple of weeks ago and the second during the week.

Extensive head markings aren't anything unexpected. The breast band is unusual.

This individual is getting a little carried away.

On the wader front, several Little Ringed Plover were in this week as was a Spotted Redshank and this Temminck's Stint.

Pity this Temminck's was against the light.

Other waders have been around all winter...

Northern Lapwing

Sanderlings

Dunlins

Kentish Plover

This American Wigeon was a month or so ago and is the only seemingly pure bird I saw this winter.

I planned last Wednesday as a gulling day and this was the sight that greeted me on the beach.

The sun hadn't risen but as is often the case when conditions are suitable the fishing boats were as close inshore as they could get.

As the light was broadening.

One of the better gulls was this juvenile Glaucous.

Isahaya: missed the Black Storks again!

I had intended to post daily during the trip around Kyushu but for one reason or another I never got round to it an I'm now back in Kyoto but most of this post was written at Isahaya.


Day two of my Kyshu trip dawned cold, the fields were white with frost and standing water was iced over. Once the sun got going it was surprisingly warm, plenty of flying insects and even houseflies were buzzing around. But by afternoon Mt Unzen still look as if it were dusted white on the upper slopes.

That steep central cone belching white clouds doesn't seem to be present on photographs I've seen. 

The main aim of going to Isahaya was to look for the Black Storks. I saw them at my first attempt two years ago but failed when I tried again last winter... add this winter to the blank column. I'm told local birders see them maybe once in five visits and if you spent several days in the area you'd have no problem catching up with them, which suggests they move round a large area.


Two years ago I not only saw the two Storks but found a Booted Warbler, this time the warbler wasn't as spectacularly rare, a Dusky. Almost certainly two in fact as I was sure I could hear two calls coming from the same direction, close to each other but consistently a few metres apart. However I only actually saw one bird. I since learnt some other birders have heard Dusky calling at Isahaya this winter. But I'm getting ahead of myself, that was in the evening.


I underestimated how bright the sun was and the resulting photographs were disappointing. Most shots of these two largely white birds, Osprey and a pale Eastern Buzzard, suffered terribly and I've had to adjust the images in order to salvage some of the better ones.

If I were a fish and saw that expression, I'd spend the rest of my life hugging the bottom.

Most of the length of the toes don't even touch the post, the claws are so long.

Pale birds aren't uncommon but this one is paler than many.

It's a beautiful bird.

I always tell myself not to take anymore photographs of Northern Lapwing. A waste of breath, I just can't resist whenever I come across birds close to the road, which is very often in Kyushu.

As I already said, I had originally intended to post each day while travelling round the island but only did so on the first day. I arrived home yesterday and at least now having the luxury of hindsight I can swap images of some birds from a later date to a more appropriate post. One such instance is Russet Sparrow which proved a very common bird throughout the trip, these images are of birds at Yatsushiro. Russet Sparrow isn't uncommon in winter and there were many at Isahaya, but I felt over the whole trip I was seeing more and larger flocks this year.


I spent quite a bit of time checking through wagtails and pipits, as I love to do whenever possible, and I'll combine the birds seen at Isahaya (which included four Eastern Yellow Wagtails) with more interesting examples from Arasaki.

Russet Sparrows were common throughout the trip; unkempt corners of fields, clumps of trees and overhead wires at village edges invariably held flocks.

Early November in Mie

The day before I drove to Saitama to see the Wood Warbler I was birding in Mie, the usual Tsu / Matsusaka area. Since my previous visit a couple of weeks earlier duck numbers were up but still well below winter peaks. Perhaps sea ducks are a little slower arriving but this isn't an important area for them and numbers never impressive. I didn't see any Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneye or scoters, the former is common in winter, Goldeneye is only ever present in low numbers and the scoters aren't even regular. The first Eastern Buzzard had arrived, Northern Goshawk and Eurasian Sparrowhawk both put in an appearance adding to the sense of seasonal change. Daurian Redstarts were common and there were even a few Dusky Thrushes. Dusky Thrush is never occurs in big numbers until later in the winter, presumably they drift in as the real winter weather bites elsewhere. On the wader front wintering Long-billed Dowitchers were in (only three but that's as good as it usually gets), Northern Grenshanks can be seen throughout winter but a Spotted Redshank was the first for a while, likewise three Wood Sandpipers. A couple of lingering Barn Swallows were keeping low as if not wanting to advertise they weren't where they ought to be by now.

The first Eastern Buzzard I've seen in the area this "winter".

Juvenile Northern Goshawk.

Lunchtime; the agony of choice.

Northern Lapwing; part of a flock of 31.

Northern Greenshank; numbers vary winter to winter but their favourite high-water roost site doesn't seem to.

Short- and medium-billed Far Eastern Curlews, no monsters today.

Wood Sandpipers.

Heading out with the tide; the birds too.

Great White Egret numbers seem a little down and Little on the up, more of a balance. Cattle were still present on 8 Oct but none by the 21st, Intermediate are still hanging. I've only ever seen one mid-winter Cattle but Intermediate is more likely.

Great White Egret.

Intermediate Egret.

So often spoonbills either have their bill hidden under their wing or under the water. So it was nice to see this one catching the evening sun as it flew in.

Immature Eurasian Spoonbill.