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Sea of Japan April Owl? (1 Viewer)

M

MacNara

Well-known member
Japan
At the end of April I took a ferry on the Sea of Japan from Tottori in Japan to Vladivostok via Donghae in South Korea. I was hoping to see some birds that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to see. Although I did see a few new pelagic species, there weren't as many as I had hoped. However, we saw a few species on migration, including a Grey-backed Thrush and a solitary Cattle Egret both in the wide ocean.

And we saw this, which seems to be some kind of owl. Can anyone tell me what it is?

Photos 1-4: The bird in question
Photo 5: The same bird 30 seconds later, or something different?
 

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Did you get a sense of how big it was? It looks like one of the larger species to my eye.

MacNara said:
At the end of April I took a ferry on the Sea of Japan from Tottori in Japan to Vladivostok via Donghae in South Korea. I was hoping to see some birds that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to see. Although I did see a few new pelagic species, there weren't as many as I had hoped. However, we saw a few species on migration, including a Grey-backed Thrush and a solitary Cattle Egret both in the wide ocean.

And we saw this, which seems to be some kind of owl. Can anyone tell me what it is?

Photos 1-4: The bird in question
Photo 5: The same bird 30 seconds later, or something different?
Click to expand...
 
Hi ed,

Thanks for replying.

No, I didn't really get an idea of the size. It was in the middle of the sea, no land visible at 6:40 am (three hours before landfall in Korea having left Japan the previous evening at about 7 pm). I just took pictures of whatever was there. People often say that it's difficult to judge the size of a bird in the plain sky, and in this case there was nothing to contrast with at all. However, it wasn't next to or very near the boat, and my lens is 300mm max, so it would have to be a reasonable size to be caught at all by my camera.

As I said, I had been hoping for things I wouldn't normally see, but in the hour surrounding the sighting of this owl, the non-sea-birds I saw were a very red-headed Cattle Egret and a Grey-backed Thrush. There were also a couple of pelagics, Black-tailed Gulls and Pacific White-sided Dolphins.
 
My guess, judging from my books, and looking at the wing shape and pattern (e.g the brown border to the front of the wing), and the eye which stands out, would be Eagle Owl. But if not, it would have to be Ural Owl. I think all the others would be too small to have come out even to this level of detail in a photo from a moving ship.
 
Interesting- it looks rather like an Eagle Owl to me, which is not rare in South Korea but very rare in Japan. It looks much too chunky and plainly marked under the wings to be Long-eared or Short-eared.

The extent to which EO can and does fly over open water has been the subject of some controversy here in the UK! I remember a reference in Brazil Birds Japan to an extra-limit all record from the Amami Islands though and Mark Andrews posted a pic on here of EO coming in off the sea in China.

Let's see what others think- I may have the wrong end of the stick!

[cross posted- I see you have the same idea]

MacNara said:
Hi ed,

Thanks for replying.

No, I didn't really get an idea of the size. It was in the middle of the sea, no land visible at 6:40 am (three hours before landfall in Korea having left Japan the previous evening at about 7 pm). I just took pictures of whatever was there. People often say that it's difficult to judge the size of a bird in the plain sky, and in this case there was nothing to contrast with at all. However, it wasn't next to or very near the boat, and my lens is 300mm max, so it would have to be a reasonable size to be caught at all by my camera.

As I said, I had been hoping for things I wouldn't normally see, but in the hour surrounding the sighting of this owl, the non-sea-birds I saw were a very red-headed Cattle Egret and a Grey-backed Thrush. There were also a couple of pelagics, Black-tailed Gulls and Pacific White-sided Dolphins.
Click to expand...
 
Paul Leader said:
Northern Boobook.
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

We get Northern Boobook in my area in central Japan. It did seem to me bigger than this, but again size is difficult to judge. I didn't realise they migrated in this direction (i.e. Korea to Japan); I thought they would come from the south to Japan for the summer.

Mark Brazil's Birds of East Asia is the only one of five or six books I have with Boobook which shows the underwing of the bird in flight. It's a painting, not a photo. Nonetheless, it is utterly different to my photos. In Brazil's book, the Boobook has a strongly marked black and white striped pattern going from the front of the wing to the back, and this contrasts with the strongly marked brown and white striped pattern on the breast (from the underwing to the breastbone).

(I could photo and post Brazil's illustration if you like.)

But maybe Brazil's illustration is not good, or there are strong seasonal variations.

The other Owl of roughly the right size that we get which is migratory is Short-eared, but they winter here and would have been moving in the opposite direction.
 
Here is the underwing picture of Northern Boobook in Brazil's Birds of East Asia, and an enlarged version of my photo 1. If you compare Brazil's picture to the underwing which is clearly visible in my photo 1, you will understand why I thought it couldn't be Northern Boobook. Of course, I may be wrong, but then Brazil's picture must be wrong, or seasonally or sexually specific.
 

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I'd agree with Northern Boobook. We've had several records of birds migrating over the sea here in Hong Kong, and I think there are similar records elsewhere in East Asia.
Eg: http://orientalbirdimages.org/searc...rd_ID=2758&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=hong_kong
http://orientalbirdimages.org/searc...rd_ID=2758&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=hong_kong

I think the illustration in Brazil may make the wings look slightly paler than is the case. Also, I suspect that the lighting and distance of your bird makes the wings seem dark and the exact pattern harder to see.
 
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