Some of you may remember that a long time ago, I visited Azerbaijan. It was my intention to keep up the tradition of producing detailed reports for each West Pal trip I went on with this excursion intended to be no exception. Unfortunately it has taken me the best part of nine months to pull my finger out and get this completed, but here it is. As always, you can email me for a PDF copy of the report or for further information on birding in this wonderful country.
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015. Show all posts
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
Japan 2015 day seven: cranes and eagles on Christmas Day
25 December 2015
An early flight from Tokyo saw us arrive at Kushiro airport by mid-morning and, with a few hours to kill before the daily feed was scheduled to take place at Akan Crane Centre, we decided to make the short journey in to Kushiro to explore the port area for gulls.
Although there wasn't much snow on the ground the skies were grey and the temperature hovering just below freezing, and it was no real surprise when it began to snow a short while after our arrival - my first truly 'white' Christmas!
Kushiro harbour was busy despite the date, with plenty of trawler activity attracting hundreds of gulls. Quickly we found our first Kamchatka Gulls of the trip off the main pier, with birds of all ages performing well for the camera as they came in for our bread and popcorn handouts.
Rather unlike Kyushu, Slaty-backed Gull was by far the commonest species. Among the hundreds gathered were a few tens of Glaucous-winged Gull and about five Glaucous Gulls, with all three species looking particularly striking and imperious as the snow fell. Over the next hour or two we happily papped away in what was a great session for photography - despite the minor issues with auto focus caused by falling snow!
A couple of Black Scoter were seen distantly but the commonest duck in the harbour was Greater Scaup though there were a few Harlequin Ducks and Goldeneye present and about 10 Goosanders at the nearby river mouth. Our first Hokkaido eagle - 'just' a White-tailed - landed on the outer breakwater.
With time pressing we decided to head inland (via a food stop at 7-11; these convenience stores proved staple to our daily diet) to Akan. On arrival around 70 Red-crowned Cranes were showing very well from the viewpoint. By early afternoon the skies had cleared and the cranes looked simply stunning against the blue skies and snowy backdrop, even if the experience did feel a little dudey. Generally peaceful in their antics, scuffles and display would occasionally break out among the gathered birds.
At 14:00 the feed began and a bucket load of fish was thrown out. Within seconds up to five White-tailed Eagles appeared from nowhere, swooping down to grab the offerings and giving absolutely outrageous views as they did so. The cranes acted quite aggressively towards the eagles as a peaceful scene became utter mayhem in the space of seconds. The eagles, evidently wary of the cranes' flying limbs, rarely paused to enjoy their meals and soon flew off to the safety of nearby trees. This spectacle was over in little more than ten minutes, and serenity soon returned.
We enjoyed the delights of Akan for the rest of the afternoon, focusing almost entirely on photographing the cranes as well as we could. The light changed quite frequently as banks of cloud rolled over and mist occasionally began to rise, allowing for photos to be taken in a range of conditions.
I went for a little wander late on and came across a Grey-headed Woodpecker giving excellent views near the captive crane pens - the only individual of the trip. Other birds included Willow Tits, Jay of the race brandtii and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
With darkness falling we made the short drive to our accommodation in Tsurui where I was very quick to head for the onsen to warm up. After that we we treated to a superb Christmas dinner, consisting of several dishes of traditional Japanese cuisine - a fitting end to a fine first day on Japan's northerly island.
An early flight from Tokyo saw us arrive at Kushiro airport by mid-morning and, with a few hours to kill before the daily feed was scheduled to take place at Akan Crane Centre, we decided to make the short journey in to Kushiro to explore the port area for gulls.
Although there wasn't much snow on the ground the skies were grey and the temperature hovering just below freezing, and it was no real surprise when it began to snow a short while after our arrival - my first truly 'white' Christmas!
Kushiro harbour was busy despite the date, with plenty of trawler activity attracting hundreds of gulls. Quickly we found our first Kamchatka Gulls of the trip off the main pier, with birds of all ages performing well for the camera as they came in for our bread and popcorn handouts.
Adult Kamchatka Gull
Slaty-backed Gull appreciating our offerings
Slaty-backs chasing a dumpster truck out of Kushiro harbour in the snow
Female Greater Scaup
At 14:00 the feed began and a bucket load of fish was thrown out. Within seconds up to five White-tailed Eagles appeared from nowhere, swooping down to grab the offerings and giving absolutely outrageous views as they did so. The cranes acted quite aggressively towards the eagles as a peaceful scene became utter mayhem in the space of seconds. The eagles, evidently wary of the cranes' flying limbs, rarely paused to enjoy their meals and soon flew off to the safety of nearby trees. This spectacle was over in little more than ten minutes, and serenity soon returned.
We enjoyed the delights of Akan for the rest of the afternoon, focusing almost entirely on photographing the cranes as well as we could. The light changed quite frequently as banks of cloud rolled over and mist occasionally began to rise, allowing for photos to be taken in a range of conditions.
I went for a little wander late on and came across a Grey-headed Woodpecker giving excellent views near the captive crane pens - the only individual of the trip. Other birds included Willow Tits, Jay of the race brandtii and Great Spotted Woodpecker.
With darkness falling we made the short drive to our accommodation in Tsurui where I was very quick to head for the onsen to warm up. After that we we treated to a superb Christmas dinner, consisting of several dishes of traditional Japanese cuisine - a fitting end to a fine first day on Japan's northerly island.
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Japan 2015 day six: Arasaki and back to Tokyo
24 December 2015
Conditions had improved considerably overnight and Christmas Eve was a vast improvement on the previous day's wind and rain. Our first port of call were the houses near Arasaki crane centre, where we could see a flock of Eastern Rooks were gathered. We were extremely fortunate to find that one of the closest birds was a Daurian Jackdaw - the only individual we saw all day, despite searching the Rook flocks repeatedly.
Pleased with this early fluke, we headed around the extensive reedbed on the west side of Arasaki. This is a regular spot for Chinese Penduline Tit and so it proved - at least six gave reasonable views and were best located by call. Reed Buntings and Japanese Bush Warblers were common while other buntings included several each of Chestnut-eared, Black-faced and Meadow. A juvenile Hen Harrier flying past proved the only one of our trip.
The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent exploring the fields and visiting the crane centre. The crane spectacle was even more impressive in the drastically improved weather conditions, but we were all in agreement that obtaining nicely composed shots of them was a challenging task - messy backgrounds, muddy fields and the like made it difficult. Nevertheless cranes are enigmatic, beautiful, characterful and downright noisy birds, and the views from the crane centre's tower viewpoint certainly confirmed that.
Hooded Cranes were by far the most numerous and generally tended to show closest to the various roads that intertwine the mosaic of agricultural fields.
White-naped Cranes were also numerous although due to their size I found profile shots difficult with my 400mm, so I made do with close ups.
Once again several Sandhill and the two Common Cranes were seen as well as an even greater number of what were presumably hybrids - several of the latter were seen and photographed although admittedly I'm not sure on the parentage of some of them.
The highlight of the morning, though, was the discovery of a Savannah Sparrow just east of the main bridge/channel. Flying from the road it landed some 20 metres away on a bund running through the adjacent field, thankfully unobscured. I'll admit Savannah Sparrow simply wasn't on my radar when in Japan and I kept trying to turn it in to a Yellow-browed Bunting - yellow on the supraloral and clean underparts being the train of thought, but several things didn't look right and both Rich and I said "Savannah Sparrow" in unison - but surely not?! As it transpired with a quick Google search, the species is a rare but reasonably regular winter vagrant to Japan - no mega find, but a nice bonus nonetheless.
After this it was back to Akune Harbour for another quick photo session with the Black-tailed and Vega Gulls. The gulls were decent enough but it was once again the Black-eared Kites that stole the show, putting in entertaining performances as they came in and picked morsels of popcorn and bread from the water. Our first truly confiding Dusky Thrush gave great views in a nearby park, although unfortunately was flushed by a Bull-headed Shrike all too quickly.
We headed west to Kogawa Dam mid-afternoon. The gen suggested that the river bridge before the reservoir itself could be good for Crested Kingfisher, and we saw our only individual of the trip looking west from here. At least three Brown Dippers were showing quite well on the rapids to the east while a Japanese Wagtails was seen in flight. The reservoir itself was a bit of a disappointment but we saw our first Mandarins of the trip as well as the ubiquitous Black-faced Buntings.
With an hour or so to spare we decided to give Satsuma another go. Retracing our steps from yesterday we again drew a blank on Scaly-sided Merganser but had four Mandarins from the Route 397 bridge and Japanese Wagtail again from the main bridge in Satsuma.
With that it was back to Kagoshima airport for our flight back to Tokyo. As ever with the Japanese internal flights, everything went extremely smoothly and we were in our hotel, near Haneda airport, by 21:30 and were feeling pumped for what would hopefully be an exciting Christmas Day.
Conditions had improved considerably overnight and Christmas Eve was a vast improvement on the previous day's wind and rain. Our first port of call were the houses near Arasaki crane centre, where we could see a flock of Eastern Rooks were gathered. We were extremely fortunate to find that one of the closest birds was a Daurian Jackdaw - the only individual we saw all day, despite searching the Rook flocks repeatedly.
Pleased with this early fluke, we headed around the extensive reedbed on the west side of Arasaki. This is a regular spot for Chinese Penduline Tit and so it proved - at least six gave reasonable views and were best located by call. Reed Buntings and Japanese Bush Warblers were common while other buntings included several each of Chestnut-eared, Black-faced and Meadow. A juvenile Hen Harrier flying past proved the only one of our trip.
Japanese Bush Warblers were readily heard but extremely difficult to see well
Chinese Penduline Tit - unobtrusive and well camouflaged
Thousands of Hooded and White-naped Cranes being fed at Arasaki
White-naped Cranes were also numerous although due to their size I found profile shots difficult with my 400mm, so I made do with close ups.
Once again several Sandhill and the two Common Cranes were seen as well as an even greater number of what were presumably hybrids - several of the latter were seen and photographed although admittedly I'm not sure on the parentage of some of them.
Sandhill Crane
Anyone got any ideas? Common x Hooded, Sandhill x Hooded, or just pale Hooded?
After this it was back to Akune Harbour for another quick photo session with the Black-tailed and Vega Gulls. The gulls were decent enough but it was once again the Black-eared Kites that stole the show, putting in entertaining performances as they came in and picked morsels of popcorn and bread from the water. Our first truly confiding Dusky Thrush gave great views in a nearby park, although unfortunately was flushed by a Bull-headed Shrike all too quickly.
Finally - a showy Dusky Thrush in Akune
Black-eared Kite lacking a tail
A multitude of kites fixated on the floating popcorn 'slick'
With an hour or so to spare we decided to give Satsuma another go. Retracing our steps from yesterday we again drew a blank on Scaly-sided Merganser but had four Mandarins from the Route 397 bridge and Japanese Wagtail again from the main bridge in Satsuma.
With that it was back to Kagoshima airport for our flight back to Tokyo. As ever with the Japanese internal flights, everything went extremely smoothly and we were in our hotel, near Haneda airport, by 21:30 and were feeling pumped for what would hopefully be an exciting Christmas Day.
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