ferry routes

Is Japan's network of ferries a blessing or a curse? Would birders be organising deep-water pelagics if there weren't so many opportunities to see seabirds from the ferries? On balance I'd have to say they're a blessing, cheap(-ish) and frequent, allowing access to off-shore birding at the drop of a hat even if we can't stop to get a decent look at the birds. There are over 600 ferry routes in Japan, though only a few are important from the birding perspective.

Northern routes

When I first came to Japan there was a terrific ferry route from Tokyo to Kushiro, passing through some very productive water south of Hokkaido and with the added benefit of landing you close to the birding action in the east of the island. No long drive/train journey across the island required as when getting dumped in Tomakomai; even if that does get Magpie for your trip list. With that option long gone we old-timers get the chance to bore everyone else about the good old days.

Nowadays there are two long distance routes to Hokkaido from Honshu on the Pacific coast, from Nagoya (better for Short-tailed Albatross at the right time of year) and Oarai (convenient from Tokyo). There are also a couple of shorter distance ferries which might be of interest, the best being the Hakkodate to Oma taking 90 minutes to cross the Tsugaru Straits (three sailings per day) which might be worthwhile if you found yourself in the area with a day to spare. The Japan Sea routes are less productive and the only ferry I've used (Tsuruga-Tomakomai) had very limited viewing options.

As I'm based in Kyoto the Nagoya-Tomakomai route operated by Taiheiyo http://www.taiheiyo-ferry.co.jp/english/koro/tomanago.html is conveniently only 35 minutes away by shinkansen and I've used this in every month. The biggest drawback is that it passes through productive water off Iwate at night in both directions. So for summer breeding oceanodroma petrels the Oarai ferry would be better.

Nagoya-Tomakomai ferries pass each other just south of Sendai. 

Since the Fukushima nuclear power station incident many people come on deck to take this distant shot. 

Approaching the entrance to Ise Bay towards the end of the southward trip.

Izu & Ogasawara

For many visiting birders the shorter ferry route to Miyakejima or Hachijojima in the Izu Islands http://www.tokaikisen.co.jp/english/ is a must-do as the return trip can be done in a day, whereas the Ogasawara ferry http://www.ogasawarakaiun.co.jp/english/, which also leaves from the Takeshiba Sanbashi terminal in Tokyo, takes too long for the vast majority of visitors.

High on the list of targets for anyone travelling down to the Izu Islands would probably be Short-tailed Albatross and Tristram's Petrel both of which are winter breeders (Tristram's might be possible year round) and Bulwer's Petrel which is a summer breeder. If sailing further south to the Ogasawara Islands, Matsudaira's Petrel, Bonin Petrel and Bannerman's Shearwater are all summer breeders. As Bryan's Shearwater is a winter breeder obviously that would be the time to try for it but perhaps the Iwo Islands would be a better bet if there were any way to get there in winter. 

Once a year the Ogasawara ferry company operates a sailing around the Iwo Islands which brings within reach a range of species not normally seen in Japanese waters.

The Izu Islands ferry from Miyakejima. 

The Ogasawara ferry docked on Chichijima with the much smaller Hahajima ferry behind it. 

The Hahajima ferry leaving Chichijima.

The send-off from Chichijima for the Ogasawara ferry.

I've never used the long distance Ryukyu southern route ferries and can't say how productive they may be in different seasons. In the Yaeyama Islands the inter-island ferries are too fast to be useful for birding, though Masked and Brown Booby should at least be identifiable. The slow Ishigaki-Yonaguni ferry is good for Bridled Terns, noddies and boobies. Perhaps in winter there might be an outside chance of seeing a Senkaku Short-tailed Albatross?

Ishigaki-Iriomote high-speed ferry.

Other ferries I use regularly are to Hegurajima and Mishima in the Japan Sea, though neither are terribly exciting and I would never take them for their own sake. Having said that Japanese Murrelet is quite regular between Mishima and Hagi.

Hagi port, start point for the Mishima ferry. 

The Hegurajima ferry in the island harbour with the Noto Peninsular in the distance.

I've used other Japan Sea ferries to South Korea and Tsushima but neither of these routes produced much other than the expected Streaked Shearwaters. Nevertheless, I wonder if Aleutian Tern might be possible on those routes if the timing were right.

Ashyu Forest (central Kyoto prefecture)

The first time I visited Ashyu Forest was an overnight camping trip with the local branch of WBSJ over 20 years ago. Nowadays I use the term "Ashyu Forest" very loosely to cover a much wider area in the hills north of Kyoto city. In practise a car is an absolute necessity to access any of the excellent locations and it would be impossible to do the area justice in a day. Having said that most species can be found throughout the area and focusing on one area is probably the best strategy. From Kyoto city drive north on Route 367 then turn right onto what is marked briefly as the R781 on the Google map before reverting to R367. At night this road can be good for mammals and I've seen Ural Owls and Japanese Night Heron at Dawn. There are many Asian House martin colonies under bridges along the road and Brown Dippers on the river. I also hear Ruddy Kingfishers and Japanese Scops Owls along here. Take the first left, after several kilometres, just past Omiya Shrine and you'll see a large sign saying Beechan Forest. Drive to the end, where there's a small car park, a toilet block and a chain across the road, sometimes the later stretches can be blocked, or partly blocked, by by landslips in the rainy season. Walk up the (drivable) track to a gate at the top where there's a sign board with a map showing the various walking routes. The big advantage with this area is the number of walkable trails, elsewhere the birds seem equally good but hillsides are frequently too steep to allow access.

Map of walking trails.

The main habitats are primary forest (particularly at Ashyu), mature secondary growth, conifer plantations and rice paddies where narrow, flat valley bottoms allow strings of small villages to worm their way into the hills.

First light over the forest while walking up to the above map.

A favourite high-valley bottom for Crested Kingfisher and the more widespread Ruddy Kingfisher.

Coming from the south turn left after Omiya Shrine, and drive till the end of the road then continue uphill on foot to reach the early morning shot site then drop down into the following valley to the river in the second shot.

Breeding birds here include Japanese, Japanese Scops, Oriental Scops, Ural and Brown Hawk Owl; Ruddy and Crested Kingfisher; Great Spotted, White-backed and Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker; Oriental, Lesser and Northern Hawk Cuckoo (plus Common in spring); Japanese Thrush; Blue and White, Narcissus and Asian Brown Flyctcher (oddly, I've never seen Paradise here); Ashy Minivet; Grey Nightjar. One one ocassion I heard Fairy Pitta here. I've never seen Copper Pheasant or Japanese Night Heron here though I'm sure both will occur. Near Omiya Shrine is the closest spot I've seen Copper Pheasant and a little further down the road I've had early morning roadside Japanese Night Heron.
Mammals I've seen here are Japanese Squirrel, Japanese Macaque, Large Japanese Mole (only once, swimming across a stream!), Black Bear, Japanese Marten, Masked Palm Civet, Racoon Dog, Japanese Lesser Flying Squirrel, Japanese Hare, Red Fox Sika Deer, Wild Boar, various bats and a few mice. I've had Japanese Serow not far from here but I'm still waiting for Japanese Badger.

I've explored most roads further south than this where birds and mammals are much the same though Copper Pheasant and Japanese Night Heron have been more regular in my experience but that's probably no more than coincidence.

I've seen five species of snake in the area:-

Japanese Rat Snake.

Four-striped Rat Snake.

Tiger Keelback.

Japanese Mamushi.

My only Japanese Keelback was wary and really fast so I couldn't get a shot, actually the Tiger Keelbacks I've seen were all difficult to approach too.

The area is also great for amphibians, salamanders, frogs and toad.

Japanese Toad.

Some kind of tree frog on a post in the forest at night.

Tree frog "nests" are common and will suddenly appear over a short-lived puddle on a rutted track.

Fire-bellied Salamanders can be so common you have to watch where you step.

I presume these are Japanese Brown Frog.

I'm not sure which species this is, in short grass adjoining paddyfields. 

Daruma Pond Frog in a valley bottom.

 

 

 

Lake Biwa

The lake is the largest in Japan, as wide as the English Channel and over 60km in length. Only a fraction of it and the surrounding habitats can be covered in a day but for the visiting birder there are a number of key locations to visit allowing a good variety of species to be found. This is a must do area in winter for anyone in the region but a car is essential to do more than scratch the surface of the lake's potential.

The only important location that can be reached by public is Kohoku Wild Bird Center. From Kyoto take JR Tokaido line to Maibara and change to the Hokuriku line getting off at Kawake station. There is a mini bus that runs to the wild bird center on the lake or the 6km walk across the fields can be productive, there can be Dusky Thrushes, lapwings, and Daurian Jackdaws on the fields and there are frequently Long-billed Plover on the river at Kawake near the station.


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My personal preference is to start with woodland birds north of the lake at dawn, snow depth affects access, then work down the east side. There are plenty of good locations in the north west too but fewer good birding opportunities heading south on that side of the lake.

Woodland species aren't much different to those found around Kyoto except White-backed Woodpecker is fairly common and Nuthatch and Treecreeper are possible. Japanese Woodpecker is more common up here and Elegant Bunting, very uncommon around Kyoto, is also to be expected. However woodland birding might be better thought of as an optional extra.

There are ducks everywhere on the lake though some are easier to see in certain areas, for example Goosander and redhead Smew are more common at the northern end while drake Smew gather further south. Baikal Teal are mainly at Kohoku-cho. Other rare ducks there have been include Green-winged Teal, Red Crested Pochard (annual), Baer's Pochard, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ferruginous Duck, and birds like these could turn up anywhere.

This isn't actually the regular Steller's, others occasionally turn up and winter around the lake.

Many visiting birders I take there are keen to see Steller's Sea Eagle and the regular bird is easy to find at Kohoku-cho in the north east, though who knows how old that bird is or how much longer it will continue to winter there. This is also the best place to see Baikal Teal, Eastern Water Rail, a variety of ducks, birds of prey and birds of open country such as Daurian Jackdaw with any Rook flocks you come across.

If you stop at every likely spot heading south from there, you won't reach the southern end in daylight but it's risky recommending other sites because where birds might be is unpredictable and it may be better just to trust to your instincts. However the area just north of Omihachiman is often productive, Lake Sainoko is a roost site for Hen Harrier and Eastern Marsh Harrier and these can often be seen cruising along the edge of route 526. The fields stretching north from Sainoko to Lake Biwa can be interesting, Merlin, Daurian Jackdaw, Buff-bellied Pipit are all possible, there was a wintering Hooded Crane a few winters ago. The two rivers, especially the Notogawa are good for ducks and even waders. Long-billed Plover is frequently around the second road bridge from the lake on the Notogawa. Also the coast road around the wooded hills often has large concentrations of ducks and Black-necked Grebes, the commoner woodland birds are also well represented.


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My Region

What’s in a name; Kinki or Kansai? And does it matter anyway? Well, it seems asking the locals how many prefectures there are in one region or the other can elicit a different number. Mie either gets the nod or it doesn’t depending on which question is posed, some even throw in Fukui. This confusion aside the six prefectures of Kyoto, Shiga, Hyogo, Osaka, Wakayama, and Nara aren’t in dispute. I’ve never tried to tot up my Kansai list so to answer my own question, it really doesn’t matter at all. I’ve no need of list boosting gerrymandering because the only relevant consideration is which good birding areas can be easily reached form my home in Kyoto city. So my personal Kansai is an alternative vision which stretches through Fukui into southern Ishikawa to take in goose grounds and wintering seabirds but ignores large most of Hyogo which doesn’t have any birds I can see elsewhere. Mie definitely gets the nod, it’s easily doable in a day and is great for passage waders, wintering wildfowl and some northern gulls that don’t usually make it to the western side of the Kii Peninsular where I do my gulling.
Birding is best in winter, there’s a far larger range of species and greater variety of places worth visiting. The region is very different to Hokkaido and it rarely gets cold enough to be an inconvenience, there’s no need to go through the time consuming ritual of putting on and taking off layers of clothing at every stop. However there’s a big difference in snowfall between the Pacific and Japan Sea sides of the country. Northern Shiga tends to get the most snow, more than coastal areas of neighbouring Fukui, and if renting a car it’s important to remember that the expressway there is frequently closed to vehicles not equipped with either winter tyres or chains. Confirm with your rental company that you’ve got winter tyres if you’re picking up a car on the snow-free Pacific side.
Spring weather can be beautiful but there are often chilly, even wintery, days into April but this is a great time to be out looking for migrants. Temperatures build quickly towards the arrival of the rainy season in June. There are plenty of dry days during the rainy season and the temperature is often very pleasant but humidity is increasing and by the end of the rains, about six weeks later, the combination of very high temperatures, dreadful humidity and relatively few breeding species means birding can be disappointing and sticking to the mountains of Nara and northern Kyoto are the best bet for a good variety of birds. Basically, avoid coming in summer if at all possible.
By September I’m champing at the bit to get out more, apart from the odd typhoon conditions are rapidly improving, waders are moving through, birds of prey are passing over and the city parks are attracting migrant passerines again. October continues to be an exciting time to be in the field with late migrants and early winter visitors.

This is a personal view of the region and such is its size and the range of birding options there are still many potentially good areas I’ve never even visited. From a visiting birder’s stand point this isn’t a must do part of the country and those on dedicated birding trips aren’t likely to come here, however I still get to take a lot of visitors out birding, conference attendees, those on business trips and people who want to incorporate a bit of birding while sightseeing in Kyoto and Nara. I plan to post information on as many local sites as possible which I hope will be of use to anyone who may have a day or two to spare in the area.