Below I've copy pasted a trip report from this June I submitted to kantori
Cheers
James
Hello all,
I have been back in England for over a week now, but wanted to let you know what I saw during my week (6 nights) in East Hokkaido. I stayed 3 nights at the famous Minshuku Furen near Nemuro, 2 nights at the equally famous Washi-no-yado near Rausu, and one night at the not at all famous but very nice Yado Hanafurari, near the south east corner of Kussharo-ko. Weather was mixed with some rain, fog and high winds but also some very hot and sunny spells.
The areas I visited with highlights as follows:-
Nosappu-misaki
close views of lots of rather scruffy (oiled?) Temminck's and Pelagic Cormorants (no Red-faced), Rhinoceros Auklets and Spectacled Guillemots offshore (not great views), large numbers of "Pac-throated" Divers passing, and rather luckily close views of individuals of both Pacific and Black-throated offshore. Incredible close views of Middendorf's Warbler and Siberian Rubythroat in the long grass and bushes.
Lakes and short grassland east of Nemuro
nothing too amazing (no Lanceolated Warblers), but good views of Common Reed Bunting (quite different from the birds that visit my garden in England) and obviously loads of Latham's Snipe displaying
Onneto-ko and the Onneto Rindo (main and side-tracks through the woodland to the west of the lake, joining up with the back road to Ochiishi)
daily close views of a group of 1 adult and 5 second year Red-crowned Cranes from the bridge across the seaward end of the lake, and a good variety of woodland species (not all seen), Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warbler, Brown-headed and White's Thrush, Japanese and Siberian Blue Robin, (Brandt's) Jay, White-backed Woodpecker, Hazel Grouse (actually by the roadside of the main back road to Ochiishi) etc. etc. Also a pack of feral dogs, and some colourful bear(?) scat full of metallic beetle wing cases.... scary.
Boat Trip from Ochiishi to Yuyuri and Moyuyuri islands
this was simultaneously a highlight and an enormous frustration, as although a lot of good birds were encountered the weather and viewing conditions were terrible, with constant fog varying from thick to very thick, and intermittent drizzle. By the end of the trip my binoculars were next to useless so all the good birds that appeared late on, were seen either poorly, or gave the dreaded untickable views. Nevertheless, the best birds encountered included lots of Rhinoceros Auklets and very close Spectacled Guillemots, 3 Tufted Puffins (that took a lot of searching for), a snowi Pigeon Guillemot, a close Pacific Diver, several dark-phase Northern Fulmars, some impossibly close (touching the boat!) Short-tailed Shearwaters, and one each of Fork-tailed Petrel, Laysan and (probably) Black-footed Albatross. The latter two were seen briefly off the tail of the boat as we cruised back to port (no time to stop and chase better looks) and although I'm certain of the Laysan at least (what else could it have been?..) views were not good enough to get it onto my list.
If I was planning my trip again I would try to build in two of these trips, as the previous day’s trip, along with better weather, produced several Ancient Murrelets and various mammals that we didn’t encounter.
Ochiishi-misaki (north east corner)
a seawatch from here (hoping to see the Albatrosses from the previous day) was pretty useless, with just lots of "Pac-throated" Divers, but I did get decent views of Spectacled Guillemots round the cliffs, plus Middendorf's Warbler and Olive-backed Pipit.
Shunkunitai nature reserve
nothing too unusual here, Sakhalin Grasshopper and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, Grey-bellied Bullfinch, Chestnut-cheeked Starling etc. plus Black-browed Reed Warbler, Siberian Rubythroat and Long-tailed Rosefinch by the main road through the village
Furen-ko
lots of Red-crowned Cranes and White-tailed Eagles, big rafts of Black Scoter off shore, and a Red-throated Diver offshore at the north end (site of another unsuccessful attempt for Lanceolated Warbler)
Hattaushi Bridge
didn’t really try for the owls here as I figured I would wait for Washi-no-yado, but did hear a duetting pair an hour before sunset on one evening. Main target here was White-throated Needletail and got excellent views of 3-4 birds crusing up and down the river valley on two consecutive evenings (and another guest at Minshuku Furen saw them the previous evening also). Other highlights here included excellent close, prolonged views of Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Narcissus Flycatcher, Oriental Cuckoo.
Notsuke Hanto
hoped for Falcated Duck here but the best (visible) ducks on the landward side were some Pintail (A Japan tick). Offshore was better with several Black Scoter extremely close in, and a 2cy drake Stejneger’s Scoter a little further out. Also a Sea Otter. Saw my only Eastern Marsh Harrier on Hokkaido here also.
Shibetsu Harbour
was lured into an unplanned stop here after I spotted large numbers of “white-winged” gulls (probably just those weird bleached immature Slaty-backed). But it was worth it as I found 5 Glaucous (4 x 3cy, 1 x 4cy), a 2cy Black-headed and best of all an adult Glaucous-winged Gull.
Washi-no-yado
a single Blakiston’s Fish Owl appeared both nights at 22:30-23:00. I was too tired to wait up to see if any more appeared afterwards.
Whale-watching boat from Rausu
this was a real disappointment. Conditions were not great (very choppy with bright sunshine), but we seemed to be cruising at full speed into the wind (very bumpy) to the end of the Shiretoko Hanto for the entire first half of the trip. After spotting what I believed were one or more Killer Whales surfacing repeatedly, we moved slowly to within about 200m, and then, before half the boat had seen anything, and certainly before anyone had had reasonable views, we promptly turned around and cruised back to Rausu at full speed. Very perplexing. It was too bumpy to really watch birds during the trip, but there seemed to be reasonable numbers of immature Black-legged Kittiwake, and small numbers of Rhinoceros Auklet and Short-tailed Shearwater.
Kumanoyo Onsen
the gravel plain on the river just above the onsen near Rausu had a pair of Long-billed Plover (which I had missed on the Tamagawa), Brown Dipper, Common Sandpiper and a slightly scruffy male Mandarin. There was also a Grey-headed Woodpecker in the vicinity.
Shiretoko Pass
I spent one afternoon and one morning at the pass. Apart from the viewpoint itself I also walked the stretch of road immediately to the north west heading towards Utoro, and stretches around the laybys/bus stops 2.5 and 4.5 km back towards Rausu (these latter areas weren’t too productive). Although the early part of the first afternoon was quite windy I got lucky otherwise with sunny, calm weather, perfect for high altitude birding. I saw my main targets Grey Bunting and Pine Grosbeak at the viewpoint itself, and other highlights included lots of Oriental Cuckoo, Buff-bellied Pipit, Hawfinch, and of course loads of Pacific Swift.
Shari
I made an unscheduled stop at the south west corner of Shari (where the highway crosses the river) after spotting a Russet Sparrow perched on a wire. It had disappeared by the time I got parked, and after 45 mins of fruitless searching I was starting to think I had dreamt it or misidentified a Tree Sparrow, however eventually two males showed well. I also saw my first and only Hobby here.
Tofutso-ko
14 Falcated Duck (11 males) mixed in with some Gadwall were seen at the Eastern end. First picked up from the boat launching area 200m south of the main road junction (routes 244 and 467), but they were viewed closer (although looking into the light) from the coast road 200m west of the junction. There was also a female Russet Sparrow at the bridge on route 467 over the narrow stretch of water joining the main portion of the lake to the “side-lake” in the south east corner. Maybe this northern coastal plain is a particularly good area for this species?
Kussharo-ko
walked the trails around Wakoto peninsula and Kawayu Onsen but didn’t really see anything too unusual, apart from my only Great Egret on Hokkaido (at Wakoto). Also I heard a Goosander vocalising for the first time in my life, and got point blank range views of adult and juvenile Five-lined Skinks while enjoying the foot bath at Kawayu.