Green on green.

I had a spare hour this afternoon so i took a short walk down the river to see if any migrants were passing through. Red Flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, Coal Tit, Black Faced Bunting and Japanese Thrush were all around as well as various unidentified stuff only momentarily glimpsed.

Most of the trees along the river have been felled the last few years but the remaining trees are turning green and there were small groups of Goldcrest and Japanese White-eye feeding in the emerging foliage.

The goldcrests were as tricky as ever..............

The Whuite-eyes are slightly bigger and slightly less active but they too were a tad tricky...............

It has been a busy week workwise. Last Sunday was very quiet at Onuma, not many migrants there yet but lots of woodpeckers. All4 of the regular species were around, here's a Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker.

So we're approaching the best birding period of the year...............from the end of April to about the third week in May. My workload has increased dramatically recently (a good thing as being poor  is never nice) which means my birding time may be restricted to short jaunts like today................

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Goldcrest

A Goldcrest in a small pine tree next to the river this afternoon. I had a short break in the middle of the day and went out to check if the Hoopoe was still around from yesterday. It wasn't but as I was watching a female Red Flanked Bluetail in a tiny vegetable garden I noticed this lone Goldcrest just a few feet away.

The smallest bird in the UK is also the smallest bird in Japan......................

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Some crappy shots of some interesting migrants..................

Well we had a fairly eventful day. Sleet and an earhquake this morning and some interesting migrants this afternoon.

In Goryokaku Park there were several Dusky Thrush (above), Hawfinch and Swallow but no more bluetails.

On the river there were lots of birds passing through. My first Asian House Martin, Chestnut Eared Bunting and Siberian Stonechat of the year. Several Daurian Redstart, Coal and Varied Tit, a female Red Flanked Bluetail and yet another Osprey. A Woodcock flushed by crows was a surprise. This is the first photo of this species I've ever posted.

A male Pale Thrush. A crap photo and it isn't even  rare but like I say this is its first appearance on this blog.

Here's another even crapper photo.

A Hoopoe near my flat, the second one I've seen locally now and my 4th in south Hokkaido. It was very skittish and the above heavily cropped record shot was all I could manage....................

So some interesting things appearing. I hope it isn't f***ing sleeting again on Sunday/Monday (my days off).
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A pursuit of Bluetails

A male Red Flanked Bluetail in Goryokakyu Park this afternoon. It was very dark and the above shot is a big crop with lowish shutter speed and highish ISO.

I spent a few hours the last couple of days chasing this very active species around the park. They are a common passage visitor and I see loads of them every spring and autumn but can never get any decent shots, they are just too fast for me.

Yesterday had better light, there were 2 females and 1 male.

The females at least have the blue tail.................

Today was the opposite, 2 males and a female.

I hope they stick around for a couple more days. Just one shot a male close up in good light with a nice background, please.......................................

Yesterday an Osprey flew up the tiny river near my flat and today one was hunting over the moat in the park, it dived but on the other side of the park and I couldn't see if it came up with anything as I was busy getting frustrated with the bluetails. There was also a flock of 10 or so Common Crossbill but I couldn't get close to them. Other stuff included a few Dusky Thrush, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and lots of the common breeders such as White Wagtail, Oriental Greenfinch and Great Tit.

Last week I bit into a baguette and as the bread was a bit hard I cut the inside of my cheek and got a huge blood blister. Foolishly I popped it and now I have a huge great big mouth ulcer there. Hot food, spicy food, salty food...............all no-nos. At least beer soothes the pain...................


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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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