Citrine Wagtails and Richard's Pipits on Tsushima

It wasn't until last spring, on Yonaguni, that I saw my first Japan Citrine Wagtails. That must have broken the drought because this spring almost any wet field anywhere seemed to have at least one. Yes, that is a gross exageration but four birds in two days after decades of zilch gave that impression at the time.

When I began this post I'd intended to include the various races of Eastern Yellow Wagtail but that would stretch it a little too far so instead I'll add the pipits.


Unlike the 'yellow wagtails' which piled in during the first week of May, the three Richard's Pipits were all in the back end of April. Only a week apart isn't much but it was noticeable, while Red-throated Pipits had a more even spread.


The two Richard's were on the same small field and looked strikingly different, raising hopes of something more exciting, however it turned out one was adult and the other a 2CY. Ah well, next time maybe, interesting nonetheless.

Lanky, long-tailed adult Richard's.

The same bird in a similar pose to the 2CY below.

This bird has a single median and greater covert as well as one tertial moulted into buffy-fringed adult type. 

Strikingly pale and bare-faced in profile.

Several Red-throated Pipits were pleasingly red-throated.

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Tsushima trip list
Chinese Bamboo Partridge
Ring-necked Pheasant
Tundra Bean Goose
Mandarin Duck
Falcated Duck
Eurasian Wigeon
Mallard
Eastern Spot-billed Duck
Garganey
Eurasian Teal
Pacific Diver
Streaked Shearwater
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Striated Heron
Chinese Pond Heron
Eastern Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Great White Egret
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Great Cormorant
Temminck's Cormorant
Peregrine
Osprey
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Black Kite
Japanese Sparrowhawk
Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Grey-faced Buzzard
White-breasted Waterhen
Common Moorhen
Common Coot
Black-winged Stilt
Pacific Golden PLover
Little Ringed Plover
Solitary Snipe
Latham's Snipe
swintail Snipe (almost certainly Swinhoe's on combination of features)
Little Whimbrel
Whimbrel
Far Eastern Curlew
Common Greenshank
Wood Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler
Terek Sandpiper
Common Sandpiper
calidris sp (a small species in flight)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Oriental Pratincole
Black-tailed Gull
large white-headed sp (probably Taimyr)
Aleutian Tern
murrelet sp (very probably Japanese)
Feral Rock Pigeon
Oriental Turtle Dove
Northern Hawk Cuckoo
Oriental Cuckoo
Northern Boobook
Pacific Swift
Common Kingfisher
Hoopoe
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
Ashy Minivet
Brown Shrike
Black-naped Oriole
Eurasian Jay
Daurian Jackdaw
Rook
Carrion Crow
Large-billed Crow
Japanese Waxwing
Eastern Great Tit
Varied Tit
Chinese Penduline Tit
Sand Martin
Barn Swallow
Asian House Martin
Red-rumped Swallow
Zitting Cisticola
Light-vented Bulbul
Brown-eared Bulbul
Asian Stubtail
Japanese Bush Warbler
Korean Bush Warbler
Oriental Reed Warbler
Yellow-browed Warbler
Japanese/Kamchatka Leaf Warbler
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler
Eastern Crowned Warbler
Warbling White-eye
Eurasian Wren
Chestnut-cheeked Starling
White-cheeked Starling
Siberian Thrush
White's Thrush
Grey-backed Thrush
Japanese Thrush
Pale Thrush
Brown-headed Thrush
Dusky Thrush
Japanese Robin
Siberian Blue Robin
Red-flanked Bluetail
Swinhoe's Robin
Stejneger's Stonechat
Blue Rock Thrush
Grey-streaked Flycatcher
Dark-sided Flycatcher
Asian Brown Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Flycatcher
Narcissus Flycatcher
Mugimaki Flycatcher
Blue and White Flycatcher
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Eastern Yellow Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
Japanese Wagtail
Richard's Pipit
Olive-backed Pipit
Red-throated Pipit
Buff-bellied Pipit
Brambling
Oriental Greenfinch
Eurasian Siskin
Hawfinch
Japanese grosbeak
Meadow Bunting
Tristram's Bunting
Little Bunting
Yellow-browed Bunting
Rustic Bunting
Yellow-throated Bunting
Chestnut Bunting
Japanese Yellow Bunting
Black-faced Bunting
139 species in 11 days

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.

Great Grey Shrike, Kyushu

I drove round from Isahaya overnight and arrived at Tamana early, very early, on the morning of the 28th and waited for dawn. I could hear Northern Lapwings calling very close to the car and as the fields came into clearer view an accipiter, probably a Northern Goshawk dashed by flushing them. Birding was under way.

The main goals here were Great Grey and Isabelline Shrike but I only had the vaguest idea of where to look and so drove round slowly to get my bearings and check all the very many Bull-headed Shrikes. There were lots of bird around which made for an interesting morning. Plenty of ducks and waders on the estuary including the first Falcated Ducks of the trip as well as several Black-faced Spoonbills and Saunder's Gulls. Three Hooded Cranes were joined by a party of 13 White-naped on the fields which were alive with passerines and Peregrine, Merlin, Common Kestrel, another accipiter briefly and Hen Harrier were all adding to the excitement. But no shrikes other than Bull-headed.

As at Isahaya Common Starling was fairly common.

 Four Common Shelducks on the fields provided much better photographic opportunities than the usual distant estuary birds.

Wagtails and pipits were common on the fields and the best birds were a leucopsis White Wagtail and a Richard's Pipit.

Finally, just before noon I connected with the Great Grey! This was my third Japan tick of the trip and as I'd only been hoping for one before leaving home things were going really well.

Things had been going really well but a flat battery in the car brought an abrupt halt to that! I asked a couple of truck drivers if they had any jumper leads, they didn't. However one of them gave me a lift to a garage to get help, it was closed. How quickly things can go south. Nevertheless my truck driving mate wasn't about to be beaten by this minor set back and after a brief spell on the phone he got someone to drive out to my aid and we parked up waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Pretty soon a pick-up came and we headed back to my stranded car. The mechanic told me the battery hadn't been charging, either it needed or replacing or it was just a problem with the negative terminal. Either way he recommended I go straight back to Kyoto and not to turn off the engine for any reason including re-fueling. Hmm. After paying him Y1,000, you can't complain can you, I was on my way again - and not back to Kyoto. I'd lost the afternoon but there were still birds to see.

List of species seen:-
Common Shelduck   4
Falcated Duck   12
Eurasian Wigeon   high 100s
Mallard   100s
Eastern Spot-billed Duck   100s
Northern Pintail   c150
Eurasian Teal   15
Little Grebe   1
Black-necked Grebe   2
Black-faced Spoonbill   8
Grey Heron   several
Great White Egret   2
Little Egret   1
Great Cormorant   several
Eurasian Kestrel   3-5
Merlin   2
Peregrine   1

pipits

There are only two pipits the visitor can realistically expect in Kansai, Buff-bellied and Olive-backed. Buff-bellied is common, sometimes very common, in winter at Ogura. It can be found in any arable areas though usually at low density. Singles aren't always easy to find, fly-overs are as frequent as birds on the ground but concentrations gather in suitable fields and, like White Wagtails, flocks will follow a plough. I've always had an eye out for rubescens but as yet I've never seen anything that even aroused suspicion. Olive-backed always strikes me as incredibly loyal to favourite locations and these can be surprisingly small parks or shrine and temple gardens. In such places they are frequently under pines with little or no understorey. In Kyoto city the Imperial Palace is the best place to look. They can be just as loyal in forests or riverside areas and can be found at the same spot visit after visit despite what appears to be extensive suitable habitat.

In the Kyoto area Red-throated is a very uncommon winter visitor, I sometimes come across them at Ogura (exceptionally even 2-3 in a day) and I've seen them in Osaka and around Lake Biwa too. I don't normally see spring migrants here even though they can be very common on off-shore islands. Presumably the Japan Sea side of the region will be much better for them on passage.

Other species are rare; there was a Pechora along the Yodo River between Kyoto and Osaka for a couple of weeks in October 2012, a long-suppressed wintering Meadow Pipit at Ogura 2011 and I found a Richard's in the fields in Mie late one autumn. Over-wintering pipits probably don't get as much scrutiny as they deserve and are well worth checking for rare species.

Single Richard's are the norm on the islands but I've seen parties of 5-6 a couple of times. These birds on Tsushima (Nagasaki), 1 May 2012.

A wintering Richard's Pipit in Kyushu, January 2015.

Meadow Pipit at Ogura, 19 March 2011. The bird had been there for a couple of months before the news began to leak out. Even then I didn't get to hear of it immediately and when I did I was in two minds whether to go after work or hang on till the following morning when I'd have plenty of time. In the end I took all my gear work and got there late afternoon and joined quite a crowd gathered from all over Japan. It was as well I did go as it was never seen again!

I saw this Tree Pipit briefly on a beach on Hegura, 19 September 2004, but it didn't hang around.

One of two Olive-backed I originally identified as Tree in the harbour on Hegurajima, May 2014.

An OBP in favourite habitat. Senri Park, Osaka 15 February 2009.

Adult Red-throated on Hegura, this back in the good old days before the school closed and the playing field was still mown regularly, 9 October 2009.

First winter Red-throated on Hegura, 7 October 2011.

A winter Red-throated Pipit in Kyushu January 2015, plumage resembling breeding. The upperparts of the same bird below.  

A much more strikingly marked Red-throated Pipit together with the previous bird.

An October Buff-bellied (japonicus) on Hegura.

A standard japonicus in Mie, 7 January 2012.

A spring (10 April 2014) Buff-bellied coming into breeding plumage. Note the oddly hooked upper mandible.