Blakiston's Fish Owl at Yoroushi Onsen and Washi no Yado

I've only only been to see Blakiston's twice in winter, staying at Washi no Yado five years ago and this month at Yoroushi Onsen. The two experiences are very different in terms of accommodation but as the Owls are the important thing it might not matter too much for someone who has never seen these magnificent birds. I would just say Yoroushi is far more comfortable and I wouldn't hesitate staying more than one night if I wanted to give the area more time. Whereas one successful night at Washi no Yado would be enough, I'd look for alternative accommodation if I wanted to spend longer in the area. But, and it's a big but, the food was fantastic at Washi no Yado.


An Owl arrived during dinner at Washi no Yado and after eating more quickly than I'd have otherwise chosen I sat outside in my rental car to get a better view. This steep, narrow valley is cold, really cold, and the car needed a jump start the following morning. The owner told me the same had happened to another birder the day before. The local garage was doing good business. The small pool in the middle of the river is kept stocked with fish (at least as long as people are viewing it seems) so there's plenty of time to watch the Owls coming and going or just sitting in the snow. The problem is you are virtually sitting in the snow too and I'm not as tough as the Owls so there was a limit to how long I could sit motionless in the car with the windows open in minus (a large number) degrees. Of course you could watch from the minshyuku but that would double the distance to the birds.


Similarly the Yoroushi Owl arrived while we were still at the dinner table and caught me off guard. Stupidly I'd left my camera in my room and by the time I dashed to get it the window was already lined by (mostly) non-birders and I had to hand-hold the camera at the back of the group as a result. This would have been easily avoidable if I'd been aware of the feeding regime. Unlike the protracted viewing at Washi no Yado, with fish being put out as required, there were just two feeding sessions, one between 6-7pm as I recall and the other must have been between 5-6am. There's actually a calendar pinned up next to the office giving the times of daily sightings but the penny didn't drop that these neat clusters of sightings were dependant on when fish were put out. The result is that though the views are remarkably close, they are also relatively brief before the Owl polishes off the fish and disappears into the surrounding darkness along the river. It also resulted in me getting very few shots of the bird as I thought I'd have plenty of time after the crowd lost interest.


So which site is better for the Owls? The view is much closer at Yoroushi, maybe only eight metres, and the experience is slightly surreal from the warmth of the lounge. If you want a more authentic and slightly more distant, cold, freezing cold, really freezing cold experience then Washi no Yado wins hands down. If you intended to watch from indoors at Washi no Yado then I'd definitely recommend staying at Yoroushi.


I suppose the supporting cast needs to be considered too. Washi no Yado had Brown Dipper on the river in front of the minshyuku and common woodland birds in the surrounding woodland. Yoroushi had Solitary Snipe and Crested Kingfisher on the river in front of the ryokan and common woodland birds on the feeders right outside the window. Better for me, it also had Sable, a mammal tick, coming to the feeders too.


Kicking off with the Washi no Yado birds under the powerful spotlights...

In in reply, Yoroushi...

Coming back to the supporting cast...

sable

red fox

This Solitary Snipe was on the near bank of the river and as such wasn't visible from inside the minshyuku.

Great Spotted Woodpecker. Compared to woodpeckers in Honshu I always think that the Hokkaido birds are tripping over themselves to get in front of any camera. However this GSW was the only one to give itself up on this trip. Though admittedly we weren't really after any woodland species and didn't spend more than a daylight hour or two at this our only woodland stop on the trip.

Marsh Tits were common, a great little bird we can't see in Honshu.

The brandtii Jay of Hokkaido... I can't resist putting a comparative shot of the Honshu japonicus below. 



Probably the only thing their respective heads have in common is a bill. The pattern of white in the wing is quite different too.



waxwings & tits

Japanese Waxwing is irregular in Kyoto, some winters they can arrive in large flocks and disperse into smaller parties as berry supplies are exhausted. In other years they are totally absent. In waxwing years there is usually a small number of Bohemian amongst them. Where they may fetch up is unpredictable but the botanical gardens area is fairly reliable as there are a number of good berry trees in the area. The shots below are of two flocks that were faithful to some excellent berry bushes in the respective winters of 2011 and 2013 but in both locations the bushes were removed the following spring. I suspect the residents didn't appreciate the impressive mess that can be made by a few hundred waxings with a large supply of purple berries.

This flock of Japanese Waxwings remained in this location for over a week to my knowledge. Spot the lone Bohemian in the line up! 9 February 2013.

A flock near the botanical gardens 6 January 2011. In this case the size difference between these first winter  Japanese and Bohemian seems extreme.

Adult Japanese and Bohemian in the foreground, looking much closer in size.

First winter Japanese, near Kyoto city 9 February 2013.

Spread wings of adult (bottom) and first winter (Top), the first winters have a white dash towards the tip of the outer web of the primaries whereas the adults have a broad white tip to the inner web and a small spot on the tip of the outer web that can be red or white but is often a compromise pink.

All the breeding Honshu tits occur in Kansai but Willow is only a winter visitor to the hills immediately surrounding Kyoto, though it does breed quite commonly at higher elevations in the region. Eastern Great, Varied and Coal can all be found in the city parks as well as the surrounding hills, all are common but the former two are conspicuously so.
Chinese Penduline Tit used to be regular in the reedbeds along the Uji/Yodo River but I haven't seen any for several years. If this is only due to the massive reduction in suitable habitat they might still be expected in the area but I suspect they aren't wintering here as frquently as they were a few years ago.

Eastern Great Tit in the botanical gardens, Kyoto city 10 January 2014.

Eastern Great Tit along the Katsura River in Arashiyama, Kyoto city 17 January 2011.

Southern Great Tit on Iriomote, Yaeyama Islands. 3 April 2013.

Coal Tit in the botanical gardens, Kyoto city. 15 March 2013.

Coal Tit in the hills west of Kyoto city, 30 March 2013.

 

Juvenile Coal Tit on Mt.Misen, Nara. 28 June 2013.

Varied Tit in the botanical gardens, Kyoto city. 15 March 2012.

Varied Tit near Kyoto city. 30 March 2013.

Marsh Tit is restricted to Hokkaido in Japan so that's one fewer identification problem to worry about in Kansai. This bird near Abashiri, 19 August 2012.

Willow Tit near Ashyu Forest. 19 July 2009.

Willow Tit on Mt.Misen, Nara. 28 June 2013.