Grey Wagtail

A BEAUTIFUL Grey wagtail (Kisekireiキセキレイ) was foraging quietly by a stream, which runs right under one of the busiest highways in the area:)

Birds in Urayasu

 It doesn't look so wildlife friendly (nor human-friendly) but wildlife somewhat find themselves quite at home on the water and around it.

Lots of Greater scaups (Suzugamoスズガモ)

Apparently, there was one LESSER scaup somewhere in the area but we didn't spend time on searching for it. Does seem like a mission impossible doesn't it?!

Common sandpiper (Isoshigiイソシギ)

Sanderling (Miyubishigiミユビシギ)

Water Pipit (Tahibariタヒバリ)

Vega gull (Segurokamomeセグロカモメ)

Coots (Oobanオオバン)

Slavonian (Horned) grebe (Mimikaitsuburiミミカイツブリ)

a young Peregrine (Hayabusaハヤブサ)

It was a long walk alongside the embankment but was pleasant in the sun and with lots of birds.

A Very Short Movie of White-winged Scoter

 

Sea Ducks

Towards the end of our New Year holiday, we decided to go and see some sea ducks in Urayasu-shi.

It was a calm morning - perfect for sea-watching!

Rafts of ducks, mainly Greater Scaups (Suzugamoスズガモ), covered the water as far as we could see.

 

Some ducks dived and foraged near the embankment. (luckily for us!)

Red-breasted Merganser (Umiaisaウミアイサ)

 Northern Pintail (Onagagamoオナガガモ)

White-winged scoter (Birodokinkuroビロードキンクロ)

Wigeons (Hidorigamoヒドリガモ)

Quite a few people with huge cameras were on the quay and some told us what they could see and thanks to them, we were able to see a Long-tailed Duck very (really!) far out on the sea and some Goldeneyes as well. 

We were observing them so close that we were able to see their red BIG webbed feet😆

Birds in the Southern Part of Boso II

a gorgeous morning of New Year's Eve 

 

a pretty good view of a Brown-headed Thrush (Akaharaアカハラ)

Japanese white-eye (Mejiroメジロ) - very common but hard to take a good photo of

Varied tit (Yamagaraヤマガラ) - wish it was in the light

Black-eared kite (Tobiトビ) again

 

 

not a bird - a lone Japanese Macaque on a field picking up some tiny stuff to eat

Birds in the Southern Part of Boso I

Black-eared Kites (Tobiトビ) are seen almost everywhere, inland or on the coast in Boso, Chiba.

Resting Temminck's Cormorants (Umiuウミウ) and Great Cormorants (Kawauカワウ)

It's almost impossible to tell them apart from a distance! 

A Glaucous-winged gull (Washikamomeワシカモメ) with 3 Black-tailed gulls (Uminekoウミネコ)

The Glaucous-winged gull was on our list of birds which we wanted to see on that day. Yay! 

These were the only gulls seen in the small fishing port then and it felt very strange with so few gulls by the coast. I don't know if it's just this winter or it's normal in the area.

A Grey heron (Aosagiアオサギ) was standing on top of the rock like a lord😆

Osprey (Misagoミサゴ)

I love Ospreys! They are really magnificent (in my opinion!).

 

Swans

There are some paddy fields in Chiba where wintering Tundra Swans (Kohakuchoコハクチョウ) forage during the day and we visited one of the sites.

The weather was weird, pouring down with sunshine! 

At first, only a few families of swans were foraging on the fields but within half an hour or so the number kept growing up to 81 individuals.

here they come!

and more!

We are familiar with 'Bewick's Swans' in the UK, which I learnt are a subspecies of Tundra swans. Basically they look exactly the same to me...   but anyway, it was a great moment to observe them quite close (but far enough not to disturb them) even in the rain.

On the paddy fields, we saw a huge flock (I mean really huge, 100 or more!) of Oriental greenfinches (Kawarahiwaカワラヒワ) and Water pipits (Tahibariタヒバリ) as well as a Grey heron (Aosagiアオサギ), some White wagtails (Hakusekireiハクセキレイ), Meadow buntings (Hoojiroホオジロ), Dusky thrushes (Tsugumiツグミ), Brown-eared bulbuls (Hiyodoriヒヨドリ), White-cheeked starlings (Mukudoriムクドリ) and Thick-billed crows (Hashibutogarasuハシブトガラス).

(The exact location is not shown on the map by way of precaution.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR