Thayer's Gull in Mie... and Quail yet again

A few weeks ago I failed to find a Thayer's that had been reported at Tsu in Mie prefecture. As I spend a fair bit of time checking the gulls there I was a bit miffed not to have connected. I'd actually quite forgotten about, I imagined it would have long since gone, so it came as a total surprise to come across it while checking for Taimyr Gulls today. Stumbling onto it like that was as exciting as a self-find.


So without further ado; an adult Thayer's.

Head-on and more or less as I first saw it; an eye-catching small, short-legged gull that demanded attention.

Standing behind the larger gulls it's small size is obvious, as is its paler saddle.

Between a Vega on the left and Taimyr on the right.

There's just the slightest suggestion of the uniform shawl there would have been in winter.

The legs could look quite pale pink at times but they are much deeper in this shot.

Only greyish notches on p5.

As can be seen from the title japanese Quail was easy to see again today.

Not at all a bad day considering until a week ago I'd never seen Japanese Quail on the ground and the Thayer's was my first ever adult.

Quails again!

One of my main targets in Mie a couple of days ago was to see how the wintering Long-billed Dowitchers' moult was progressing. Unfortunately none were on show at dawn so I wandered off to see what else might be about.


First up was a male Kestrel, I hadn't seen it the day before but it was hard to miss now. On the same stretch of fields I came across a sleeping red fox curled up in the open, this was a personal first here and it struck me as odd that it be so exposed. The reason became obvious when it finally made off into cover, it was clearly suffering from mange.



The Dowitchers still weren't putting in an appearance so ridiculous as it seemed to me I decided to see if the Japanese Quails were visible this morning.

The field I'd seen them in the day before is about 75 metres square with four or five tractor-wide breaks running through. What chance could there possibly be of seeing them again? As I rolled up to the field something leapt from the surrounding berm into the crops. Had I not been looking for Quail I'd have presumed I'd just seen a rodent, a rat or something, but this didn't look long and sleek as a leaping rodent might. It was a Quail... unbelievable. I moved about 15 metres forward hoping it might come across the next berm and there was another Quail coming the other way. The same incredible bullet-like direct leap with no obvious wing movement at all. Again suggestive of a rodent rather than a bird. Are there only two Quail in this field? What are the odds of going to see a difficult species like this and seeing both birds within less than a minute. If there are only two I think I've used my entire supply of birding luck for 2016.

 

 

 

This Kestrel was loyal to a short stretch of road, present each time I passed on my way to check if the Dowitchers were viewable.

The closed eye and the fact that it was sleeping in the open ought to have been enough to suggest something was seriously wrong with the animal but I was still shocked to see the extent of mange when it made off.

Then it was back to check-out the Dowitcher pool again. The Eurasian Teal and Little Grebes were performing well.

 

 

 

 

And the Dowitchers? Yes I did catch up with them eventually, including the short-billed Long-billed Dowitcher of a previous post. More of them later. 

Japanese Quail

After getting my first photographs of Copper Pheasant last week I was feeling pretty pleased. This week I've outdone myself getting another personal photographic first - Japanese Quail.


I usually come across the odd Quail on migration, Hegurajima in October and on Mishima in early May, both islands seem to produce quite a few. The seasonal bias will be down to my birding habits rather than the bird's migration pattern. Views are invariably sudden and unexpected with no chance to get the bins on them let alone the camera during their brief escape flight after being flushed. The only wintering bird I've seen was Kyushu. I have no idea whether these two birds will have wintered locally or are early migrants.

The weather was awful today, heavily overcast with continuous rain from about 9am on and by mid-afternoon I'd just about had enough; I'd seen very little. However I decided I'd have a crawl along the fields checking the edges for migrant snipe. Swinhoe's, Latham's and Pintail are all possible during April but the first of the month is the earliest I've ever had success so I wasn't too hopeful. After the tedious first kilometre my mood changed dramatically as I glimpsed two birds dashed into cover. I knew instantly what they were and back tracked to a wider spacing between the crops and hoped the birds would cross the gap. One of them did... success! Not the greatest shots but good enough for me.


The effect was far better than a good night's sleep, something I was lacking, and I was ready to keep going rain or no. Within five minutes I came across this male Garganey!

Just to round off; a couple of egrets (Great White and Little) coming into breeding condition. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow, I wonder if the birding will be...