Summer in the Ricefields

Nice summer weather this week (and a big earthquake yesterday too, not serious up here but it lasted a long time). There's not much in the way of new birds to see from mid June to mid August, the summer breeders are all busy singing and feeding their young. Siberian Stonechats and Black Browed Reed Warblers are my 2 favourites, so lots of pics of these.

Last Wednesday we went up to Yakumo. Lots of common stuff here. Here's some of a diving Osprey. A bit far offshore and I lost track of it as it dived. The mountain in the background of the first shot is Mt Yotei up in Niseko.







Here's another view of Yotei from a bit further south.



Black Browed Reed Warblers were very common here too.





There were also a few Grays Grasshopper Warblers singing in the bushes but they were impossible to see. Other stuff included Sand Martin, Japanese Thrush, Common Cuckoo, lots of Grey Heron and several Reed Buntings. Yellow Breasted Bunting was apparently here a few days before but I couldn't find it.

This Great White Egret was the most noteworthy other species.



This afternoon we were driving around the ricefields in Ono. We were looking for the Oriental Pratincole from last week but the only waders around were Little Ringed Plover. Lots of Stonechat though.....









Here are some views of Mt Komagadake from various locations all over the Oshima area......



We stopped off at Onuma to try for the Ruddy Kingfishers again but we only had a very brief view before they disappeared off into the forest.....







Last Autumn I saw loads and loads of Night Herons in and around Hakodate. Now I think I've found where they nest in the summer. I've seen a few adult birds around Ono, standing around in the ricefields.





Nervous things, they fly off as soon as you even look at them out of an open car window.......

Here are some more of the common birds around the last week. Chestnut Eared Bunting, Japanese Skylark, Black Faced Bunting and Black Kite.









Not much going on near my flat. Bullheaded Shrikes, Red Cheeked Starlings and Asian House Martin are all breeding (and they'll be the only birds to photograph in July probably). Here's one of the big hairy caterpillars that are everywhere this time of year.....



So Euro 2008 has produced some pretty good games by all accounts. I tried to watch some of the juicier early evening games last week (Germany v Croatia, Portugal v Czech Republic) but they weren't on regular TV here. I guess now would be the time England would have been making their excuses for a dire opening round. It's painful England aren't there but it would have been just as painful if they had been......if that makes sense.

I entered a photo contest in March. It was run by Kitamura Camera. I only won a tiny prize (not even cash, I have to go and pick up my 'present' next weekend) but this pic of a Long Tailed Tit I took in January will be in a national photographic magazine in July. Woohoo!



Wonder what I'll get as my prize? A cloth to clean my lens perhaps? A memory card maybe? The tension is killing me.......

Those Ruddy Kingfishers

I've taken a lot of photos over the last couple of days and I've learned something valuable. People have huge expensive lenses mounted on non-budget DSLR bodies for a reason. I struggled with some forest shots at Onuma........at ISO 800 and with the lens wide open I left most of the photos uncropped. I even used a tripod too.......

Birds out in the open, like these in Ono, are much easier.







So the Ruddy Kingfishers are back in the same tree as last year. Right next to the road. Just a little too far for my 100-400 lens alas and my digiscoping camera seems to have given up the ghost so no respite there either. The only time they came fairly close they were a) hiding behind a branch and b) I had stupidly left the image stabilization off.





My shutter speeds weren't fast enough for flying birds in a green forest. Although the explosion of wood chips as they left the nest hole was pretty impressive.



And the pics weren't much better when they weren't moving much either.......





A couple of miles further round the lake there was Great Spotted Woodpecker nest.





The Woodpeckers had some help...........and this is a bit bizarre I have to say.





This female Red Cheeked Starling seemed a bit confused and insisted on feeding the Woodpecker chicks. Why? Had her own chicks died? Do some birds instinctively provide food when they hear chicks of other species begging for food? Either way the woodpeckers didn't seem to appreciate it and would chase her off every few minutes or so.



Otherwise lots of activity in the forest at Onuma. Lots of singing Warblers, Flycatchers and Thrushes. Wailing calls of Japanese Green Pigeon that sound uncannily like the Clangers, Long Tailed Rosefinch, oh lots of stuff.

Over at Ono there were Stonechat fledglings, more Night Herons and lots of Black Browed Reed Warblers.







Star bird yesterday was an Oriental Pratincole swooping arounnd over the ricefields at Ono (no picture I'm afraid). It was my first new bird of 2008 and a bit of a surprise find. Another surprise was this immature Kittiwake in amongst the gull flocks at Kamiso. The 9th Gull species of the year in Hakodate.



And a slightly hazy view to finish with......



Not much exciting going on in my life at the moment. I watched 'A Mighty Wind' and thought it was pretty funny. I can't get some of the songs out of my head.

I watched the opening 10 minutes of Switzerland v the Czech Republic but couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it and went to bed (the half dozen or so games even a jealous bitter little Ingerlunder like me would watch are all on at 4am), looked at our finances again and thought oh sh*t another tight summer ahead, read an interesting book on the genetic make-up of us Brits (the basic premise of which was we're mostly descended from stone age hunters from Iberia with a stong dash of central European neolithic farmers. Celts, Anglos-Saxons and Vikings merely added a bit of seasoning. And, according to Mr Oppenheimer the indigenous population may have been speaking some form of Germanic language before the 'English' barbarians arrived anyway. Anyway.....).

Summer arrives suddenly

One of the local Stonechats this afternoon.




Only 3 days ago I was shivering in a sleeping bag getting ready to get up and drink a mug of hot tea whilst wrapped in a down jacket. Today I was getting mercilessly bitten by mosquitoes and eating ice cream. We went to Onuma to try and see the Ruddy Kingfishers (which showed very well last year on this date).

Unfortunately there were no Kingfishers but we did see some fledgling Ural Owls.



The above shot was on a borrowed lens (another birder's 500mm) wheras the one below was shot handheld on my own. They were quite a way off the road and these were the best I could manage.



The forest was alive with birds but it was difficult to even see most of them for more than a second because the forest has become so overgrown so quickly. This happens every year of course so I shouldn't be surprised. The mosquitoes have appeared since my last visit. The little bast*#ds.

I even did a bit of digiscoping today. A Japanese White-eye on the nest.

The top one is from a Fuji F31D and the bottom one from an ancient Nikon Coolpix 4200. the former is supposed to be a good digiscoping camera but I've never really sussed out the settings. Both images are equally crap I suppose.





We headed back to Hakodate through Ono and checked the ricefields. This Black Crowned Night Heron didn't allow a close enough approach for a decent shot but it makes a change for me to see one out in the open.





There were loads of Stonechats of course........and also lots of Black Browed Reed Warblers. A tricky bird to photograph as I'm discovering.





As always I'll finish with another view of my favourite mountain.....



Another summer in Hokkaido then. I miss the long summer evenings back in the UK (and no mozzies there either) but summer here does have its' charms too. Like the beer I'm going to drink on my balcony later on this evening.

Wish I could look forward to watching England play (badly no doubt) in the Euros this weekend but I can't can I Mr MaClaren? The question is can I be bothered watching any of the games at 1am Japanese time (maybe but only if it's a big game between big teams) or 4am (no f#*king way)........

North Hokkaido Trip 2008 #2

.........and so we were camping at Kucharo-ko in the municipal campsite next to the lake. The lake and lakeside was pretty good for birds actually. Siberian Rubythroat, Grays Grasshopper Warbler, various common small birds such as Marsh Tit and Asian Brown Flycatcher, Osprey, Grey Heron, Wigeon and Pintail. There were also some waders present. Red Necked Stint were the most numerous. It was difficult to get good shots, it was either too dark or the sun was behind the birds.......







There were also Terek Sandpiper and Grey Tailed Tattler.





The campsite was amazingly cheap (about $4 a night). One thing a bit offputting was that the toilet played music when people enter to use it. One urgent dash to the bog in the morning (courtesy of too much fried meat and wine the night before) was reduced to comedy when the opening of my bowels was greeted with a loud recording of honking swans and classical music.




On the Friday we drove westwards to the Sarobetsu plain.



The mountain in the distance is on an offshore island called Rishiri. I actually climbed that mountain (all 1700 or so metres of it) in 2001. It was a pretty tough hike.

The Plain is well known as the main area in Japan for this species, the Hokkaido race of the Yellow Wagtail.





There were lots of them, some of them just running around on the road or even flying alongside the car.



The coastal road had a very remote and eerie feeling, the main feature being this line of huge windmills.





We finished the day at Kabutonuma, a small lake which is well known for birding. We were too early for the Grasshopper Warblers and I couldn't find several of the other local specialties (Eastern Marsh Harrier for example).......we were only there for a short time though. There were more Rubythroats here though as well as Whooper Swan, Hawfinch and lots and lots of Sand Martin. This female Long Tailed Rosefinch was the best photo from this location and the local foxes are much much shyer than down in south Hokkaido........





......whilst passing several deer......in the fading light on the shady side of the road.




On Saturday we headed back south and stayed the night near Furano again. Not much birding wise here, the biggest surprise was this animal. Again, not a great shot as it was just before dusk.



I think it's a Japanese Hare. Odd looking creature, shortish ears and very very long legs.

We spent Sunday night in a hotel on the banks of Lake Toya. This is the hot spring resort that will host the G8 Summit next month. The whole area was crawling with cops from all over Japan (judging by the registration pates on the police buses parked everywhere). They were unpacking riot control gear. I can't imagine lots of scruffy dreadlocked protesters descending on Toya but the local feds are apparently well prepared for any invasion of foreign barbarians. The local council is also cleaning up the streets and buildings meaning an absolute field day for the red stick waving clowns that seem to connstitute 50% of the Japanese workforce..........I digress.

We drove back home in pouring rain. The rain relented near Yakumo allowing me to check the rivermouth for a few minutes. Lots of Black Browed Reed Warblers here too and also 3 Falcated Duck (a bit scarce down here).

Thanks to my wife for all the driving. I don't know how she puts up with me.

Thanks too to Mo-san for the bottle of 21 year old whisky that appeared in my letter box this afternoon..........