I went to several well known birding locations in east Hokkaido in the far north of Japan earlier in the week. Here's a brief trip report.
MAY 21
Drove 14 hours from Hakodate to Furen-ko in east Hokkaido. Highlights of journey were Eastern Marsh Harrier, Long tailed Rosefinch and Japanese Crane. Arrived at Furen-ko in late afternoon. Furen-ko is one of the top birding places in the region. It looks absolutely superb for birding. It's basically a shallow lagoon seperated from the Pacific by a forested spit. A bit late to do any serious birding but manged to see more Japanese Crane (see pic below) and common woodland species such as Eastern Crowned Warbler and Narcissus Flycatcher as well as large numbers of the commoner wildfowl of this part of the world (Eurasian Wigeon being the most numerous).
MAY 22
Got up at dawn to check Furen-ko. Lots of singing Red Flanked Bluetail, a pair of White Backed Woodpecker at the nest, many displaying Latham's Snipe, several Whites Thrush, more Cranes, a couple of White Tailed Eagles, lots of Ducks in the lagoon and on the sea, abundant Siberian Stonechat, Oriental Cuckoo, Glaucous and Glaucous Winged Gulls and a Great White Egret were the highlights of the morning. In the afternoon we checked out some nearby capes (including the most easterly point on the main islands of Japan). Spectacled Guilemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Harlequin Duck and Red Necked Grebe were all on the sea plus yet more Cranes and Eagles on the peninsula itself.
MAY 23
Drove up the coast to Notsuke-hanto. This is another famous birding location and another coastal spit. Lots of waders here including Terek Sandpiper, Red Necked Stint, Mongolian Plover, Grey Tailed Tattler, Dunlin and (pretty much) Japan's only breeding Common Redshanks. All the waders were in summer plumage but it was raining so heavily photos were out of the question. On the sea were huge rafts of Scoter (both White-winged and Black). Oh and there were more Eagles (see pic below) and Cranes. In the evening we stayed at Nakashibetsu at a hotel well known for its visiting Blakiston's Fish Owl. They come to (the well stocked) fish pond most nights to pilfer fish. We saw them out of the bedroom window under 10 metres away whilst drinking beer. One of the rarest birds in the world I guess.
MAY 24
A leisurely drive through pleasant mountain scenery to Minamifurano in central Hokkaido. Not much birding today.
MAY 25
Drove back home via Utonai-ko (another well-known birding spot). This is a lake in southern Hokkaido. In the scrub surrounding the lake we found a singing Siberian Rubythroat and lots of Eastern Crowned Warblers. On the lake were some (suspiciously?) late Whooper Swan, Bewicks Swan and 2 Bean Goose ( see pic below).
For a more detailed report with pics please go to my blog
http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/stellaCeagle/
Hokkaido in spring (and in fact at any other time) must an absolute dream location, Stu and there are so many enticing species in there (esp. Siberian Rubythroat, Red-flanked Bluetails and Pacific auks), plus a few nice common Icelandic ones such as Whooper Swan, Glaucous Gull and Harlequin Duck. One day, one day.....
E