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.

Bits 'n' bobs from Mie

I was in Mie this weekend, mainly to check through the gull gatherings on the beach north of Tsu-shi, and so didn't visit all my regular locations from south of Matsusaka north to Tsu. The stand-out bird, or birds I should say, were divers. It's always seemed odd to me that I've never seen a diver offshore in this area; yesterday I saw 19. There were 15 Pacific and four Red-throated visible from the beach, dotted through the huge rafts of ducks and grebes that were even more obvious than usual on a sea as flat as it ever gets. None were close enough to attempt a photograph but scoping through them a couple of Pacific still had chequered upperparts and one of the Red-throated even had remnants of a throat patch. Apart from the divers (and gulls) there weren't so many birds to comment on.


This is as good a time as any to mention a roadkill sighting in October that I'd meant to write about at the time. Quite amazing really.


I have a reasonably good Japan mammal list but I've never seen Japanese badger despite spending plenty of time in forest areas which look suitable. So it was unfortunate for me, and far worse for the badger of course, that the closest I came to one was spotting a freshly dead animal on the road while driving to Mie. The amazement factor kicks in when on the return drive there was another dead badger, in the same forest but lower on the mountain, this had plainly been hit during the afternoon in daylight. Was this an astonishing coincidence or was something else have created the situation where two animals would be on the road and hit by vehicles within about 14 hours? Since then things have been back to normal with no sign they even exist in this forest.

Buff-bellied Pipit in slanting light of the rising sun.

Another early bird in the same strong light.

This Little Grebe was just below the Kingfisher, in deep shadow.

The setting sun was much kinder to this Greater Scaup in a small fishing harbour.

Sanderling, while gulling on the beach.

Shorebirds and industry are a frequent mix, it's the lone tree that strikes the unexpected note for me.

Common Sandpiper

Female Daurian Redstart

Male Daurian Redstart

A few waders in Mie and Kyushu

I hinted in the previous post Nordmann's Greenshank post that some waders have been more cooperative recently and here are a few shots of a few of those birds.

LRP

LRP

Greater Sand Plover

Whimbrel

Far Eastern Curlew

Far Eastern Curlew. You might be forgiven for thinking this is a Whimbrel at first glance because of the short bill and what appears to be a latteral crown stripe.

Common Redshank

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Grey-tailed Tattler

Grey-tailed Tattler

Terek Sandpiper

Terek Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruddy Turnstone

Red-necked Stint

Broad-billed Sandpiper

Broad-billed Sandpiper

A short-billed Long-billed Dowitcher

There have been a couple of basic plumage Long-billed Dowitchers around for a while but there was a new comer when I last visited their favourite pond. A strikingly short-billed bird and not only that but the only autumn bird I've seen with colour. Have I never seen a juvenile before?

The short-billed bird on the right; even head-on it looks different to the other two. 

The typical basic Long-billed Dowitcher I'm used to seeing here at this time of year. 

Juvenile male (?) Long-billed Dowitcher with a distinctly short bill.

There were fewer Common Sandpipers around this visit but following bird did its very best to attract attention. The fourth shot, a bird in the early morning sun, shows probably the brightest yellow legs I've seen on a Common Sand.

This Peregrine went after anything that flew, Cormorant, Kite, Carrion Crow but the outstanding chase of the day was across a large pond on the tail of a Red-footed Booby. What was the Booby even doing the wrong side of the seawall?

On the lookout for the next aerial fun. 

The Red-footed Booby on the landward side of the seawall.

In the afternoon I headed to the north of town to have a look at the gulls, my main reason for being there if truth be told was to look for juvenile Taimyr Gull. There was only a single gull of that age group which was disappointing. Whether this was coincidence or due to conditions during the last breeding season resulting in a lower number of offspring I don't know but autumn juveniles are usually more numerous. Hopefully numbers will pick up.

Vega Gulls showing off their variable eye colour; neither extreme is unusual.

One of many adult Taimyr Gulls around at the moment.

Juvenile Taimyr Gull.

Juvenile Taimyr Gull.