Cormorant ID issues

A cormorant at Kamiiso yesterday but which species?

There are 2 very similar species in Japan: Great Cormorant (the same one as in Europe and North America) and temincks Cormorant (restricted to NE Asia). Temincks is the 'default' marine species in Japan and is widespread whereas Great is more local and tends to occur on inland waters (although not exclusively).

I saw 3 Cormorants flying over my flat heading north last week, were they Great Cormorants going to Onuma (where they breed)? I couldn't get a photo and they were too high up to get a decent view anyway.

There are 2 main ways to distinguish them (habitat is not enough...............I have seen Temincks inland):

1. Temincks plumage has a green sheen and Great has a brown sheen. The bird above appears to have the brown sheen but light can play tricks with this method.

2. The facial pattern of the yellow skin. To the left of the mouth Great has a rounded edge and Temincks has a ponted triangular edge.

This is yesterday's bird.

Hmmmm..........not  100% sure about this one. It appears to be somewhat rounder than these 2 Temincks Cormorants shots taken in previous late winters.

So is it a Great Cormorant or not? The first 3 shots I mean........................

Any opinions will be gratefully received. Great Cormorant would be a Hakodate first for me.

Not much else around, the usual grebes, gulls and ducks in small numbers but nothing close enough for a decent photo. Buff Bellied Pipit and Kentish Plover were on the beach but very skittish. 4 Great Egret flew over my apartment yesterday morning but town seems pretty birdless at the moment..............


Thanks for clicking this link.......
人気ブログランキングへ

A slushy day in a harbour

A Red Throated Diver in the harbour at Kamiiso this afternoon.

The thaw has begun and deep lush lies everywhere. Cars get stuck in it and I found out my 'waterproof' winter sneakers are not in fact waterproof.

The Diver had a broken wing.

It was very tame and swam right towards me.

This is a species usually seen well offshore and is nice to see up close, I hope its wing mends soon.

Actually do bird wings repair themselves? I have no idea.

I got lucky with the diver, I had given up on the harbour and decided to go back for one last check and the diver had appeared as well as this similarly tame Great Crested Grebe.

None of the other 3 winter grebe species were around but both species of cormorant were, here's a Temincks in breeding plumage.

All the common duck species were around including several groups of Black Scoter.

6 species of Gull, Whooper Swan and Great Egret were the other noteworthy species.

So this winter saw the heaviest snow since records began in Hakodate and now it is melting little by little....................I can't wait for spring.

Thanks for clicking this link.


人気ブログランキングへ

The merest hint of spring

A Temincks Cormorant and Glaucous Winged Gull at Menagawa this afternoon, note that they are both in breeding plumage, it must be spring.

Well it has got above freezing this last week but there was another heavy snowfall yesterday.

There were lots of Glaucous Winged Gull on the coast.

I wanted to show Franck (a French birder who used to live in south Hokkaido) the Pine Bunting and Rough Legged Buzzards but we couldn't find either, maybe the snow drove them south. We did however see a couple of Mountain Hawk Eagles high in the sky.........

Here is one with a Black Kite..........

Other stuff included Peregrine, Common Buzzard, White Tailed Eagle, Brent Goose, Harlequin Duck, Whooper Swan and the usual common winter species. At Onuma we tried to find a Naumanns Thrush which Franck had photographed yesterday, no luck there. The Pintail was still present as were the Smew (11 now) as well as Goosander and Goldeneye but no chance of decent photos, the Smew were too far away and the Pintail was too close.............

The Ural Owl was dozing in its hole.

Not much in town last week, there were individual Grey Heron and Great Egret on the river.

And lots of Dusky Thrush still...........

Thanks for clicking this link..........


人気ブログランキングへ

#200 sneaks up quietly

A couple of nice sunny days in Hakodate this week. Yesterday I headed back to Nanaehama to see if the 2 Lapland Buntings were present and indeed they were as you can see from the photos above.

I tried crouching down on the beach, a mistake as it led to pain radiating down my sciatic nerve, my back is still knackered I'm sad to say. I can still only walk at half speed but this isn't such a problem in the snow and ice as everyone walks slowly.............

I noticed flocks of Black Scoter offshore giving their eerie cries, I didn't have any binoculars with me so I checked them through my camera. One or 2 of them looked a bit odd so I took some shots and lo and behold when I came back and checked on the computer there were 2 female White Winged Scoters amongst them.................a local tick and #200 on my Hakodate list.

I walked down to Kamiiso (very slowly), on the way were some Wigeon and Brent Geese........

In the harbour at Kamiiso were a few common species including Scaup, Goldeneye, Pelagic and Temincks Cormorant as well as several Goosander..........

Offshore were big rafts of Red Breasted Merganser and a few Great Crested Grebes too. Other noteworthy species included Glaucous and Glaucous Winged Gull, Great Egret and Whooper Swan.

On the way back from the train window I noticed a Grey Goose dozing in the river, from its size it was probably a White Fronted Goose (which I sometimes see in town) but if I go back next week and it turns out to be a Bean Goose that'll be #201....................

Not much near my flat recently, a Black Faced Bunting and Oriental Turtle Dove (2 species I normally don't see in winter) were around today as were Wren, Coal Tit and Hawfinch plus the usual common winter stuff.

Thanks for clicking this link.

Slow week but some crappy pics of a semi-rarity

The 7D continues to be an excellent BIF camera, this was one of 2 great Egrets on the local river and all 3 shots were from the same rapid burst.

Really crappy weather this week, grey rainy days. Like Preston in autumn in fact.

The Egrets were one of 3 heron species on the river and these shots were taken on particularly overcast days.

More trees have been cut down by the river, I have no idea why. Like I say I'm sure it's just the City Hall spending tax ¥en. I really really hope it doesn't mean they're going to 'improve' the river. As anyone who has spent time in Japan will attest the locals just love concrete (or at least those locals who are in charge of government budgets do).

The bulk of the trees and bushes near my flat that sheltered many many migrants over the last few years are now gone forever. In some (as yet) unmolested bushes further downstream I  noticed this unusual looking small bird. Its black tail and white outer tail markings showed it was something a little different.........

Lousy pictures but they show a female Red-breasted Flycatcher, a lifer for me and #192 (I think) on my Hakodate list. Both it and this Red Flanked Bluetail were being mercilessly bullied by the male Daurian Redstart that sets up territory here in the winter.

The first Hawfinch of the winter have returned. In Goryokaku Park exactly the same birds were present as last week. 3 Coot plus the male Pochard and young Temincks Cormorant.

The 2 Little Grebe had been joined by a third individual. This is a species I'm struggling to take a decent photo of, they are so shy, Here is a not really very good one to be going on with.

All the sport on TV is on really late tonight. England's meaningless reserve team against Brazil is on about 2am (or 2.30am?), The rugby is on after midnight too and the Ireland v France play-off, the one really tasty game this weekend,  is on at about 4am or something. I have to get up early to teach a friend's class tomorrow so it looks like I'll miss them all..........