Return to trip reports.A business meeting in Tokyo pulled me away from Fall migration in Southern California, so to compensate I took time off for my first glimpses of bird movement along the other side of our ocean (and my first looks at some of the local residents). Principal birding destinations were Hegura Island (Oct 3-5), Cape Irago and the nearby Shiokawa mudflats (Sept 28), and, around Tokyo, the Tama river and estuary and Yatsu mudflat (Oct.7). I also walked around two low mountain forest regions, near Lake Ashi in the Hakone district (Sept.29) and Karuizawa (Oct.6), and dropped in on two inner Tokyo parks (Ueno and Meiji Shrine). I was guided by Mark Brazil's "A Birdwatcher's Guide to Japan" (excellent) and, for IDs, the Wild Bird Society of Japan's "Field Guide to the Birds of Japan". Overall, I had a good time, saw a good cross-section of the Japanese countryside and Japanese birds, missed several species I should have seen, and was clearly too late in the year for the major shorebird migration. These notes and list probably won't be much use to the hard-core birder planning a comprehensive search for Japanese endemics and migrants, but might be useful to those (like me) with a few days to spare after business in the concrete nightmare of Tokyo.
Hegura (H in the list below) is a very attractive contrast to Tokyo's noise and chaos---a 1 square km low volcanic island 50 km offshore in the Sea of Japan, with stunted pine trees, a lighthouse, a fishing village on its SE side with an inexpensive guesthouse (Minshuku Tsukasa--$45/day including all meals), and no cars, but plenty of trails and cement bike-paths. It's reached from the port of Wajima [W] (itself 8 hours by train from Tokyo) by a daily (2 hour $14 OW) ferry ride through seas thick with Streaked Shearwater and past rocky islets with Japanese Cormorant and (so I'm told, in the spring) a colony of Japanese Murrelet. Spring migration is supposedly the best time to see the most species (with May the best month, like almost everywhere else in the northern hemisphere!), with fall having fewer regulars but more chance of vagrants. I saw no great rarities, but was very glad I went to this idyllic spot, where I did see almost half the birds on my trip list.
Cape Irago [I] is the tip of a hilly peninsula on the Pacific coast of Honshu, about 300 km SW of Tokyo (2 hours by bullet train to Toyohashi, then 1 hour bus). It is a well-known hawk-watch site, and when I arrived on a Saturday morning the parking lot was full of watchers with high-powered optics; I soon found out why they were high-powered--the migrating raptors (though not the local Black Kites) were incredibly high up, in some cases invisible to the naked eye. My weary jet-lagged eyes (I came direct from Narita airport) and my 12X bins identified the underwings of the two commonest migrants (Oriental Honey Buzzard, Grey-faced buzzard), then I split for closer views of other birds on Shiokawa marshes.
Shiokawa [S] includes mudflats enclosed by the Cape Irago peninsula, and reached by the same bus, with extensive freshwater marshes and wet agricultural fields, and a web site. I stopped by first thing in the morning, getting there by the 0605 train from Toyohashi to Yagumadai, then again in the p.m. after visiting Cape Irago. Both times, at different states of the tide, the tidal mudflats were almost empty, except for dozens of Grey Herons; obviously I was at least 6 weeks late for the peak of wader migration, but even so the emptiness was surprising--both here and in subsequent visits to the Tama Estuary [E] and Yatsu mudflats [Y].
My walks around Lake Ashi [A], on the way back to Tokyo from Shiokawa, and around Karuizawa [K], on the way back from Hegura, were to enjoy some glorious scenery and fall colors, and see some of the resident birds. Most of the summer visitors that make them great birding sites had left, but I still found the walks worthwhile.
H = Hegura Island, W = Wajima, I = Cape Irago, S = Shiokawa, Y = Yatsu, E = Tama estuary (south of Haneda airport), T = Tama River (near Minamitama, W. Tokyo suburbs), A = near Lake Ashi, K = Karuizawa, M = Meiji Shrine (Tokyo), U = Ueno Park (Tokyo). Species names are from Sibley/Monroe.
WHERE SEEN 1.Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis) ......S.Y...T.....M.U 2.Streaked Shearwater (Calonectris leucomelas) H-W.I. 3.Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) ....I.S.Y.E.T.......U 4.Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus) H.W 5.Black-crowned Night-heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) ......S.............U 6.Little Egret (Ardea garzetta) ..W...S.Y.E.T. 7.Great Egret (Ardea alba) ......S.Y.E.......M 8.Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) H.W...S.Y.E.T.......U 9.Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata) H...................U 10.Gadwall (Anas strepera) ........Y 11.Eurasian Widgeon (Anas penelope) ........Y...........U 12.Common Teal (Anas crecca) H.......Y...........U 13.Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) H.......Y...........U 14.Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) H.....S.Y.E.T.A...M.U 15.Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) ........Y...........U 16.Garganey (Anas querquedula) ........Y 17.Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) ........Y...........U 18.Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) ....................U 19.Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) ........Y...........U 20.Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhyncus) ....I 21.Black Kite (Milvus migrans) H.W.I.S. 22.Grey-faced Buzzard (Butastur indicus) ....I 23.European Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) ......S 24.Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) ..W...S 25.Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) ........Y 26.Eurasian Hobby (Falco subbuteo) H...I 27.Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) H 28.Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) H 29.Chinese Bamboo-partridge (Bambusicola thoracica) ..............A 30.Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca) ......S 31.Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) ......S.............U 32.Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) ........Y 33.Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) ......S 34.Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus) ............T 35.Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) ..........E 36.Mongolian Plover (Charadrius mongolus) ..........E 37.Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) ........Y.E 38.Grey-headed Lapwing (Vanellus cinereus) ......S 39.Great Knot (Calidris tenvirostris) ........Y 40.Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) ..........E 41.Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) H.....S 42.Latham's Snipe (Gallinago hardwicki) H (poss. Swinhoe's) 43.Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) ........Y 44.Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) ......S.Y 45.Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) ......S 46.Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) ......S 47.Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus) ........Y.E 48.Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) H.....S.Y.E.T 49.Grey-tailed Tattler (Tringa brevipes) H.....S 50.Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) ..W.....Y.E 51.Black-tailed Gull (Larus crassirostris) H.W.....Y.E 52.Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) H.W 53.Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus) H.W 54.Rufous Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) H.W.I.S...E.T. 55.Eurasian Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) H 56.Oriental Cuckoo (Cuculus saturatus) H 57.Lesser Cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus) H 58.Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) ......S...........M 59.Crested Kingfisher (Megaceryle lugubris) ................K 60.Japanese Woodpecker (Picus awokera) ................K 61.Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major) H...............K.M 62.Pygmy Woodpecker (Picoides kizuki) ..............A.K 63.Japanese Skylark (Alauda japonica) H.....S. 64.Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) H.....S. 65.Red-rumped Swallow (Hirundo daurica) ..W 66.Asian House Martin (Delichon dasypus) ......S 67.Richard's Pipit (Anthus richardi) H 68.Olive-backed Pipit (Anthus hodgsoni) H 69.Red-throated Pipit (Anthus cervinus) H 70.Water Pipit (Anthus spinoletta) H 71.Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) H...I.......T...K 72.White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) * ....I.S.Y.E...A.K 73.Black-backed Wagtail (Motacilla lugens) H 74.Japanese Wagtail (Motacilla grandis) ............T.A 75.Brown-eared Bulbul (Ixos amaurotis) ....I.S.Y.E.T.A.K.M.U 76.Brown Dipper (Cinclus pallasii) ..............A 77.Northern Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) ................K 78.Stonechat (Saxicola torquata) H...I 79.Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush (Monticola rufiventris) ** H.W 80.Japanese Thrush (Turdus cardis) ..............A 81.Brown-headed Thrush (Turdus chrysulaus) ....I 82.Pale Thrush (Turdus pallidus) H 83.Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus) H 84.Dusky Thrush (Turdus naumanni) H 85.Japanese Bush Warbler (Cettia diphone) H.............A 86.Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis) ......S 87.Gray's Grasshopper Warbler(Locustella fasciolata) H (almost-certain ID) 88.Black-browed Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus bistrigiceps) H (almost-certain ID) 89.Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) ......S 90.Pale-legged Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus tenellipes) H 91.Arctic Warbler (Phylloscopus borealis) H 92.Inornate Warbler (Phylloscopus inornatus) H 93.Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) H.............A.K 94.Narcissus Flycatcher (Ficedula narcissina) ................K 95.Blue-and-white Flycatcher (Kyanoptila cyanomelana) H 96.Dark-sided Flycatcher (Muscicapa sibirica) ................K 97.Grey-streaked Flycatcher (Muscicapa griseisticta) H...I...........K 98.Asian Brown Flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica) H.............A 99.Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) ..............A.K 100.Willow Tit (Parus montanus) ..............A.K 101.Varied Tit (Parus varius) ..............A.K 102.Coal Tit (Parus ater) H.............A.K 103.Great Tit (Parus major) ..............A.K.M.U 104.Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) ................K 105.Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) ..............A.K.M 106.Chestnut-flanked White-eye(Zosterops erthyropleurus) H 107.Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus) H.....S.Y.....A.K 108.Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) ..............A.K 109.Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyana) ..............A 110.Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) H.W.I.S.Y.E.T.A.K.M.U 111.Jungle Crow (Corvus levaillanti) H.W.I...Y.E.T.....M 112.Chestnut-cheeked starling (Sturnus philippensis) ......S 113.White-cheeked Starling (Sturnus cineraceus) ......S 114.Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) ..W.I.S.Y.E.T.A.K.M.U 115.Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) H 116.Grey-capped Greenfinch (Carduelis sinica) H 117.Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus) H 118.Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes)H 119.Grey Bunting (Emberiza variabilis) H 120.Black-faced Bunting (Emberiza spodocephala) H 121.Pine Bunting (Emberiza leucocephalos) H 122.Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides) H.....S.....T...K 123.Chestnut-eared Bunting (Emberiza fucata) ................K 124.Yellow-throated Bunting (Emberiza elegans) H 125.Rustic Bunting (Emberiza rustica) H 126.Little Bunting (Emberiza pusilla) H
P.S. * [Note added by P.L. in private e-mail; UG] Some Black-backed wagtails were probably misidentified as White Wagtails.
** Can anyone out there tell me whether the common, rufous-bellied rock-thrush in Japan really is the Chestnut-bellied M.rufiventris of Sibley/Monroe, or the Blue Rock-Thrush (M.solitarius) -- the same species as the common blue rock-thrush in Europe -- of my Japanese field guide?
Peter Lonsdale, Scripps Inst. of Oceanography,
San Diego, California.....pfl@mpl.ucsd.edu