The eastern front: Japan and Taiwan Dec 16 - Jan 17 (1 Viewer)

[Andrew Whitehouse]

I seem to be really bad at doing trip reports these days, which is a shame. Rather than continuing to be really bad at doing trip reports I thought I might try to get good at doing bad trip reports, which is what you're likely to get here. It will probably pretty dull without the thrill of the ongoing daily narrative. What, with a bit of luck, you might get is a bit of background to the trip, description of where I went and then basically just a systematic list with a few pictures. And you'll be grateful for it too!

The basic itinerary was as follows:

19/12 Flight from Aberdeen to Tokyo Narita
20/12 Arrive at Narita, with a few hours birding on foot locally. Transfer across Tokyo to Haneda airport, then an evening flight to Kushiro in Hokkaido.
21/12 Pick up hire car in Kushiro, after some morning birding in the harbour, then to Tsurui, followed by Nakashibetsu then the coast from Shibetsu to Rausu. The night spent at Washinoyado.
22/12 Drive south via Rausu and Shibetsu to Notsuke, then overnight at Lodge Furen.
23/12 Birding the Nemuro Peninsula and another night at Lodge Furen.
24/12 Birding Lake Furen and then Kiritappu. Drive west and then back to Tsurui. Overnight (somewhat inadvertantly) in Kushiro.
25/12 Flight from Kushiro to Tokyo Haneda. Birding in the afternoon at Teganuma Lake. Overnight in Narita.
26/12 Flight to Fukuoka in Kyushu. Picked up hire car then drive to Daijugarami before heading south to Kagoshima to stay overnight.
27/12 Birding Lake Mi-ike for most of the day and then Satsuma late afternoon. Overnight in Izumi.
28/12 Birding early morning at Kogawa Dam then all day at Arasaki. Overnight in Izumi.
29/12 Early morning drive north to Fukuoka. Flight to Taipei. Pick up hire car at the airport then drive south to stay overnight in Xinshe. Brief birding at Shigang Dam.
30/12 Birding all day along Dasyueshan Forest Road. Overnigh in Xinshe.
31/12 Birding most of the day along Dasyueshan Forest Road. Drive south during the evening to Chiyai.
1/1 Birding till early afternoon at Yushan NP. Actually sitting in a traffic jam most of the time, but there you go. After stop at Dapu then drive to Budai for an overnight stay.
2/1 Birding during the morning at Budai and Aogu wetlands. After birding at Huben. Then drive to Puli for an overnight stay.
3/1 Birding during the morning around Puli and Huisun then drive to Wushe for an overnight stay. Some afternoon birding around Cing Jing Farm.
4/1 Birding at Cing Jing then the Blue Gate Trail. Drive up to Hehuan and then for a short way down Taroko Gorge. Overnight in Wushe.
5/1 Morning birding at Cing Jing then drive to Taipei for a flight back to Tokyo Narita. Overnight at Narita.
6/1 Early morning birding at Narita then flight back to the UK (then I went to my mum's 80th birthday party in Dorset for the weekend, which was nice).

Told you it'd be exciting. I'll maybe do some bits about some of the sites on each of the islands next.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Weather: I guess as this trips ranged from sub-Arctic to sub-tropical it was always going to be a bit of a mixture weather wise.

Honshu (or at least around Tokyo) was pleasant, sunny and dry with light winds and moderate temperatures, except on the final morning when it was quite frosty.

Hokkaido was fine at first and not particularly cold for the first day and a half. Then there was a blizzard. Most of that happened overnight, which just meant it was slightly hard work to get around (but possible). It was windy for the next couple of days, which put pay to a mini-pelagic I had planned from Habomai. On my final morning in Kushiro it was actually properly cold - I'd guess about minus ten.

Kyushu was a bit of a mixture with some quite heavy rain on the first afternoon and showers the next day. It was a bit breezy at times. The temperatures were comfortable but I suspect a bit below average for the time of year (maybe 10-12 C).

Taiwan was almost entirely dry and calm but the temperatures varied, mostly with altitude but it also seemed to get warmer during the time I was there. The lowlands were fairly hot (mid 20s). It was cooler higher up but not cold. Even at Hehuan (about 3200m asl) it was pretty much t-shirt weather when I was there.

Logistics: This trip mostly went smoothly, despite the slightly hectic island-hopping schedule. All the accommodation was fine, although the hotel in Izumi was quite laughably bad. I think I was the only person staying there and the woman at the desk seemed genuinely astonished to have a foreigner, of all things, staying. Most places I stayed in Taiwan were rather lovely (booked through booking.com). Lodge Furen in Hokkaido was also a delight and all birders visiting the area really should stay there. Washinoyado was basic but with other attractions.

Car hire was generally fine, although I had a hard time picking up the car in Fukuoka and it was mildy arduous to find the right desk at Taipei airport. I used Times Car Hire in Japan and Avis in Taiwan. All were fine and the cars were quite adequate. Driving is generally very safe in Japan with absurdly low speed limits. Everyone ignores these but still seem to drive sensibly. Hokkaido has the extra fun of lots of snow on the roads. The roads are kept fairly clear and the cars seem to be all-wheel drive as a matter of course. It's still a bit skiddy at times though! Kyushu is mostly okay but sometimes painfully slow with endless traffic lights everywhere. There are toll roads, which you need to take, but they're a bit pricy, I maybe spent £40-50 on tolls in just a few days. Taiwan is mostly fairly easy with good, fast roads. There are tolls but these are lower than in Japan. The mountain roads are a bit fun at times. Taiwanese driving is also sometimes rather quirky. In fact very quirky. Keep your whits about you and you'll probably be okay though.

For navigation I mostly used 'Maps with Me' in Japan and 'Here we Go' in Taiwan (the latter doesn't have maps for Japan). These worked fairly well, although 'Maps with Me' has no clue at all about how long journeys will take. One journey in Kyushu that was supposed to be 55 minutes took two and a half hours! 'Here we Go' was mostly good in Taiwan, although occasionally it got overly creative with the routes and I ended up along narrow tracks that ended with a road closure. Taiwan could do with a detailed 'Where to watch birds' guide as some sites (particularly wetlands) aren't all that easy to find or work without a bit of local knowledge.

The internal flights were all fine except for one, which rather messed up my plans unfortunately. I got to Kushiro on the evening of 24th only to find my evening flight to Tokyo Haneda had been abruptly cancelled by ANA without explanation. This was quite annoying. My plan had been to go from Haneda to the ferry terminal for Miyakejima, which is just a short distance away. I'd then spend Christmas Day seeing interesting endemics on Miyakejima and albatrosses from the ferry. That never happened. As it was such short notice it was also tricky to arrange any suitable alternative, particularly as I knew I needed to get to Kyushu on 26th. I tended to use budget airlines for internal flights e.g. Tigerair or Peach. These were mostly okay (and quite cheap) although you don't get a lot of leg room!

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Honshu

I only birded two areas on Honshu, Narita and Teganuma. They offer quite pleasant if unspectacular birding that I suspect is fairly typical of the area.

Narita: This is actually the only bit of Japan I've been to before, as I had an overnight stop here on my way back from New Zealand in December 2008. On this trip I birded for about three hours during the middle of the day on my first day in Japan. I then birded for 2-3 hours on my final morning. The habitat here is quite diverse with a mix of paddyfields, tangled marshy spots, an irrigation channel and patches of mixed woodland. It's easy to wander around the paths and lanes near the irrigation channel and is actually rather peaceful, with relatively few people around by Tokyo area standards. The birding is quite pleasant too and there are one or two species I've still never seen anywhere else in Japan. If you ever find yourself in Narita with a few hours to spare, you could do a lot worse than go for a stroll.

Teganuma: This is a narrow lake in the eastern suburbs of Tokyo. It's fairly easy to reach by train, with the closest stop in Abiko. The eastern end of the lake is much the best and that's actually quite a long walk from Abiko. There's also a similar mix of paddyfields and marshy patches as at Narita. It's better for waterbirds though. It seems to get fairly busy with people but that wasn't too much of a problem. It's probably a nice area to watch as a local patch but I didn't see anything particularly significant there. I'd much rather have been on Miyakejima, which is where I'd hoped to be that day.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Hokkaido

Eastern Hokkaido is pretty famous for birds and I didn't do anything particularly radical here. If you know the area, you'll know the places I went.

Kushiro: I did a bit of birding in Kushiro harbour. It was a pleasant start to things but there wasn't anything too remarkable, although possibly a Great Crested Grebe was a bit of a local scarcity.

Tsurui: This is a famous site for Red-crowned Cranes that's quite close to the middle of Tsurui village. The cranes are not excessively hard to see and are popular with many visitors and photographers. There are a few nice woodland birds around too, but not a huge variety of species. They put out disinfectant mats to walk through at the field near the cranes. There seem to be significant concerns about bird flu here.

Nakashibetsu: A town that has quite a lot of berry-bearing trees along its main street. These brought in small numbers of berry-eating birds, but nothing particularly amazing.

Washinoyado: A place to stay just north of Rausu. It offers fairly basic accommodation but you're paying for the 'night time attractions', which should keep you occupied for a bit. There's a cabin where they serve dinner and you sit here and look out over a floodlit stream. The stream has a sort of 'fish trap' built into it, which encourages in the aforementioned attractions. That was the plan anyway.

Coast from Rausu to Shibetsu: Lots of harbours and river mouths are along this stretch of coast and you can spend a pleasant if chilly few hours stopping off regularly and scanning the sea. Most stops will have something worthy of your attention.

Notsuke Peninsula: A low lying sandy spit that juts quite some distance out into the bay. There's a fair amount to pick out on the sea, although perhaps not as much as I'd hoped. I suspect it gets better when the sea ice appears.

Lake Furen: I mostly just birded around where the lake enters the sea, near to Lodge Furen. It's probably really good to have a wander around in the summer, but in the cold of winter a long walk might not be your idea of fun.

Nemuro Peninsula: I mostly birded at Cape Nosappu, where the seawatching was quite good once I'd found somewhere out of the wind. I was chauffered around that day by Nikolas and Raja, two birders from Brisbane, which was good of them. We tried looking for Rock Sandpipers from Onnemoto Harbour but they didn't seem to be there, sadly.

Kiritappu: This peninsula is to the west, back towards Kushiro. It's potentially good for seawatching but it's hard to access a really good spot to do this, particularly when there are massive snow drifts everywhere. It has a famous garden, which is good for Asian Rosy Finches. It's mostly famous, however, for it's angry owner who doesn't like birders. I didn't get close enough to have a run in with him but Nikolas and Raja reported that he got quite angry with them and started taking pictures! I did get told to bugger off by someone else at a nearby flat area where I'd parked to view the gardens.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Kyushu

Kyushu is rather beautiful with some fairly spectacular and varied birding.

Daijugarami: This is an extensive area of mudflats near the town of Saga. This in theory isn't too far from Fukuoka but it took ages to drive there. My satnav probably didn't find the best route. You'd almost certainly be best to head down the Kyushu Expressway and then head west. Instead I went through the middle of Fukuoka and then over a fairly laborious mountain road. Don't do that. The area itself probably isn't that well known amongst birders but is worth a visit if your nearby. The tide was rather low when I was there, so birds were mostly quite distant. There were a lot of them though. A higher tide (though maybe not all the way up) would probably be best.

Lake Mi-ike: A well-known crater lake in the hills northeast of Kirishima. There's quite a bit of waterfowl here but the main interest is in woodland birds. The best area is the campground but it's worth wandering around the lake as far as you can. Despite what maps that you get from the visitor suggest, it's not possible to walk all the way around the shore of the lake. There are a number of landslides on the eastern shore, which I spent too much time trying to go over. I was unsuccessful in this task.

Satsuma: The Sendai River in the town of Satsuma is a good spot to have a look around. It mostly became famous to birders a few winters back when there were some Scaly-sided Mergansers around. They don't seem to have been there for the past year or two though. It's still worth an hour of your time, however.

Kogawa Dam: A wooded lake near Izumi. It seems to be possible to drive most of the way around the lake in a normal car, although I didn't go all the way myself. It's good for a mix of waterbirds, marshy edge birds and woodland species. Definitely worth an hour or two.

Arasaki: Mega crane sanctuary near Izumi. Spectacular. As well gawping at the cranes from the visitor centre, it's worth driving around and checking the fields, channels and edges. There's plenty to see here.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Nice one Andrew, keep going! :t:

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Taiwan

Taiwan is good for birding. It's fairly spectacular as well, at least away from the densely populated lowlands. 3000 metre mountains covered in forest, with huge gorges sweeping through them are definitely easy on the eye and if you're looking for the endemic bird species then this is where you'll be spending most of your time. The lowlands have their virtues too, with some very good wetlands along the west coast.

I spent a week in Taiwan, which isn't really long enough. It might be possible to see more-or-less everything with a guide in that time but if you're on your own it would be better to spend ten days to two weeks looking. That's what most people do anyway. I still saw most things in a week, despite not having the best planned itinerary. Here are the places I went.

Shigang Dam: I visited this site near Xinshe a couple of times. It's not too far from the start of the Dasyueshan Road, so is a convenient location to pop into for anyone visiting that site. In the past two winters there have been a number of sightings of Scaly-sided Merganser here. They weren't seen while I was there sadly.

Dasyueshan Forest Road: This is probably the most well-known area on the island for endemic birds and with some justification. It runs for 50km from Dongshi up into the mountains. As with most tropical forests, the birds change as you go upwards. The lower areas, e.g. around KM12 are good for the low to mid-altitude species. KM23 is probably where most birders and (more particularly) photographers gather. Grain is put out to attract gamebirds and there are good berry-bearing trees too. I also spent some time along Forest Road 210 near the entrance to the Recreation Area. As this road has a nice big 'No Entry' sign on it, it's the perfect place to go birding as almost no one else goes along there. The upper areas of the road are also good, particularly around the upper car park at 50KM. If you go to Taiwan you should spend a good few days on this road. I spent two, which was good but I could have done with another one or two, particularly in the lower areas.

Route 159, Chiayi: This is a fairly quiet road through some slightly degraded but interesting low-elevation forest. It's worth an hour or two of a morning. There is a place called the 'Firefly Hostel' along here, which is mentioned in a few trip reports and apparently has blinds for seeing various good birds. I didn't get there (and it seems hard to book online) but the area is quite decent.

Yushan NP: On New Year's morning I drove up to the Tataka visitor centre in Yushan National Park. I'd be lying if I said this was a good idea. Having said that, it was an idea I shared with half the population of Taiwan. Actually most of those stopped at the Alishan area on the way up, but the traffic was ridiculous - not helped by two road accidents in the space of one kilometre. If there weren't tonnes of people it would be quite a good place for a wander. The conifer forests and scrub have some good species, although most of them were hiding when I was there. If I was doing this trip again, I'd probably miss this area out though. If you go for a longer trip to Taiwan it's worth doing but I don't think there was enough around to justify the considerable effort in getting there.

Dapu: This is a small town by the side of Tsengwen Lake. I stopped off at the amusing 'Lover's Park' while I was travelling to the coast. I think I meant to go to the Lakeside Park, which is better for birds. I saw a few things, and it's slightly different habitat to elsewhere. I also got bitten by mosquitoes here.

Budai: These wetlands are a bit to the south of the town of the same name. There's a car park on Route 17 and from the lakes are easily explored. Lots of birds here.

Aogu: An extensive wetland area bit to the north of Budai on a small peninsula. Access mainly seems to be from the north side (I got turned back on the south side). There's a road around the edge, although I didn't go there. I mostly birded from the 'Sea Viewing Centre' in the northwestern part, which gives good views over various lakes. I'd like to have spent longer here, as it was pretty good birding, but the forests called me back.

Huben: I should really have visited this lowland forest area in the morning and the wetlands in the afternoon. More poor planning. I mostly birded around Tienshang Temple area (which was mosquito central as far as Taiwan was concerned) and then at the Lungkuomai Forest Trail at dusk. This is quite a good area and is worth half a day of your time on any visit to Taiwan.

Puli: I birded a couple of areas around Puli, both of which seemed to get a few good birds - at least according to Ebird. One was Puli Dizang Temple. This is probably a good area but was shrouded in mist when I was there. I wasn't totally sure where the best places to look were. I also birded the paddyfields at Puli Gongtiangou. This proved a reasonably good spot to visit in the heat of the day and produced one or two species I didn't get elsewhere.

Huisun: This is quite a well known area of forest near Puli. It's fairly scenic and supposedly gets very busy at weekends. There were a few noisy visitors when I was there but it wasn't too bad. I mostly birded near the road between the entrance gate and the main visitor centre area. It's worth a few hours here at the very least, as there are a few species that are easier here than elsewhere.

Cingjing Farm: This rather extensive 'experimental farm' near Wushe is a bit of a tourist attraction but has good birding in the patches of forest and scrub. It's fairly mid-elevation stuff here. I struggled to figure out the best area for birding, but mostly went to either a road that runs down from the corner of a sharp hairpin near the main visitor centre at 24.059691, 121.165903 or from the area on the lower Route 14 at 24.027729, 121.157810, which is where I think most birders go. The latter area doesn't seem to get many visitors, which perhaps helps a bit with the birding.

Blue Gate Trail: This is a pretty well known trail for accessing slightly higher elevation forest. It's a bit damp but wasn't too bad when I was there. I only had around three hours here but you could productively spend a day or two along this trail.

Hehuan: This is the high altitude area at the top of Taroko Gorge. I stopped at the Wuling Pass car park and also at Hehuan Lodge a bit lower down on the other side. There aren't a lot of birds in these areas but the ones there are tend to be quite decent.

 

[Barrie Armitt]

Great read so far, Andrew ;-)

Baz

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Thanks for the comments. I'll start on the systematic list for Japan.

Tundra Bean-Goose
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16 6

Greater White-fronted Goose
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 1

Brant
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 30

Mute Swan
Teganuma 25/12/16

Whooper Swan
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 8
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 8

Common Shelduck
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 8

Mandarin Duck
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16 200
Narita, Chiba 06/01/17 2

Eurasian Wigeon
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Teganuma 25/12/16 4
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Mallard
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 5
Teganuma 25/12/16
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Eastern Spot-billed Duck
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
Teganuma 25/12/16 100
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Northern Shoveler
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 2

Some pictures:
1. Whooper Swans, Rausu
2. Mandarin, Kogawa Dam (bit of an 'artist's impression')
3. Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Teganuma

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Northern Pintail
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 7
Lake Furen, Hokkaido 23/12/16 20
Teganuma 25/12/16
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Baikal Teal
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 1
These were both females, but I was pleased to find them in amongst large numbers of other ducks. They're quite distinctive, as the fantastic shot below demonstrates.

Eurasian Teal
Teganuma 25/12/16
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 4
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Common Pochard
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 4
Teganuma 25/12/16 4
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16 40

Tufted Duck
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 25
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 2
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 6
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16 10
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Greater Scaup
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 5
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 20
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 22
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 40
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 20
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 2

Harlequin Duck
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 10
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 40
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 13
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 50
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 40
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16

White-winged Scoter (Stejneger's Scoter)
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 2
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 2

Black Scoter
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 50
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16

Long-tailed Duck
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 20
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 30
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16 2

Common Goldeneye
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 5
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 35
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 20
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 1

Smew
Teganuma 25/12/16 5

Common Merganser
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 2
Lake Furen, Hokkaido 23/12/16 5

Red-breasted Merganser
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 4
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 120
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16

A few more pictures:
1. Pintail, Teganuma
2. Teal, Teganuma
3. Baikal Teal, Lake Mi-ike. The right hand bird. Yes it's a record shot. What are you gonna do about it?
4&5. Black Scoter, Akkeshi. Students of ID might like to note the small patches of yellow on the bill of the female.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Eastern Hokkaido is a good place to go if you ever want to see loads of Harlequins really well. And let's face it, who doesn't?

 

[birdboybowley]

Great stuff Andy, bringing back some great memories of a great country......nice score on the Baikals - sorely missing on our trip there!

 

[markgrubb]

Ah, I had hoped the lack of trip reports from you had meant that you had stopped being airlines Andrew and had settled down to the grind of daily patch listing on the Ness . But seriously sounds like a good trip and adventurous with your lack of driving, though I miss your old style trip reports with their peculiar sense of humour.Lamentably your photographic skills have improved a tad.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Ah, I had hoped the lack of trip reports from you had meant that you had stopped being airlines Andrew and had settled down to the grind of daily patch listing on the Ness . But seriously sounds like a good trip and adventurous with your lack of driving, though I miss your old style trip reports with their peculiar sense of humour.Lamentably your photographic skills have improved a tad.

That's very gracious of you Dr G - glad to hear you're enjoying it. I suspect my driving skills have improved at least as much as my photographic skills, as I was driving throughout this trip. With the aid of a satnav my navigation skills are now excellent too.

The grind of the patch still has its hold over me for the time being, I'm pleased to say.

 

[foresttwitcher]

Some good information there.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Red-throated Diver
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10

Black-throated Diver
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 20
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 3
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 50

Pacific Diver
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 5
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 5
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 5
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 20
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 1
These were common but sometimes hard to distinguish from Black-throated, which is really common. The smaller size and more slender bill were sometimes good features. Eastern Hokkaido is definitely somewhere to go if you want to brush up on your ID of this species.

Little Grebe
Teganuma 25/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Slavonian Grebe
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1

Red-necked Grebe
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 2
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 5
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 2

Great Crested Grebe
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Teganuma 25/12/16 45
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1

Black-necked Grebe
Teganuma 25/12/16 5
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1

Sooty Shearwater
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 4

Red-faced Cormorant
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 2
Two seen fairly well on a rock outcrop at Cape Nosappu. Kind of look a lot like Pelagics to be fair, but pale yellowish bills and a bit chunkier.

Pelagic Cormorant
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 5
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 10
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 100
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 20
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16

Great Cormorant
Narita, Chiba 20/12/16 1
Teganuma 25/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Narita, Chiba 06/01/17 1

Japanese Cormorant
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 2
Maybe a candidate for most underwhelming new bird of the trip. In some ways they look more like British Great Cormorants than the Great Cormorants in Japan.

Gray Heron
Narita, Chiba 20/12/16 2
Teganuma 25/12/16 6
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Great Egret
Teganuma 25/12/16 4
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 2

Little Egret
Teganuma 25/12/16 25
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

Black-crowned Night-Heron
Teganuma 25/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 1

Eurasian Spoonbill
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 14

Black-faced Spoonbill
Daijugarami, Saga 26/12/16 8
Fairly distant views of this rare species out on the edge of the mudflats. This is a regular site for them. This also meant I've now seen all the world's Spoonbills!

Pictures:
1. Red-necked Grebe in Kushiro.
2. Red-faced Cormorant (top left), together with Pelagic Cormorants and two Japanese Comorants (top right).

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Osprey
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 10

Hen Harrier
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 2

Eurasian Sparrowhawk
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 1
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 3

Black Kite lineatus
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Tsurui, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 30
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 5
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 3
Lake Furen, Hokkaido 24/12/16
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 20
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16 50
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16 1
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 4
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16

White-tailed Eagle
Kushiro, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 4
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 3
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 8
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 10
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 10
Lake Furen, Hokkaido 24/12/16 5
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16 10
Now on my 'seen while having breakfast list, at Lodge Furen. These are really quite common in eastern Hokkaido.

Steller's Sea-Eagle
Kunbetsu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 4
Kunbetsu to Rausu, Hokkaido 21/12/16 2
Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Rausu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 3
Shibetsu, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 10
Nemuro Peninsula, Hokkaido 23/12/16 4
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 5
Lake Furen, Hokkaido 24/12/16 3
Furen to Tsurui, Hokkaido 24/12/16 5

Rough-legged Buzzard
Notsuke, Hokkaido 22/12/16 1
A striking pale-headed bird - presumably one of the eastern Siberian subspecies.

Eastern Buzzard
Tsurui, Hokkaido 21/12/16 1
Kiritappu, Hokkaido 24/12/16 3
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 2
Narita, Chiba 06/01/17 2

Eurasian Moorhen
Teganuma 25/12/16 2

Eurasian Coot
Narita, Chiba 20/12/16 3
Teganuma 25/12/16
Lake Mi-ike 27/12/16
Satsuma, Kagoshima 27/12/16 2
Kogawa Dam, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16
Narita, Chiba 06/01/17 2

Captures:
1&2. Black-eared Kite at Kiritappu
3. White-tailed Eagle at Kiritappu. Despite being common I didn't do a great job at getting pictures of these, so this is the best I got.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Steller's Sea Eagle

These are good. Look at the laughing gear on that. They're also rather common in eastern Hokkaido, to the point where you start driving by them and going 'Ooh, look another Steller's' rather casually.

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Sandhill Crane
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 1

White-naped Crane
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 500

Hooded Crane
Arasaki, Kagoshima 28/12/16 5000

I went to the famous Arasaki reserve in Kyushu and saw lots of cranes. The above estimates are very much on the conservative side and there might easily have been two or three times that number. In addition to one Sandhill Crane I also saw a hybrid crane that may have involved Sandhill as well as Hooded (picture below).

1-3 Hooded Cranes
4 Hybrid Crane (possibly Hooded x Sandhill, though perhaps a chance it's Hooded x Common)

Here's some video of Hooded Cranes:
https://youtu.be/mUnXWblldnY

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

White-naped Cranes are the more regal ones. Quite impressive beasts.