Some Ospreys and other stuff

I checked the Osprey and Peregrine nest sites on Monday...............

Siberian Meadow Bunting

A male Siberian Meadow Bunting just outside Hakodate this morning.............

North Hokkaido Trip 2008 #1

One of many Siberian Rubythroats I saw on a 6 day road trip to the far north of Hokkaido and back...........but they weren't as common as this species which seemed to be perched every hundred yards or so down every non urban road.......... a male Siberian Stonechat.



This was pretty much the first photo of the trip. 2 very famous local mountains. Mt Usu (in the foreground), an active volcano and Mt Yotei in the background.



We set off early last Wednesday en route to our first stop at Furano in the centre of Hokkaido. It was beautiful clear spring weather but we didn't have time to stop until we reached Mukawa, a river estuary near Tomakomai. I visit here 1 or 2 times a year. Last spring (on almost exactly the same date) there were over one thousand Red Necked Stint but on this occasion there were only a few waders, the most interesting being Mongolian Plover. There were lots of Black Browed Reed Warblers (another common bird on this trip), a few Scaup and Glaucous Gull and a hunting Osprey, here's a crappy pic.



We headed inland and north driving through the forested Hidaka area (Oriental Honey Buzzard being the only noteworthy species here) to spend the first night in Furano. We stayed in a small hut (or 'bungalow') on a campsite and it was very very cold, only a couple of degrees above freezing.





The rural scenery around Furano and Biei is often reminiscent of northern Europe. Lots of Stonechat here again.





The campsite area was next to a forest and a quick walk produced a few interesting species. Woodcock were displaying at dusk, White Rumped Swifts flew overhead and other stuff included Common and Oriental Cuckoo, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Goshawk, Brown Thrush and these 2 common species. Russet Sparrow and Siberian Meadow Bunting.





Leaving Furano we passed by Asahikawa and here we made a navigational error and headed east instead of north. We skirted the edge of Daisetsuzan National Park, the highest mountainous area in Hokkaido. The mountains were still covered in snow and actually the route we ended up taking was better than the one we'd planned on. We hit the Ohotsk Coast at Monbetsu where we parked up near a small coastal pool and were instantly rewarded with several singing Siberian Rubythroat.







The coast was very nice (I posted a crappy 'live' cellphone picture a couple of posts ago) and like everywhere in north/east Hokkaido very quiet and remote compared to even the countryside in the south. White Tailed Eagle was the main new species we saw here......

It was still a long drive to our next campsite at Lake Kucharo, we got there just in time to put up the tent and enjoy the sunset (the subject of another crappy cellphone update). It was cold again but we still managed a couple of beers in front of the tent.



#2 to follow soon.........

Nasty headaches but Autumn migration well underway

Autumn is definitely here. Lots of nice colours but no nice photos I'm sorry to say so here's one of some kind of grass that always looks like this in October.





A beautiful clear morning today saw me up Mt Hakodate just after sunrise. In addition to the stress of getting up so early I've also been a martyr to a nasty headache all week. Being punished for past indiscretions maybe. Or maybe too much time spent hunched in front of the computer.

The above species, Japanese White-eye was one of several abundant migrants present today. Other species passing through in large numbers included Siskin, Great Tit (thousands of these), Black Faced and Rustic Bunting and Japanese Bush Warbler. Here's a boring looking Siberian Meadow Bunting.



There could have been anything about really. So many birds it was easy to miss stuff. Bird of the morning was a male Siberian Rubythroat which I saw for all of 2 seconds. Raptors quickly passed overhead.........god only knows what some of them were. A tiny Japanese Sparrowhawk was mobbing a much larger raptor that I couldn't ID. Arctic Warbler and Eye Browed Thrush were other noteworthy species that I managed to get a fix on before they disappeared into the undergrowth (or across the Tsugaru Straits).



Here's a couple of lousy pics thst gives you an idea of typical views of today's birds. A Brambling and (I think) an immature Siberian Rubythroat.






Over at Kamiso the Night Herons were still present and 8 species of Duck. Duck numbers grow until the first snow and ice after which they usually head south. Shoveler were the most interesting but I find it frustrating (especially with aforementioned headache) to pick through the flocks of females/immatures/eclipse males. It is worth it though.........last year I got Gadwall and the year before I got American Wigeon. I'm hoping for Flacated or Baikal Teal this autumn. A hunting Peregrine spooked all the wildfowl before I could get a decent look anyway.



After lunch we headed out to Onuma. The leaves are starting to change but are a bit later than normal this year. No doubt I'll post some pics in a week or 2 when they reach their peak. Otherwise it was a present stroll around several lakeside trails in the now mercifully mosquito-free forest.






Lots of birds around Onuma today. 4 species of Woodpecker including Black and Greyheaded, loads more Siskin and White-eyes plus the common resident species such as this Varied Tit.




We finished the day at Moheji watching the salmon spawning. Too dark for any photos.

I downloaded some Not the Nine O'Clock News torrents last night. Should be interesting to see how much they've dated and if they're still as funny as I remember. I've been listening to a lot of Tindersticks stuff recently. I can't work out if it's depressing or uplifting. I have the rugby WC semi-final plus the 2 England Euro 2008 games to keep me occupied sports-wise in the coming week. Next Wednesday I'll be up in the early hours sitting in front of an ancient PC watching live jerky heavily pixelated TV images with Chinese commentary yelling at Peter Crouch to pull his finger out as the ball bobbles around on a frozen plastic pitch.

Rustic