Hachijo-jima 3

It felt very strange that we didn't see any kites or gulls even though there are fishing ports in each village. The bird we encountered most was the Blue Rock Thrush (Isohiyodoriイソヒヨドリ).
The males are blue and red and the females are grey-coloured all over.

I had no luck with taking a picture of even one male.

On the (ugly) tetrapod breakwater, some cormorants were resting.

The smaller one on the right is a Pelagic Cormorant (Himeuヒメウ) and the other two are Temminck's Cormorants (Umiuウミウ). 

a Temmminck's

Pelagic Cormorants

One Pelagic Cormorant was at the far end of the port and he looked very brown in the sun. I wish it wasn't so blurred!

A flying cormorant just before the sunset. We don't know which cormorant it was.

The island's shore is all dark-coloured and covered with volcanic rock.

A waterfall near Nakanogo Port is called Urami-ga-Taki.

Urami in Japanese sounds like a grudge (恨み) but actually it's written in this way '裏見ヶ滝,' meaning you can see the back of the water falling:)

See?

We were expecting to see a Wren but no luck.


There is an eco-tourism company on the island and we asked them for a guided walk for one morning. We were taken to various places on the island by an experienced guide, Iwasaki-san, and managed to see a Wren (only by K for half a second) and an Owston's Varied Tit (only by A for half a second!), both of which are sub-species of the ones on the mainland of Japan.

Also, Iwasaki-san advised us to stay at the bottom of the valley if we wanted to see Japanese Wood Pigeons (Karasubatoカラスバト). We did for nearly 2 hours on the last day of our stay and we finally saw one pigeon fly over! Well, it was like a flash but without her advice, we wouldn't have had the joy:)

Project WAVE (eco-tour organiser)
http://www3.ocn.ne.jp/~p-wave/english.html
Iwasaki-san: she was chosen as one of the best 100 eco-tourism guides in Japan!
http://old.ecotourism.gr.jp/guide100/13_010.html


We had a great time on the island even though it was a bit hard to spot birds as broad-leaved evergreen covers most of Hachijo-jima and the birds don't sing at this time of year. 


The birds we saw/heard: Teals (Kogamoコガモ), Little Grebe (Kaitsuburiカイツブリ), Oriental Turtle Doves (Kijibatoキジバト), Japanese Wood Pigeons (Karasubatoカラスバト), Pelagic Cormorants (Himeuヒメウ), Temminck's Cormorants (Umiuウミウ), Ospreys (Misagoミサゴ), Goshawks (Ootakaオオタカ), Buzzards (Nosuriノスリ), Kestrels (Chobemboチョウゲンボウ), Bull-headed Shrikes (Mozuモズ), Thick-billed Crows (Hashibutogarasuハシブトガラス), Eastern Great Tits (Shijukaraシジュウカラ), Owston's Varied Tits (Osuton-yamagaraオーストンヤマガラ), Brown-eared Bulbuls (Hiyodoriヒヨドリ), Japanese Bush Warblers (Uguisuウグイス), Japanese White-eyes (Shichitoh-mejiroシチトウメジロ), Wren (Mosuke-misosazaiモスケミソサザイ), Izu Thrushes (Akakokkoアカコッコ), Dusky Thrushes (Tsugumiツグミ), Scaly Thrush (Toratsugumiトラツグミ), Daurian Redstarts (Jobitakiジョウビタキ), Blue Rock Thrushes (Isohiyodoriイソヒヨドリ), Tree Sparrows (Suzumeスズメ), Grey Wagtails (Kisekireiキセキレイ), White Wagtails (Hakusekireiハクセキレイ), Olive-backed Pipits (Binzuiビンズイ), Water Pipits (Tahibariタヒバリ), Oriental Greenfinches (Kawarahiwaカワラヒワ), Black-faced Buntings (Aojiアオジ). & Pale Thrush or Brown-headed Thrush

a view of Boso from the aeroplane

Hachijo-jima 2

There is a dairy farm on the side of Hachijo-fuji and they keep a very small number of cows on the open grazing ground, which is very rare in Japan.

The Thick-billed Crows (Hashibutogarasuハシブトガラス) are the only corvid found on the island.

More than 30 Water Pipits (Tahibariタヒバリ) were taking advantage of the cows' feed.

A Kestrel (Chogemboチョウゲンボウ) startled all the pipits and perched quietly on a tree.

Fureai Bokujo Farm (in Japanese)
http://www.town.hachijo.tokyo.jp/kakuka/sankan/fureai.htm

On the winding road, a Grey Wagtail (Kisekireiキセキレイ) was taking a quiet stroll:)

Another one in a stream.

Back in the Botanical Gardens, Olive-backed Pipits (Binzuiビンズイ) were foraging on the paths.

Olive-backed and Water Pipits look almost the same but the Olive-backed have a tiny white-ish patch just under the supercilium, which is almost impossible to spot when they are moving about!

Hachijo-jima 1

Happy Christmas!!!


Well, it's not Chrismassy here in Chiba - no Christmas dinner! (People love fried chicken from KFC on Christmas Day...) so we were away to a small volcanic island, Hachijo-jima, about 180 miles south of Tokyo in the Pacific.

Basically, the island consists of two volcanos, Hachijo-fuji in the northwest & Miyara-yama in the southeast, and small towns and an airport in between. 

Hachijo-fuji and Hachijo-kojima (a tiny uninhabited island)

Mihara-yama and the runway at the airport

Bird-wise, there are several endemic species not only on Hachijo-jima but in the whole Izu Islands area.

In the Botanical Gardens by the airport, this gorgeous Izu Thrush (Akakokkoアカコッコ) posed for us.

He was eating Japanese Beautyberries (Murasakishikibuムラサキシキブ) and the heavy rain was on and off so he didn't really notice us watching him. Gorgeous!

The Japanese White-eye (Mejiroメジロ) on the island are sub-species of the ones we see in Chiba but we were not so sure of the differences...

The Brown-eared Bulbul (Hiyodoriヒヨドリ) on the island are darker than the ones on the mainland, we were told. We were not sure about that either, though.

The White-eye and the Bulbul were absolutely everywhere on the island, maybe because blossoms and berries are still abundant even at this time of year.

He was very acrobatic and got some kind of berry! 

the Hachijo-jima Visitor Centre in the Botanical Gardens

Spooky!
Fluorescent mushrooms are displayed in a dark room in the centre, which grow wild on the island in autumn.












Hachijo-jima Visitor Centre (in Japanese)
http://www.hachijo-vc.com/

Tokyo Travel Guide on Hachijo
http://www.gotokyo.org/en/tourists/topics_event/topics/110912/topics.html

Ducks

At the rivermouth of the Miyako, where it is very industrialised and all concrete, there were 40 or so Pochards (Hoshihajiroホシハジロ) floating in the gleaming sun.

I wonder why there are so many males but very few females?

Even the few females were harrassed by the males... poor things.

A female was quietly hunting just under the bridge where I was watching them.

It is amazing how long they can be under water!

It was not a great place to watch birds as you have to face south (into the sun!) and also there is another bridge for trains just above the foot bridge, where I was standing. But still, I was glad to know the Pochards are here.


In Nihon-ike in the residential area of Matsugaoka, some Shovellers (Hashibirogamoハシビロガモ) have arrived for winter again.

This male still has a shabby head:) 

It was a weekend and people with kids fed them with bread, which reminded me of British parks:) 

Resident Spotbilled Ducks (Karugamoカルガモ) are a lot bulkier but the shovellers didn't hesitate to get their share!

It was a lovely sunny (but very cold) Sunday morning:)