|
| Hakodate Birding |
Owls and Cranes in east Hokkaido One of many Japanese Crane I saw in east Hokkaido earlier this week. Here's a longish account of the week's birding......................... Sunday May 21st Got up absurdly early for the long drive to Furen-ko in east Hokkaido. Saw some surprisingly good birds on the way. Latham's Snipe were everywhere performing their slightly creepy flight display. Stonechat and Bullheaded Shrike were very common and seemed to be perching on roadside wires every few hundred yards. A brief stop near Tomakomai produced a Black-billed Magpie, Long Tailed Rosefinch and a Common Cuckoo. Other birds early on in the journey included Common Buzzard, Eurasian Jay, Peregrine, Scaup and Black Scoter. Further east the landscape changed as we neared the wetlands of northeast Hokkaido. A female Eastern Marsh Harrier was a lifer and the first Japanese Crane was seen just west of Kushiro. It would prove to be the first of many. They were everywhere. At Akeshi (just east of Kushiro) we saw one sitting on a nest. Arrived at Furen-ko in the early evening and spent 2 nights there. This is one of the most famous birding locations in Japan. It's like an almost perfectly designed birding spot. A shallow lagoon separated from the sea by a thin spit of marshy forest. Nearby are large areas of forest, grassland and seacliffs. A lot of the coastal scenery reminded me of SouthÊ Walney in Cumbria although of course theÊ birds were somewhat different. Only had a brief look around at Furen-ko but got Oystercatcher (a Japanese first for me), lots of Ducks of various common species, more Crane and some Glaucous Gull. Here's a sunset pic over the lagoon.  Just before nightfall we went to a nearby bridge over a small river to check for Blakiston's Fish Owl. The world's biggest Owl (and also one of the rarest) didn't appear unfortunately but we did get several roding Eurasian Woodcock as well as some of the commmoner woodland species such as Eastern Crowned Willow Warbler, Narcissus Flycatcher and Oriental Cuckoo. We stayed at Minshuku Furen run by a friendly Japanese birder named Matsuo. A recommended place to stay if you ever pass this way. Monday May 22  A fuzzily out of focus White Backed Woodpecker at Furen-ko. Got upÊ at dawn to go birding on Shunkunitai (the spit separating the lake from the sea). The birds were pretty good. Singing Red Flanked Bluetail had me flummoxed (I'd never hear them in full voice before). They were very common as were Reed Bunting, Stonechat, Whites Thrush, Nuthatch, Great Spotted and White Backed Woodpeckers (including a pair at the nest) and Bullfinch. 2 White Tailed Eagle were the first of many on the trip. A few waders were around. Ruddy Turnstone, Oyestercatcher and Grey Tailed Tattler. Larger birds included lots of Grey Heron, a lone Great White Egret (unusual so far north) and the inevitable Japanese Crane (some of them colour-ringed). On the sea were large numbers of Black Scoter, Red Breasted Merganser, Scaup and quite a distance out were lots of Grebes (presumably Red Necked) and Divers (Pacific or Black Throated). Wigeon were abundant and there were also Common Teal, Pintail and Shoveler about. A male Siberian Stonechat at Furen-ko.  After breakfast we went to 2 nearby capes: Nossapu Miaski and Ochisii Misaki. These were windswept places on the easternmost part of the main Japanese islands. Occupied Russian islands are visible only a few kilometres offshore. A shipwreck at Japan's easternmost point.  Cape Ochiisi. Windy and not many birds.  One of many Turnstones on the coast.  The capes were interesting places to visit but the birding wasn't quite so hot. Best bird was Spectacled Guilemot (another new bird for me). Also present were Harlequin Duck. Turnstone, Scaup, Rhinoceros Auklet, Red Necked Grebe, Chestnut Eared Bunting, more Snipe, Cranes and Eagles, Peregrine plus the 2 commoner species of Cormorant present in northern Japan (I couldn't get a firm ID on the rare Redfaced). In the forestÊ at Ochiisi we had to walk on a alarmingly narrow raised wooden boardwalk through a conifer forest. The forest hadÊ lots of Siskin, Red Flanked Bluetail and other common woodland species but I was watching my feet rather than the birds. In the evening I birded Furen-ko again. Not much new except an adult Glaucous Winged Gull and a fox stealing a fish from a Jungle Crow. We tried again for the Blakiston's Fish Owl but got nothing except chilly hands and feet. A second year Glaucous Gull at Furen-ko.  Wednesday May 23rd One of many White Tailed Eagles at Notsuke-hanto.  Lousy weather on this day. The heavy rain meant I didn't get up so early. I managed a couple of hours at Furen-ko but didn't add anything to yesterday's list. We drove northwards to Notsuke-hanto. This is another spit thatÊ is famous for birding. It was probably the best place birding-wise on the trip but the above mentioned weather spoiled it slightly. There were lots of waders present on the lagoon side with most in full summer plumage. The commonest were Ruddy Turnstone and Red Necked Stint. Also seen were lots of Dunlin, Grey Tailed Tattler and Mongolian Plover. A speciality of Notsuke isÊ the breeding Common Redshank which were displaying along with Latham's Snipe. There were also a few Terek Sandpiper and Common Sandpiper. White Tailed Eagle and Japanese Crane were common and Grey Heron were abundant. Large numbers of common Ducks were in the lagoon and on the seaward side there were huge rafts of Black Scoter and White-winged Scoter as well as the inevitable Scaup and Mergansers. Red Necked Grebe, Glaucous Gull, Reed Bunting and Hawfinch rounded off Notsuke's birds. We drove to Nakashibetsu in the afternoon to stay at a well known hotel that has Blakiston's Fish Owls as regular visitors to the pond in the hotel's garden. We arrived at around 4pm and after a hot spring bath and a somewhat extravagant Japanese meal we were rewarded with the sight of 2 Blakiston's Fish Owl's no more than 10Ê metres from our hotel window. It's just as well they came so early as I was already on my third beer. One even caught a fish before they flew off. The fish pond was also popular with the local foxes. I felt a bit guilty seeing the OwlÊ in such easy fashion but.................hey. Wednesday 24th May The Hokkaido race of Eurasian Nuthatch as seen from the hotel window.  A few birds around the hotel in the morning included Nuthatch, Oriental Cuckoo, Eastern crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers and Eurasian Jay. We then had a drive to Minami Furano via Shikarabetsu-ko, a high altitude lake in central Hokkaido. It was pretty cold up here (over 1000 metres) and there was still loads of snow on the ground. We went to a site which has (or used to have) Black Woodpecker but couldn't see any. We did see lots of Siskin as well as several Brown Thrush, some Osprey, Willow Tit and Buzzard. Our next hotel was in the mountains south of Furano. I concentrated on the food more than theÊ birds here but still managed Russet Sparrow and Blue and White Flycatcher. Thursday May 25th. One of 2 Bean Goose at Utonai-ko.  We drove back to Hakodate via Utonai-ko. A navigational error meant we missed the Mukawa river (apparently there was a Spoonbill as well as lots of waders there) but we had a couple of hours in the afternoon at Utonai-ko. I was a bit surprised to see some Swans and Geese still present. I saw a few lone Whooper Swans scattered around on this trip but here there were at least 10 Whoopers, 1 Bewicks and also 2 Bean Goose. Dunno how "wild" some of these are though I have to say. Bird of the day was a singing male Siberian Rubythroat. Eastern Crowned Warbler were abundant and there were also Little Ringed Plover, more Latham's Snipe, a lone White Tailed Eagle (pfft........), some commoner Ducks including Goosander (which we'd seen with chicks near Notsuke), lots of Reed Buntings and an apparent albino Wigeon.  All in all a great trip with over 100 species seen despite the rather leisurely birding. We were too early for some of the summer specialties (the 3 grasshopper warblers) and many of the commmoner summer migrants seemed a bit thin on the ground too. Special thanks to my wife for all the driving!!!!  16:06 - 26/5/2006 - post comment
|
Birding in South Hokkaido User Profile Archives BIRDFORUM KANTORILODE KANTORI Yamasemichi Some photos Tokyo Birder's blog Iceland birding Colorbox Ribble Blog My 2007 blog |