Some birds at last..........

An Asian Rosy Finch on Mt Hakodate this afternoon. It was in a flock of 6 and there were several other individuals about.

There were quite a few migrants on the top of the mountain. Rustic Bunting, Japanese Bush Warbler, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Bullheaded Shrike, Red Flanked Bluetail and Oriental Turtle Dove were all arrivals from the south and a female Daurian Redstart was just passing through. Resident stuff included Nuthatch, Varied Tit, Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker. The usual unidentified stuff was skulking around in the bushes and offshore were numerous Red Necked Grebe with many coming into summer plumage.

A flock of 20 Siskin were also on their way north.

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Rainy weather and not many birds.............

A Varied Tit at Onuma this morning. It was very very windy, not ideal for forest birding (and there were branches falling everywhere). 6 Great Egret were the main point of interest but m\not much else. Over at Sawara there wree only a few Black Scoter left in the port and they flew off right away............

And then it started raining heavily and it hasn't stopped since...................

Last week was very quiet in town. The first Common Sandpiper at Kamiiso and daily decreasing numbers of ducks and gulls, the seasons are changing but we still wait the first rush of spring migrants.

I hope it stops raining , I have a day off tomorrow.


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On this day (April 13th)...................

April 13th 2011.

A drake Garganey on the river near my apartment 2 years ago today. This was a very nice find, the only one I've ever seen in Japan and the only decent view I've had of one anywhere.

Looking back, 2011 was a great year for birds around Hakodate. I got lots of new birds for my life, Japan and local lists and a lot of them even posed for photos like this one. 2013 has been a bit of a non starter so far................I hope that changes soon.

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Meet the Locals #5

A male Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

All pictures taken in south Hokkaido over the last 3 or 4 summers.

This is a very common summer visitor to this part of the world. They generally arrive in mid to late April and the last ones leave for the winter in mid October. It is widespread across temperate Asia and winters in SE Asia and also NE Africa. It is closely related to the European Stonechat.

There are several subspecies, not surprising in such a wide ranging bird. The one we get in Hokkaido is (I think) S. m. stejnegeri.

Of course I saw Stonechats back in the UK but never in the numbers I see them here. They are abundant in open habitats in summer and are commonly seen roadside.





The male is a very attractive looking bird, much more so than the European I think.

Their mournful short song is one of the sounds of summer in the grasslands and padis.

Around the time the young are born they become exceedingly tame.







The females appear to be very similar to the European...................





Near my flat they appear in mid April as they migrate up the river, in early September they make the reverse trip in much larger numbers, the majority being immature birds. A small piece of waste ground just upstream from my place has held a singing male the last 2 or 3 summers. Outside of town they are everywhere.....................it seems that every 50 meters or so you can see singing males perched on roadside wires or bushes.

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Crappy April weather

A Dusky Thrush near my flat this afternoon.

Not much to report except the weather the last couple of days has been just awful. Wet and windy, the rivers are full with rain and snowmelt.

I did see tmy first Mandarin Duck of the year yesterday at Onuma. Lots of common stuff about but it was too dark for any photographs. The tame Nuthatches had to endure my flash.

I saw the first Swallows of the year and a flock of 20 or so Crossbill in the sky over Ono as well as a couple of unidentified grey geese heading north.

Just this lone Dusky Thrush in Hakodate though..............

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Bewicks Swan

A Bewicks Swan in Kamiiso today. This is somewhat scarce in Hokkaido and I usually only see them flying over. They were part of a flock of 10 tired looking swans obviously taking a break oneir northward migration.

There were 8 Bewicks and 2 Whoopers. Here are the 2 species together with the Whooper in the foreground.

Bewicks is a species I don't really have any photos of................

Not much else around. The common ducks of course, Great Crested Grebe, a couple of flyover Osprey and 5 Great Egret. There were 6 species of gull including this raggedy looking young Glaucous Gull.

The Black Tailed Gulls are a very common species which I usually don't bother photographing but it has to be said they are a very attractive gull...........

There were lots of Black Headed and Common Gulls too. This individual looked a little odd, I think it's a Common Gull but it looks rather dark and I've never noticed that eye/gape colour before.

Not much in town this last week. I walked to Cape Tachimachi on Monday and saw Brent Goose (just 1) and Glaucous Winged Gull on the way. Red Necked Grebe, a few common ducks and a lone Rhinoceros Auklet were bobbing around ofshore. In the forest there were Treecreeper, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Varied and Long Tailed Tits, Jay and Bullfinch but it was too dark for any photos. Just as I left the forest I saw my first Bullheaded Shrike of the year.

Nearer home has been extremely quiet. Grey Wagtail on the river, a couple of Pochard in Goryokaku Park. That's about it except for this high in the sky Osprey which was a flyover bird in the same park.............

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March fizzling out...............

A Nuthtach at Onuma yesterday.

A very quiet end to March, hence all the old photos recently.

The tame tits and nuthatches priovided my only real photo opps over the last 2 weeks..............

The snow is melting............spring is here.

I did get out and about and there were a few interesting birds. The first Ospreys of the year arriving last week, several White Tailed Eagle at various locales, all 5 species of grebe, lots of common wildfowl everywhere including some displaying White Winged Scoter off Sawara this afternoon, Red Throated Diver at Kamiiso, a flock of Crossbills in a park in the east of town this morning...............

One staple of late March is Brent Goose but although I saw lots around they weren't in the usual spot at Irifune so no pics.

This Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker was in the same park as the crossbills and the Glaucous Winged Gulls were at Menagawa.

So that was March.....................let's not talk about England's World Cup prospects or I'll get annoyed.


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Meet the Locals #4

(Well it's been another very quiet week so some shots from the archives again).

Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina). All the pictures here are of males.

Another east Asian speciality not so well known to foreign birders, this is one of the most attractive summer visitors to Japan. It is endemic to east Asia, breeding in Japan, Taiwan, China, Korea and the far east of Russia. It winters is SE Asia.

This is the only breeding Ficedula species in Japan (although several others do occur as scarce passage visitors or vagrants). The nominate race is the one we see in Hokkaido. Other subspecies occur both in mainland Asia and also on some Japanese subtropical islands.

They start to arrive in south Hokkaido in late April and by early May they are a regular passage visitor to the parks in Hakodate.............







Sometimes they look a little worn.........



They buzz around catching all kinds of creepy crawlies.





They set up temporary territories and their loud warbling song can be heard in several of the local parks..........



By the middle of May they stop passing through but are one of the commonest birds in woodland habitats like that in  Onuma during summer. As the forest thickens they stay in the treetops and you can hear them singing all over the forest. Thay are tricky to see from mid June onwards and I leave the woods to the mosquitoes.

I don't have any pics at all of the female..........but basically they are dull brownish looking birds that resemble the hordes of Asian Brown Flycatchers that pass through at the same time and in the same habitat.

Although they are a common spring sight I only see a few in autumn, I have no idea why that should be................perhaps they migrate earlier when the foliage is still thick and I'm on the beach pestering waders.


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