Booted Warbler(s) on Hegura

I was in two minds whether to make a day trip to Hegura on Tuesday (Oct 11) but once up on the Ishikawa coast I thought "in for a penny..." and off I went.


My usual first port of call after disembarking is to check the patch of scrub in the harbour, it's usually an effective barometer to get a feel for how many and what birds might be around. It wasn't too encouraging on this occasion. Barring a single soft 'chack' which was probably a Dusky Warbler the place was discouragingly birdless. I was later told there had been a clear-out the night before.


On hearing about the Booted in the harbour, between the ferry docking point and Tsukasa, I quickly made my way back down from the lighthouse. To be honest there weren't many birds to impede my progress. I'd been advised to stay harbour-side to get the light behind me so I found myself alone across from a knot of waiting birders on the main path. Just as I was thinking the other side of the narrow strip of bushes and rank vegetation must be better the bird popped up in front of me and flew over a shed to come down about 25 metres further along the strip. I followed and managed to get a brief view at close range and a couple of record shots before it disappeared into the minimal cover again.

This is only the fifth record for Japan, the second for Hegurajima, but as I was lucky enough to find the fourth record and I was reasonably satisfied with the views I'd had I chose to push on as there was a lot of island to cover and now only three hour before the ferry left for the mainland again.


I saw a few good birds, Dusky Warbler, Radde's Warbler, Pine Bunting and heard a couple of Yellow-browed Warblers but failed to connect with anything more exciting. It was clearly a day of quality over quantity and so my route gradually brought me back towards the harbour where the easily seen 'better' birds seemed to be. I felt that with time to do the place justice, clamber through the coves, cover the headlands thoroughly and sit quietly in the woodland there would be something waiting to be discovered. Day trips don't allow that kind of time, it's very much a case of luck rather than hard work to turn something up. It's frustrating because there's nothing like staying on the island for a week or so and waking pre-dawn with a whole day of island bashing ahead.


Crossing the old school playing field I flushed an odd bunting from the grass and followed towards the corner of the field. However the first bird I saw there wasn't the bunting but a Booted Warbler! It showed really well for a few seconds before it submerged into the long grass again. I never did see the bunting again.




On the school playing field.

Next I walked to the Booted spot along the harbour front to find a number of people waiting patiently and I told one guy I'd just seen it on the playing field. I continued along the harbour, Red-throated Pipit and another Pine Bunting, then as departure approached it was back towards the ferry. The birders at the original Booted spot had disappeared and there was now a larger concentrated group with a clatter of shutters and long lenses pointed into the grass behind the larger harbour buildings (and just below the school playing field) where it transpired the Booted was performing very well. I only had a short time before dashing round the corner onto the ferry but managed a couple of decent shots.

After getting back to the mainland I heard people were of the opinion there were two Booted Warblers present on the island, thus fifth and sixth records for Japan, and though I've looked very carefully at my Booted images I don't have good enough comparative shots tell whether I saw two birds. In each case where I have what looks a distinctive feather-wear feature I don't quite have a corresponding view of 'the other' bird. I can say the lore markings look identical and the bird in all three of my sightings, over a three-hour period (original harbourside location, school playing field and behind harbour buildings), has the same greater covert displaced on the left wing. So if there are two birds, I don't think I saw them both.


There was also a Siberian Accentor present in the same area which I failed to see and I doubt there would be many birders leaving the island disappointed to see 'another' Booted Warbler but missing what would have been a Japan tick. That's birding I suppose. But if anyone has a spare Wood Warbler, I'd be happy to trade for a Booted...

The first bird.

The playing field bird; the loral markings look effectively identical.

Black Storks and Yellow Wagtails, Isahaya Bay

As I already posted, Booted Warbler was the star bird yesterday. But far from the only bird.

I arrived at the expanse of fields at about 10am and drove down the central road to the seawall to get a feel for the area. I didn't really expect to connect with the Storks on the way across, but it would have been nice. I was at a loss even where to start looking and a systematic approach might not be the best option with a potentially mobile target. But luck was on my side and after an hour, almost out of my search area towards the south, I caught site of a Stork flying off in the distance. It landed atop a utility pole and fortunately stayed there as a landmark while I made my way towards it. As I approached it dropped down onto the fields where I realised the other bird had been all along. I would never have found the birds at that location had I not seen one drop in, it really was amazing good luck to have been facing the right way to glimpse the distantly flying bird. A truck flushed them onto utility poles not far off as the Stork flies but it was some minutes before I could make my way dog-legging across the fields and bridging the levees across the flood gates. It was well worth it!

I'd almost forgotten I was in crane country but noisy flock of 33 Hooded Cranes crossing the fields was a reminder of what a great place Kyushu is for birding, though some birds, like this beautiful, very pale Merlin, I can see in Kyoto.

Hooded Cranes

The most productive location I found was an old maize field that was being cut. A huge flock of Rooks drew attention to it and though there were no hoped for Daurian Jackdaws with them there were plenty of other birds gathered around the rapidly shrinking stand of withered crop. About 50 European Starlings were easy to see, others less so. A Japanese Quail flushed by the harvester was totally unexpected.

Starlings perched in the final row of maize, everything was gone within 30 minutes of my arrival.

While the Quail was a surprise, it was nothing to the shock of finding the Booted Warbler of course and I can't resist posting a couple more shots of it.

There were also about 200 Buff-bellied Pipits and the same number of White Wagtails attracted to the feast. Though the only Red-throated Pipit I had was a bird calling overhead earlier in the day. There weren't any unusual White Wagtails as far as I could see but three Yellow Wagtails were far more exciting.


These are possibly the only winter Yellow Wagtails I've seen in Japan and it was interesting to see how much they differed, one very dark, another extensively yellow below and the third a pale grey individual.

Two shots of the dark bird with a very dark mask and almost thrush-like breast.

I only saw this bird briefly, it was much greener above and yellower below.

A very grey individual with greenish mainly restricted to the ear coverts but with some on the crown and mantle while pale yellow was limited to the throat.

As the afternoon wore on several Racoon Dogs came up onto the roadside and it was distressing to see how badly they're suffering with mange.

List of birds seen:-
Japanese Quail   1
Green Pheasant   1
Common Shelduck   1
Mandarin Duck   c50 on a reservoir en route to Isahaya
Eurasian Wigeon   100+
Mallard   common
Eastern Spot-billed Duck   common
Eurasian Teal   9
Common Pochard   common
Little Grebe   5
Great Crested Grebe   2
Black Stork   2
Grey Heron   several
Great White Egret   c5
Little Egret   10+
Pacific Reef Egret   1 en route
Great Cormorant   several
Eurasian Kestrel   4-5
Merlin   2
Osprey   several
Black Kite   several
Eastern Marsh Harrier   3-5
Hen Harrier   2
Eastern Buzzard   1
Moorhen   several
Common Coot   several
Hooded Crane   33
Northern Lapwing   c45
Common Snipe   1
Green Sandpiper   3-4
Rock Dove
White-bellied Green Pigeon   1 heard en route
Oriental Turtle Dove   fairly common
Common Kingfisher   5-10
Bull-headed Shrike   5-6
Rook   c500
Carrion Crow   fairly common
Large-billed Crow   several
Great Tit   1
Long-tailed Tit   a party en route
Japanese Skylark   common
Brown-eared Bulbul   fairly common
Japanese Bush Warbler   1 heard
Booted Warbler   1
Japanese White-eye   several
White-cheeked Starling   several
European Starling   50+
Pale Thrush   common
Dusky Thrush   fairly common
Daurian Redstart   common
Eurasian Tree Sparrow   common
Eastern Yellow Wagtail   3
Grey Wagtail   1
White Wagtail   very common
Japanese Wagtail   1
Red-throated Pipit   1 heard
Buff-bellied Pipit   common
Brambling   80-100
Oriental Greenfinch   several
Japanese Grosbeak   1 heard en route
Meadow Bunting   several
Black-faced Bunting   several
Reed Bunting   fairly common

Booted Warbler in Kyushu!

I started a five-day birding trip in Kyushu today, the main aim being the wintering Black Storks at Isahaya Bay. Even though the Storks are pretty big the area they move around is huge so I was really lucky to find them only an hour after arriving. This freed up the rest of the day to get down to some serious birding but a Booted Warbler was beyond surprising.


As far as I'm aware there have been three records of Booted in Japan and all in the Sept/Oct migration period. Two of those records were on Hegurajima so finding one here clearly outside the migration window means either it isn't Booted and I've just made an awful fool of myself or it could have arrived earlier and have been in the area for some time.


So is it a Booted or not?

Rather phyllosc-like first glance, my first two thoughts were tristis but not with pink legs surely and Dusky but it's a bit too milky-tea and where the eyestripe and supercillium.

An accro then? The tail looks a little long and pointed here but white outer tail feather fringe!

At times the pale tertial fringes created a narrow pale panel.  

The tail is actually quite square and not at all accro-like. The upperparts are concolourous from crown to uppertail coverts. Only the primaries. tertial centres and tail are blackish-brown, though all have distinct pale fringes. 

Throat and upper breast (and undertail coverts) white, flanks slightly warmer. Eyestripe almost non-existent at most angles, the supercillium was usually obvios behind the eye but not in this shot. Upper mandible dark with pale cutting edge, lower mandible pale with restricted dark tip. 

The supercillium is clearer behind the eye in this and subsequent shots. 

At some angles it has a slightly darker border to the supercillium before the eye. The legs are pinkish and the feet greyer.

It must have been in a stand of old withered maize that was being cut (and attracting fantastic numbers of birds. I heard a rattle at one point, long before I saw the bird, that reminded me vaguely of a ficedula, not quite but enough to make me wonder what it was. Then when I finally did see it, it gave a series of rather soft ticks. It tail-wagged once.


If it has been in the maize it will be forced to move but while I was there it was in the grass at the road edge and on the remains newly cut maize. It disappeared for some time and I drove 50 metres to the end of the field and it suddenly flew in from the opposite direction and perched on the tallest stalks for a moment but then flew across the field and into reeds along a broad drainage channel.


Whether this mobility was due to its favoured habitat just having been cut or whether it always covers a large area I can say. But the former seems likely.


If it has been around for some time it may be twitchable but it may equally be difficult to relocate if it gets into the endless drainage channel vegetation.


So there it is. Booted is the only thing I can imagine it can be. Sykes's might be the only other possibility but I think not.


Anyway, a quick post to let people make up there minds about it.