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| Hakodate Birding |
looking for PharalopesHad a look out to sea for the annual Red Necked Pharalope passage yesterday. I first noticed this in 2003 when I saw (I'm not joking) hundreds of thousands of them off Esan and all along the coast to Hakodate. They were also present in 2004/5. Always from around May 15-May 22. About half a kilometere or so offshore.They weren't there yesterday however. The sea was a bit rough (a strong southerly wind) which made seawatching tricky. A few alcids and dark shearwaters were too far out to ID. Nearer inshore there were still a few Red Breasted Merganser and Red Necked Grebe. Of course today it's calm and visibilty near perfect but I don't have time to go down to the beach to scan the sea. A couple of singing Oriental Great Reed Warblers were near my flat on my brief walk this afternoon. Surfbirds' blogs seems to have been down a bit recently...........................mind you I shouldn't complain too much. It's free. I'm off to East Hokkkaido for a short holiday next week. I'll be visting Furen-ko which is often cited as one of the best (if not THE best) birding areas in Japan. Japanese Crane is one of the main target species (and are apparently a cert) as is Blakistons Fish Owl (we're staying at a famous hotel where they usually visit the grounds at night).22:11 - 16/5/2006 - post comment
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