Tangozeki Koen

The Miyako is the only river running through Chiba-city but sadly the riverbank in the city centre is all concrete and the water looks absolutely revolting! So I didn't think there'd be any life in and around the Miyako but I found this park a bit upstream from the city centre on the web, then, I thought it might be worth a try and I'm glad I did!

No concrete embankment, which is rare in Japan!

A Tree Sparrow (Suzumeスズメ) on the board walk.

An adult and a young Tree Sparrow on a wire:)
The young one still has a yellow bit on his beak.

A Great Tit (Shiju-karaシジュウカラ) fledgling was busy demanding food!

A parent was even busier looking for food for the young.

Another hard-working Great Tit mum or dad...

Brown-eared Bulbuls (Hiyodoriヒヨドリ) are everywhere and they are so vocal that you won't miss them...

They are about a blackbird size and have surprisingly good balance:)

A little snack. Tough time for a beetle...

A Japanese Bush Warbler (Uguisuウグイス) was singing away in the bush but didn't show himself as usual... little bugger! Lots of Swallows (Tsubameツバメ), Grey Starlings (Mukudoriムクドリ) and Tree Sparrows were around, 3 or 4 singing Oriental Greenfinches (Kawarahiwaカワラヒワ） were heard high up in the trees. 

About the park:


About 400 years ago, at the very beginning of the Edo period, a rich, local farmer decided to build a small reservoir for the local rice fields, which always suffered from drought at that time, and it was completed in 1613. There's no trace of the reservoir now but the park was built long after all the rice fields had gone and named Tangozeki Koen after the rich farmer, Fuse Tangonokami. There is a short circular board walk in the boggy area where you can find rare marsh plants and flowers.
http://locoplace.jp/t000166982/

 

Inage Yacht Harbour

We were told that Eastern House Martins (Iwatsubameイワツバメ) nest in the Inage Yacht Harbour every year, so off we went!

Found one! It looked like he/she was sitting on eggs but actually

 1, 2, 3...

Off it went

then, came back with a little beak-full of mud:)

His/Her nest was still under construction:)

Possibly a pair...

We saw lots of demolished nests and were worried that people might have done that. Then, we had a chance to have a chat with a man who's been watching birds around that area for more than 10 years and he said that the mud around there was quite sandy and that after the martins have left in the late summer, most of their nests start to break up every year. We felt relieved to hear that!

This shabby looking nest...

had actually been taken over by a Tree Sparrow (Suzumeスズメ) family.  The parents kept busy flying back and forth to keep their youngs' tummies full:)

A pair of Barn Swallows (Tsubameツバメ) perched a few yards away from the House Martin nest and a House Martin didn't seem to like that...

The one on the right with a white head and white rump is a House Martin and the two on the left are Barn Swallows.

On the beach in the park

The only waders we saw on the beach were seven Turnstones (Kyo-joshigiキョウジョシギ). There were so many sailors and surfers just off shore so no wonder it was empty (bird-wise)...

Great Tits (Shiju-karaシジュウカラ) in Aoba no Mori Koen

Who could stay in and read a book on such a beautiful day!!!
I knew I had to do some work but decided to go out for a short walk in the park:)

As I was walking into the park, I thought I heard some begging calls from chicks coming from somewhere high above, and...

...there they were!

Oh my goodness! Four balls of fluffs were staying very close to each other:)

When the parents flew off to get some more food, they went completely quiet.

They might have fledged not so long ago as they didn't fly around and were pretending they were not there:)

Fledglings of Eastern Great Tit
The fledglings too look a lot paler than their close cousins in the UK.


While I was enjoying listening to bird songs under the trees, this Great Tit suddenly showed himself, perched on a very low branch and started singing.  I was kind of spellbound watching him thinking how birds can sing while they're holding something in their beaks.

Then, he flew even lower and disappeared, at least so I thought. 

A moment later...

Ta-dah!!!

I actually heard his chicks begging for food from the hole but decided to leave immediately as I didn't want to disturb them. The hole was facing some benches though...

Not far from the nest hole, I saw a Long-tailed Tit family with at least 8 members, including a couple of fledglings among them. What a lovely day:)

Sanbanse

We went on a birding walk organised by the WBSJ in Funabashi Sanbanse Kaihin Koen (usually just known as "Sanbanse") hoping to see some Little Terns (Koajisashiコアジサシ). Luck was with us this time! 

They fly really really swiftly - Terns used to be called Sea Swallows. 

It was high tide and there was no room for anything but people enjoying their day on the beach so most birds were resting on a pier far away from disturbance. (We wished we could have been with them...) Common Terns (Ajisashiアジサシ) were seen among the Little Terns.

Very agile in mid-air. Graceful!

Little lunch:)

Other birds, or at least signs that some birds were there on the beach earlier.

Footprints of some kind of wader on the beach

A female Greater Scaup (Suzugamoスズガモ) was floating on her own.

A flock of Turnstones (Kyoujoshigiキョウジョシギ) flew towards the pier and landed among the Terns.

A Great Egret (Daisagiダイサギ) was easy to spot:)

The dot-like line is flying Cormorants (Kawauカワウ).
They had been hunting out in the sea in groups and were heading back to a colony in Gyoutoku, to the west of Sanbanse, so we were told. We saw lines of cormorants very often that day.  

A view towards Tokyo.
We were told that the pier was rebuilt lately after being destroyed by the tsunami two years ago and that all the beach area in Sanbanse was washed away. The power of the tsunami must have been incredible as the beach is at the farthest end of the bay from the open Pacific.

Through a scope, we were able to spot 4 Oystercatchers (Miyakodoriミヤコドリ) resting on rocks and an Osprey (Misagoミサゴ) eating a fish on a pole far out the sea.  Senior members of the WBSJ said they had never had such a day where they saw so few birds in Sanbanse. It was one of those days then. We'll go back maybe in the autumn when passage migrants are coming back from their breeding sites and the people around Tokyo feel fed up with the sun...

About Funabashi Sanbanse Kaihin Koen (in Japanese)
http://www.park-funabashi.or.jp/bay/index.htm

Kasai Rinkai Koen 2

Quite a few Cormorants (Kawauカワウ), Tufted Ducks (Kinkurohajiroキンクロハジロ), Spot-billed Ducks (Karugamoカルガモ), a couple of Coots (Oobanオオバン), Moorhens (Banバン), Little Grebes (Kaitsuburiカイツブリ), Teals (Kogamoコガモ), Pochards (Hoshihajiroホシハジロ) and Shovellers (Hashibirokamoハシビロカモ) were seen on the fresh water lake.

Cormorants were drying their feathers on poles.

When we were having lunch, a pair of Spot-billed Ducks started a courtship dance:)

Then they started to mate. We didn't know they mate in the water.

I was a bit worried that the male had drowned the female! But she was fine:)

Little Grebes' trilling calls were heard here and there from the thick reeds. Are they going to breed on the lake here?

A pair of Teals were foraging and disappeared into the reeds.

Lots of Dunlins (Hamashigiハマシギ) were resting on the salt water lake.

Some of them were quite actively foraging and bathing:)

A Little Ringed Plover (Kochidoriコチドリ) was on the opposite shore from the hide, but...

flew towards us:) There are 4-5 main plover species are seen around here at this time of year. Very nice to see a variety of them every time we go out birding:) Very hard to identify each of them, though;)

Are you posing?  One of the Whimbrels (Chuushakushigiチュウシャクシギ) spotted around Tokyo Bay last month was confirmed as one ringed in Brisbane in January. Amazing!!

We counted 28 species in the park and yet no luck for the flycatchers...