Futtsu Point

The migration of birds is coming to a kind of climax at the moment, with some going away from Japan to their wintering grounds and others heading towards Japan to winter here. We joined a 'migrant bird observation morning' at the tip of Futtsu Point, which is a spit sticking out into Tokyo Bay from the Boso Peninsula.

It was a lovely autumnal morning.

Towards the mouth of the bay

While we were waiting for our target birds, the first thing we noticed was large rafts of seabirds here and there. Wonder what birds they could be?

They were thousands of Streaked Shearwaters (Oomizunagidoriオオミズナギドリ)!!

 This is one of their rafts/flocks quite close to the land.

Some of the birds in a raft started flying and then...

everyone else followed them - we occasionally had a chance to spot a school of small fish jumping above the water so presumably the birds followed the fish.

To have a close look, they went for the same spot at the same moment, like people in a train during the rush hour!

He came very close to the shore:) Their long wings and short body enable them to fly just above the water (shearing) using a subtle updraft. Cool!


The birds which flew past high above us between 8 to 10.30 a.m. were Grey-faced Buzzards（Sashibaサシバ), Oriental Honey-buzzards (Hachikumaハチクマ), a Kestrel (Chogenbouチョウゲンボウ), White and Yellow Wagtails (Hakusekireiハクセキレイ, Kisekireiキセキレイ) and Barn Swallows (Tsubameツバメ).
Unfortunately (only in terms of photo-taking), there's no photo of them as buzzards fly really high to catch a suitable wind to carry them, but never mind. It was a great experience to see them off!

An awesome Black-eared Kite (Tobi or Tombiトビ/トンビ) flew effortlessly. We thought he was awesome but actually there are so many of them around so no one pays an attention to them... unless the kites snatch children's lunch on the beach!

Black-eared Kites are a lot darker than the Red Kites we saw every day from our place in mid-Wales, but they are lovely birds all the same.

A Black-tailed Gull (Uminekoウミネコ) flew over us. Their calls sound like 'meow,' which is the origin of their Japanese name - sea(umi) cat(neko)!

Black-tailed Gulls are the only resident gull around Tokyo Bay.

A female Blue Rock Thrush (Isohiyodoriイソヒヨドリ) came to say hello to us:) lovely one!



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This hideous thing is at the very tip of the spit and we watched birds on it. In Japan, since the 50s, lots of beautiful riverbanks and coastlines have been destroyed and transformed into wildlife unfriendly concrete embankments, and this is still happening. Futtsu is no exception. It was a naturally formed sand spit but pine trees have been planted all the way to the tip and one side of the spit is all concrete. This changed its vegetation and even the sea current around it. I'm so ashamed of my country sometimes...

Lucky Grey Heron and Unlucky One

A Grey Heron (Aosagiアオサギ) seemed to have caught something...

What could it be?

Oh?

Goodness me! It was an American Bullfrog (Ushigaeruウシガエル)!

but the frog was too big to swallow... so the heron was struggling, positioning it this way and that.

Is he really able to swallow such a creature, I wonder.

The heron turned the frog...

then in it goes...

You can see the frog in the heron's neck.

It all went down, the heron had a few sips of water and it seemed as if nothing had happened at all.

Well?

Tokyo Port Wildbird Park

The day before we flew to Ishigaki, we paid a visit to the Tokyo Port Wildbird Park on the other side of Tokyo Bay from our place as the park is near the airport.

A lovely wetland with birds and an aeroplane!

A paradise for Herons and Egrets:)

Juvenile Black-winged Stilts (Seitakashigiセイタカシギ) were resting on dry mud.

Our first Teal (Kogamoコガモ) of the season was amongst Spot-billed Ducks （Karugamoカルガモ).

And our first Greater Scaup (Suzugamoスズガモ) of the season too was on the island:)

And! Our first Black-tailed Godwits (Oguroshigiオグロシギ) of the season were relaxing near the hide.

Thank you for showing us your lovely wing!

Are you looking at me?! (Little Grebe (Kaitsuburiカイツブリ))

In the park, many, many Cormorants (Kawauカワウ) were on the island, on the water...

and in the trees. It was nearly their roosting time and they started flying into the tree one by one.

except this one! lol

About the park (in Japanese)
http://www.wbsj.org/wbsj-blog/yachoukouen/

and the map of the park
http://www.wbsj.org/wbsj-blog/yachoukouen/files/kouentizu.jpg

Ishigaki Island 4

Almost everything we saw on the island was new to us and one of the trees we saw a lot was this one:

They are called Screw Pines (Adanアダン). The fruit looks yummy but actually it is not suitable for human consumption (too tough, too much fiber). The smell was nice and sweet so there was no wonder so many insects were attracted to the fruit.

Still it looks tasty doesn't it!

Pacific Reef Egrets (Kurosagiクロサギ) were seen on almost every beach/rock-pool. There are dark morph ones like this and

white morph ones like this.

In Japanese they are called Kurosagi, which means a black heron, so some people call the white morph ones Shiro-Kurosagi (White Black Heron)! Confusing!

Eastern Cattle Egrets (Amasagiアマサギ) still have their summer plumage and they were after...

a tractor!
That reminded us of Red Kites, Buzzards, Rooks, Jackdaws and Gulls in Wales:)

Whiskered Terns (Kurohara-ajisashiクロハラアジサシ) were fishing and resting in and over the rice fields.

From a ferry to a small island called Kuroshima, we were able to see terns flying over the ocean and resting on poles. Some are Black-naped Terns (Eriguroajisashiエリグロアジサシ), others could be Roseate Terns (Beniajisashiベニアジサシ) or Greater Crested Terns (Ooajisashiオオアジサシ).

There were very few gulls around the Yaeyama Islands at this time of year so what you could see over the sea were all terns.

At the Kuroshima Harbour. I personally hate those concrete blocks but at least the tern found it a good resting place...

Zitting Cisticolas (Sekkaセッカ) were zitting everywhere. They are tiny birds but their calls are loud enough to spot them:)

Oopsy daisy!

He perched very close to us and started preening. If only he had perched on the other side of the sun... well, never mind.


At the high tide, lots of waders gathered near the beach/on the rock.

Kentish Plovers (Shirochidoriシロチドリ) are resident birds on the island.

Turnstones (Kyojoshigiキョウジョシギ) were turning stones:)

Pacific Golden Plovers (Munaguroムナグロ) were seen on the coast and in the rice/cattle fields as well.

Greenshanks (Aoashishigiアオアシシギ) were one of the easiest waders to spot because of their size.

A dog-walker disturbed them and they all scattered...

A Grey-tailed Tattler (Kiashishigiキアシシギ) flew off too...

When we were with Mr Kobayashi, he showed us a Cinnamon Bittern (Ryukyu Yoshigoiリュウキュウヨシゴイ), Slaty-legged Crake (Ookuinaオオクイナ), Osprey (Misagoミサゴ), Brown Booby (Katsuodoriカツオドリ), Eurasian Scops Owl (Ryukyu Konohazukuリュウキュウコノハズク), Spotted Redshank (Tsurushigiツルシギ), Ruff (Erimakishigiエリマキシギ), Greater Sand Plover (Oomedaichidoriオオメダイチドリ), Marsh Sandpiper (Koaoashishigiコアオアシシギ), Wood Sandpiper (Takabushigiタカブシギ), Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Uzurashigiウズラシギ), Red-necked Stints (Tounenトウネン), Long-toed Stints (Hibarisigiヒバリシギ), Curlew Sandpipers (Saruhamashigiサルハマシギ), Scaly-breasted Munias (Shimakinparaシマキンパラ), White-breasted Waterhens (Shiroharakuinaシロハラクイナ) and quite a few Snipes (either Pin-tailed Snipe (Harioshigiハリオシギ), Swinhoe's Snipe (Chujishigiチュウジシギ) or Latham's Snipe (Oojishigiオオジシギ)).

The day-out and night-tour with Mr Kobayashi were both just incredible and we really recommend his tours to anyone who plans to go to the island for bird-watching and who would like to know/see the birds and wildlife there.

Here is Kobayashi-san's site again.
http://www.seabeans.net/

Thank you very much, Kobayashi-san!