swans

Tundra Swan Columbianus bewickii bewickii is the common swan of the region but is restricted to the Japan Sea side of the country therefore Lake Biwa (Biwako) is the closest to Kyoto it occurs. Some make it down towards the southern end of the lake but most remain at the northern end. It can be found at many other wetlands in the north of Kansai.

                                                                      Two adults.

                                                        Dark-billed immature, 18 January.

                                                 Immatures still lighter-billed, 2 December.

Tundra Swan C.c.columbianus also occurs in the region in small numbers and can be found at Lake Biwa or elsewhere but I don't find birds every year even though it might be expected that birds would return to the same location in successive winters, particularly where family groups are concerned.

Classic columbianus, a large individual with a tiny yellow tear drop in front of the eye.

Not all birds are as obviously columbianus, the following shots are of a family party at Kokoku, Biwako. The first bird would be a good contender in its own right but the second has quite extensive yellow on the bill. The immature has very limited pale areas on the bill and again looks good. Collectively they are quite convincing.

The adult with limited yellow on the bill.

The adult with more extensive yellow.

The young bird, Lake Biwa February 2008.

I've never encountered Whooper Swan at Lake Biwa and their appearance in the region seems unpredictable but it's possible to bump into singles mixed in with flocks of Tundra Swan.

Whooper Swan in southern Hokkaido.

Trumpeter Swan is a rarity in Japan and those that do occur would be expected in the north, so a bird at Lake Shinji (Shinjiko), Shimane prefecture came as a huge surprise and was really popular with birders, particularly as other birds at this location during the winter included Ruddy Shelduck, Pied Avocet, Common and Arctic redpolls and Snow Bunting.

                                              Trumpeter Swan with Tundra Swans.

 

geese

Lake Biwa hosts the nearest wintering geese to Kyoto, with over 200 Taiga (Middendorff's) Bean annually at Kohaku-cho at the north east end of the lake and there is also a small but increasing number of Greater White-fronted with them. Rarer geese sometimes occur, I've seen Swan, Tundra Bean but unfortunately missed the best of all, a Greylag.

Taiga on Lake Biwa, February 2014.

The geese are usually quite distant here, often swimming or asleep on the wrong side of the island, fortunately this tiny Tundra Bean wandered into the foreground.

A family of Tundra in the foreground, middendorffii behind.

Further north into Fukui there are huge flocks of Greater White-front, especially around Sakai-cho, Fukui city and on up into Ishikawa where there are more Taiga Bean at Katano Kamo Ike. Every winter there'll be a few Lesser White-fronts to reward effort sifting through the flocks. In 2006 there was also a Swan Goose and Cackling Goose with the White-fronts. The former is rare in Japan and the latter becoming more frequent further north.

This Greater White-front dropped onto Hegurajima as many singletons do in early October.

This old video-grab provides an excellent comparison of head and bill between the two species.

A poor quality video-grab of a very rare combination of geese.

Swan Goose with Taiga Beans on Lake Biwa, 8 November 2013. This goose wintered here.

Strictly speaking Lake Shinji (Shinjiko), Shimane isn't within Kansai but it's doable as a day trip with an overnight drive from Kyoto. It's worth spending longer if possible as it's a fantastic place for birding. In the winter of 2008/09 there were many rare birds wintering in the area and one of them was Snow Goose, a species which is much easier to see further north in Japan and can't be expected in Kansai but its presence to the west shows it is at least possible.

A fantastic bird to see within a day trip from Kyoto.

There are always a few Black Brant on the sea in the Tsu/Matsusaka area in Mie but they are invariably rather distant.

Black Brant looking very small off-shore with Mallards and Falcated Duck in Mie, Janurary 2014.

gamebirds

The region isn't particularly rich in gamebirds, nor is Japan generally for that matter, Chinese Bamboo Partridge and Copper and Green Pheasants are the only species that can be hoped for in Kansai.

The introduced Chinese Bamboo Partridge can be found in the hills around Kyoto but I only run into them very occasionally. They used to be common along the Yodo River between Mukaijima and Yawata but I haven't heard them there for several years. They seem far easier to see in some other parts of the country but I have the feeling they can be easy to see at some sites but unaccountably secretive at others. Many authorities now split sonorivox as Taiwan Bamboo Partridge and I believe this breeds to the west of Osaka but I've never tried for it.

 

Chinese Bamboo Partridge, Tsushima, Nagasaki.

The bird in the shot above was one of two birds calling back and forth across a narrow woodland lane on Tsushima, Nagasaki. Another species which is common, in fact unavoidable, on Tsushima is Ring-necked Pheasant, where Brazil (East Asia Field Guide 2009) states it could be an indigenous population. Elsewhere it is introduced and in my experience most conspicuously so in the Yaeyama Islands in the extreme south of the country.

Roadside Ring-necked Pheasant in the rain. Tsushima, Nagasaki-ken in May.

Copper and Green Pheasants will be the most sought after of Kyoto's gamebirds. Copper Pheasant used to be fairly easy to find on all the hills around the city and I'd often see them on Mt Inari when I lived there but unfortunately they seem to have long since disappeared from that location. It still occurs in more continuous forests to the north and west of the city but it requires luck to stumble across one. I can go visit after visit without a hint of their existence then find them in different locations in the same day. Green Pheasant is altogether far more numerous but never guaranteed on any given day. It's a bird of extensive arable land with plenty of scrub or fallow areas and also overgrown riversides. In Kyoto it's common along the Uji and Yodo rivers to the south and even along the Katsura River through the western suburbs.

Green Pheasant on a dull, wet morning when they seem to linger longer in the open.

but they're much better on a brighter morning...

and great on a bright one.