It was a raw wintry day with snow and sleet showers in Hokkaido this afternoon. I was checking out a rugby pitch near the beach and saw 4 Buff Bellied Pipit which made me do a quick scan of the field. There were several Dusky Thrush in the far corner so I thought I'd walk down and check for other Thrush species when I noticed a pink one. A Hoopoe!
There has been a strong westerly wind the last few days bringing sleet and snow to Hakodate. The same winds obviously brought the Hoopoe too. I could approach it to about 10 feet but not quite close enough to take a decent pic with my cellphone. Strange to see a bird you'd associate with sunny olive groves in the Med on a rugby pitch in wintry northern Japan...it was doubtless on its way to north China but got blown over the Japan Sea.
A pretty uncommon migrant in Japan (about the same as in the UK I'd guess) and a great local patch bird too.........
Great birds i would love to see one in the uk but only seen them in france also i have possibly seen a dusky thrush here (about as rare as they come) so any pics would be apreciated
Timmy,
You'd be flippin lucky to see a Dusky Thrush over here - where was it?
blgp_birder