Japan 2015 day five: Arasaki, Satsuma ... and plenty of rain

23 December 2015

We awoke to strong winds and drizzle - not ideal birding weather but at least the gale had cleared the awful stench from Izumi's streets. Every cloud and all that!

Heading west from Izumi we soon found our first Hooded and White-naped Cranes feeding in roadside fields near Arasaki. The light was atrocious and we barely bothered to lift our lenses, instead continuing west to the coast at Akune where a handful of Slaty-backed Gulls were found among the usual Vega and Black-tailed.

After making our way down an almost impassably narrow street just south of Akune, which took us several minutes to get out of having finally managed to turn round, we ended up at Ushinonama harbour. A few more Slaty-backed were noted here while Mick picked up an adult Brown Booby mincing around offshore.

Looks that only a mother could love: Slaty-backed Gull at Ushinonama 

The low cloud and occasional rain were showing no signs of improving so, deciding it was the perfect weather for ducks, we headed inland to Satsuma, where Scaly-sided Merganser has been regular in recent winters. Alas a search of the Sendai River from various bridges and bends in the sometimes atrocious conditions drew a blank with the mergansers, but a couple of drake Falcated Ducks were nice among decent numbers of commoner duck and both Japanese Bush Warbler and Eastern Water Rail were new for the trip.

A couple of Japanese Wagtails gave good views from the Route 507 bridge in Satsuma while two White-bellied Green Pigeons showed well by the river not far south of the Route 397 bridge. Two flocks of Russet Sparrows were noted in the area, each numbering approximately 200.

Heading back to the coast and Arasaki, the weather briefly showed signs of brightening up before settling back in to the more familiar light rain/heavy rain pattern. Even the weather cannot dampen the spectacular sight of thousands of cranes in the area, and we marvelled at the throngs of both Hooded and White-naped Cranes feeding in the roadside fields to the east of the main bridge, many giving stupidly good views.

Cranes and wildfowl at Arasaki

White-naped Crane 

Hooded Cranes in the rain 

Closer scrutiny revealed seven Sandhill (a singleton and a group of six) and two Common Cranes, one of the latter seemingly paired with an hybrid adult and with two hybrid juveniles in tow!

Mutant family: adult Common Crane, adult(?) Common x Hooded Crane and two hybrid juveniles 

Sandhill Crane

But it wasn't just cranes - thousands of dabbling ducks were also feeding in the fields and we soon found at least 20 Falcated Ducks scattered among the mainly Mallard, Pintail and Wigeon. They were extremely skittish and almost continually spooked, this playing in to our hands a little as it allowed us to check different groups as they landed. We were fortunate enough to pick out a stunning drake Baikal Teal among one of the closest groups but, all too soon, they were back in the air - this proved the only individual we saw in Japan.

Drake Baikal Teal - the only individual of the trip

Rich also picked out what at first looked promising for an American Wigeon, but it soon revealed itself to be a hybrid with clearer views. This was one of two hybrids we saw, the other on a pond slightly inland on the east side of the main channel (no pure individuals were seen).

Two different hybrid American x Eurasian Wigeons in the Arasaki area

The estuary at the east end produced three Black-faced Spoonbills but almost constant scrutiny of the large flocks of Eastern Rooks failed to produce one of our target species, Daurian Jackdaw. Despite the rain passerines appeared quite active along the roadsides, and we enjoyed decent views of a couple of Chestnut-eared Buntings among the groups of the much commoner Meadow Buntings. A couple of large flocks of Russet Sparrows were doing the rounds, with good numbers in the visitor centre area and plenty more near the channel at the west end, and we had one or two Bull-headed Shrikes.

Chestnut-eared Bunting attempting to hide

All too soon the light was fading and with the rain still falling, we called it a day early and headed back to our hotel in Izumi.

Japan day three: Hyuga and Kadogawa

21 December 2015

After arriving in Hyuga, on the east coast of Kyushu, late the previous evening, we headed for the nearby headland - Cape Hyuga - for sunrise, taking in our first Black-tailed and Vega Gulls in the harbour en route. The weather was calm and overcast with a few spots of drizzle in the air, though it was very mild.

Alas a couple of hours of searching the bays and inlets as well as scanning well offshore failed to produce any Japanese Murrelets, while our other target species - Japanese Woodpigeon - also decided against making an appearance. Nevertheless a selection of the commoner species was welcome, including excellent views of Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker as well as Varied Tits, Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstarts and parties of introduced Red-billed Leiothrix. Offshore our first Slaty-backed Gulls and Japanese Cormorants were noted while both Peregrine and Ospreys passed overhead.

Cape Hyuga

We gradually made our way back towards Hyuga town, stopping off at a small temple on an island joined to the coast by an isthmus. No murrelets, but some nice Black-faced Buntings and very pleasant scenery.

Our optimism that the next site, Kadogawa harbour, would produce murrelets proved unfounded - no sign there either, but at least 15 Black-necked Grebes in the bay, a couple of Olive-backed Pipits and Oriental Greenfinches favouring scrub at the start of the southern breakwater and the usual mix of coastal species including our first male Blue Rock Thrush.

Blue Rock Thrush

By this point the sun had come out and, naturally, we decided to indulge in a spot of gull photography. Mick's tried and tested British formula of popcorn and bread once again proved an inspirational move - within minutes we had good numbers of both Black-tailed and Vega Gulls coming in to the scraps thrown off the harbour wall, but were soon confronted by an alien problem - Black-eared Kites! The kites, seemingly rather hungry, would continually swoop down and pluck the popcorn from the water's surface, at the same time deterring the gulls from feeding. Nevertheless we finished the session with pleasing images of adult Black-tailed Gulls in particular.

 Adult Vega Gull

After a spot of food we returned to Cape Hyuga for another shot at the murrelets - again no sign, and still no pigeons either! Further searching around the coast brought no reward and, by mid-afternoon, we decided another gull session was in order. Thankfully the gulls in Kadogawa harbour now included a few first-winter Black-tailed, which duly became the focus of our efforts.

With the gulls once again being pushed off by the Black-eared Kites, we spent half an hour focussing on them instead, the golden late afternoon light giving the birds' plumage a real warmth and making for great photo opportunities.

The final hour was of the day was spent traversing Cape Hyuga once more but the day disappointingly finished murrelet-less, albeit with nice views of the coastline and a confiding female Daurian Redstart as some consolation.

The drive back south was fairly slow until we rejoined the expressway. A brief stop for food was our only interruption and we arrived at Gokuraku Takaharu-cho mid-evening. A fantastic traditional Japanese lodging, this is a characterful place that is beautifully decorated. I soon had my first onsen experience, although both Rich and Mick didn't fancy the communal aspect and decided against joining!

Update from Kyushu

A few images from a productive few days on Kyushu below. Full coverage of our Japan trip will feature as an illustrated daily diary on this blog when I'm back and have chance to sort through my images properly - I'll also include galleries of certain species as and when I get round to it.

We've had two great days of weather on Kyushu, although today has been truly atrocious - the rain didn't stop and the light has been poor at best. So far we're not doing too well for targets with Japanese Murrelet, Japanese Woodpigeon and Scaly-sided Merganser not seen - though the latter hasn't been seen by anyone so far this winter.

Black-tailed Gull, Kadogawa

One of the many Black-eared Kites coming to bread at Kadogawa

Forest Wagtail at Miike

Four of an impressive 250+ Saunders' Gulls seen at Yatsushiro

Hooded Cranes getting an absolute drenching in the appalling conditions at Arasaki today

Oh, and for the record, the Baer's Pochard was back on its swimming pool in Suminoe Park, Osaka, on Saturday morning - I had some great views and will post more pics when I'm home.