Japan Feb/March 2016 (1 Viewer)

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Support staying at Yoroushi Onsen

birdboybowley said:

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• Washi-no-yado is the traditional Blakiston's site and Take-san had arranged for us to stay here when we contacted him. Now, it may be an experience but at £115 for the night it's bloody pricey for what it offers....the bed is a roll-out-on-the-floor affair you have to make yourself, facilities are shared and the walls are not the thickest. The price breakdown is probably £15 for the room and food and the rest for the owl! You can stay in Rausu and just visit for the owl – not sure how much this costs. There are two options: you can sit in the heated dining room where they take the windows out for photography or you can go in the bus...where there's no heater. Once you're in, you have to stay so as not to disturb the stars when they arrive – but be warned, it was about -18 the night we were there and sometimes the owls don't turn up til after 2300!! As we sat up in our top-floor room, heater blaring, wearing just thin sweatshirts we looked over at the shadowy figures huddled in the bus, looked back at each other and both said "Sod that, it's only a £100"......!!!!
There is another option for about £5 more which we found out about too late: Daichii Yoroushi Onsen (www.yoroushi.jp/english), a lovely posh place about 45mins west of Rausu in Nakashibetsu Town where the owl comes in next to the dining room. I know where I'd go next time...and there's a good chance of Solitary Snipe on the river too...allegedly!

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Adam

Looks like a more thorough report than we managed - one of the down-sides in trying to do a report as you go.

I'm really looking forward to reading this to get advice on other areas as we have already decided to go back to Japan in Spring/Summer where will will get to southern islands and do a pelagic.

I would support staying at the Onsen. I saw Solitary Snipe as did other British birder there while we were there and also the next bird tour.
I also heard that the week after we were there they had first Black Woodpecker in the area that came to the feeder.

David

26th Feb – Another glorious morning greeted us as we swept back the curtains; another glorious breakfast awaited us in the dining room. The feeders were busy with the usual species and the Steller's was back in its tree again. Today was goodbye time for us and it was with a tinge of sadness that we bade Take-san and the lovely Masako farewell, promising that we will return in the summertime.

We drove back down the Tobai minor road in search of bullfinches but again drew a blank. A nice white-headed Long-tailed Tit was seen but disappeared quickly and the other birds were the same as yesterday. We had one last look from the main road at the eagles being fed then it was time to head northwards towards Rausu, c125kms away. We turned off Hwy44 onto a minor road that eventually led us to the small fishing village of Yarimukashi on the northwestern side of Lake Furen. On the way in we had great views of a pair of our first stately Red-crowned Cranes in the most unpicturesque setting of a muddy farm entrance! Somewhat disappointing but stunning nonetheless.

As we entered the village itself we had many White-tailed Eagles and Black-eared Kites in the trees. Out on the lake we had several groups of Steller's on the ice near to where we saw some guys actually ice-fishing....the eagles keeping a watchful eye for any scraps. Also present were c40 Whoopers, a few Goldeneye and Long-tailed Ducks and c30 Slaty-backed Gulls, one of which had a mussel in its bill and kept dropping it on the ice then chasing it around looking for all the world like it was playing a bit of ice hockey!

We headed back through the snowbound countryside seeing a Rough-leg and Japanese and Oriental Crows together for a good comparison and a couple of nice-looking Red Foxes foraging though the snow. We rejoined Hwy243, turned right and then veered off onto Hwy244 and followed the coast northwards until we reached the 950 turn-off onto Cape Notsuke and followed the narrow road to the last carpark, c9kms down the cape. There were plenty of Sika Deer loitering-with-intent by the roadside and more Steller's and White-tailed Eagles and Black-eared Kites also.

We parked up and wandered through the thigh-deep snow towards the pebbled beach in search of our target, recently seen here by Micky and Paul. As I approached the buildings I saw a small bird fly into some bare ground and there it was: a stunning male Asian Rosy-Finch!! How easy was that?! It was soon joined by a female and they showed brilliantly all the time we were there. We checked the beach up and down in search of the Snow Bunts that had been seen a couple of days earlier but no joy, only a couple of Dusky Thrushes grabbed our attention.

Having had our fill of this delightful passerine we headed back off the Cape, stopping by some more buildings where we had another gorgeous Dusky Thrush bathing in a puddle and an amazingly tame and healthy-looking Red Fox in the sea defences. Offshore we surprisingly had only a single male Black Scoter but hundreds of gulls, mostly Slaty-backs with c20 Glaucs, c10 Glauc-wings and best of all, 2ad Vega Gulls. We also saw one other Asian Rosy-Finch take off from the roadside and disappear over onto the beach. The snowy coastal scenery was quite spectacular and as we rejoined the 244 we headed north again until we reached Shibetsu where we had a quick food stop in the trusty 7-11 and then continued on the 335 out onto the Shiretoko Peninsula towards Rausu. It's amazing how close the disputed Russian island of Kunashir is to the coast here.

We reached the small town and dropped down towards the first part of the harbour. The surrounding area was covered in deep snow so I wandered round on foot and had some awesome views of Harlequin Duck. Also here were Goosander, Goldeneye and many gulls. Returning to the main road we turned right and headed through the tunnel and then turned immediately left onto the icy minor road just past the river and carefully drove up to our destination for the night – Washi-no-yado. We were met by the lady owner who speaks about as much English as I do Japanese, but with a bit of pointing and mentioning Take-san's name we were ushered upstairs to our room overlooking the stream opposite where a nice Brown Dipper was busy dipping. We were quite bemused by the roll-out bed affair but at least the heater worked!

We dumped our gear and then headed back to the main fishing port where, in typical Japanese style, we were able to drive right round it with no problems. Inside the walls, sea-ice had formed but there was none on the open ocean. It was for this reason that we hadn't bothered booking the 'eagle boat' as all they did this year was throw fish out onto the seawalls to the waiting throngs of eagles which, although were giving great views and photographic opportunities, just weren't sitting out on the sea-ice as I'd hoped. And as the price is somewhere north of £50pp it was one saving I didn't mind making. We had good views of Goosander and Red-breasted Mergs here, with 4 Ancient Murrelets amongst the ice a nice surprise. A Pacific Harbour Seal also appeared and on the seaward side of the walls were some rocks covered in c500 Pelagic Cormorants and many gulls, comprising the 3 usual suspects.

We returned to our digs where we made our way into the dining area where our meal of mostly fish (urgh!) appeared but with a good selection of non-fishy side dishes that filled us up no problems. The first bus-loads of photographers began to arrive and as they took their positions up along the front and the windows were taken out we decided that was our cue to leave! As the light began to fade we watched Steller's Eagles streaming overhead up the valley to roost for the night. The owner went over to the stream and stocked the little pool with some live fish, the floodlights were turned on and the wait began. We'd been informed by Micky & Paul (and the other guests at Lodge Furen) that the stars of the show here have been quite erratic of late...which was unnerving to say the least! We watched as more people arrived, some foolhardy ones heading for the bus....

We sat by our window with the heater turned up full (the temp dropped to -19 that night), only wrapping the blanket around us whenever we opened the double-glazed window up. Annoyingly, people were stomping up and down the stairs, walking from the dining area into the room block....contrary to everything we'd been told about being quiet after dark. People were continually slamming the downstairs doors...so much so that as it apporached 2100 I went looking for an argument...but bumped into an English-speaking tour leader and stood on the stairs as he explained that the owls weren't in the valley at this time of the evening...they went out and their territorial loop didn't bring them back in again til nearly midnight, and beacuse they weren't feeding young and the winter hadn't been that harsh (by Hokkaido standards!) they didn't need to feed as much.

Just as he finished saying this I looked out of the window above the door just as a huge shape swooped in and landed on the floodlit tree opposite: Blakiston's Fish-Owl!! What a stonking bird! The leader stood there open-mouthed, caught between grabbing his camera or alerting his clients!! I ran back upstairs to Dawn, grabbed my camera and watched in awe as this amazing bird fished in the little pool for the next 10mins. Three fish were caught and devoured and then with a smooth flex of the wings, she was gone! I know this place is expensive but after that....sod it, it was worth it!!

We stayed up and could hear the pair begin duetting on opposite sides of the valley. At one stage, the male was in the tree right behind our room but no amount of contortion would allow me to see him. The male appeared at 2240-47, caught and devoured a fish and was off up the valley side again. The pair duetted all night, their haunting calls echoing through the valley. I went to sleep a very happy boy that night!!

Bosh!!!!

Wow ... the owl & eagles are spectacular. Great stuff, Adam.

Cheers guys - really pleased with what my little 'ol SX60 could do with the owl as we weren't exactly close!!

27th Feb – Something to remember in Hokkaido in winter: always lift the window wipers off the windscreen overnight!! Today was our last day on Hokkaido so we were up early as usual, had the so-so breakfast, watched the Brown Dipper in the stream outside and set off. We hit the port again but just the usual suspects were around but as it was morning time, the eagles were gathering on the sea wall awaiting the return of the fishing boats. There must've been c300 along the wall! We headed back through town but soon pulled over as the roadside trees overlooking the harbour were festooned with Steller's! Absolutely awesome, there were again c200 easily ranged all along the hillside, with fewer White-tails in with them. Allowing very close approach, this was a fantastic experience – Dawn said she hadn't seen me smile so much since I was enswirled by a flock of c25000 Budgies back in WA in '06! Waited all my life to see this majestic bird and it didn't disappoint.

Reluctantly I had to get back in the car and head westwards. We were going to drop into Daiichi Onsen with the hope of seeing Solitary Snipe that can be visible from the road. The scenery as we crossed inland was amazing, white and crisp...but the roads were all pretty much clear with just a couple of minor roads a bit whiter than I like! It was like driving around NZ again as we kept stopping for scenic pics then we'd round another corner and out would come the camera again!

We reached the Onsen and had a quick look at the roadside feeder by the hotel which had about a dozen Brandt's Jays, Coal & Marsh Tits, 2 Nuthatches, 4 Great Spots and Brown-eared Bulbuls coming to it, but again no bullfinches. We walked up the road a little and climbed up on the bank where we literally stood in Micky & Pauls footsteps....but luck was against us this time as there was no sign of the snipe at all. We went to the other side of the river downstream from the onsen itself but to no avail. In the end we went inside the place and asked if we could look out their main window. They graciously allowed us but again, nothing! Bummer But yes, I would definitely choose this place to stay next time, even if you can only view the owl through the windows!!

We had a quick drive up past the onsen as the road goes over a couple of bridges that are a reliable site for Crested Kingfisher...but not today Double bummer! Time was now going by far too quickly so we headed off for our next destination courtesy of Sean & Bryan. Problem was, the map we had taken off of Google didn't match up with the road numbers on the satnav or the map we'd been given.....hmmmmm. Anyway, we basically missed the place completely and ended up at Akan Crane Centre instead, where we asked the helpful girl on the desk where Otowa Bridge was as our spot was near that.

With our corrected directions we set off again as it was only about c22kms from the centre itself and as we sped down the 243 we soon crossed the famous Otowa Bridge so we knew we were nearly there. A few more kms up the road, just past a big horse ranch on the left at roughly 43°11'47.6"N 144°23'29.8"E we pulled carefully off the road (Micky & Paul had got their car stuck on their visit!!) and walked down the obvious path off to the left in the snow and into the trees. The well-cut path was very well-used and soon enough we could see the gnarled old tree with the huge hole in it...which was occupied by the ghostly form of a stunning Ural Owl! What a cracker of a bird...so much paler than the Scandinavian ones I'd seen the previous year. It just sat there watching us watching him...occasionally twisting his head round to look at something he'd heard and then just chilling as the sun came out to warm up his roost.

We wandered back up thepath to a growing gathering of cars full of photographers and made our way back to the Otowa Bridge. There were 7 Red-crowned Cranes upriver with several Goosander and a female Mallard with them. Best of all was our first pair of Japanese Wagtails which were very nice but stayed very distant unfortunately. As we drove back to Akan we came across several other pairs of cranes and made it back to the centre just in time for the 1400 feeding time. In the carpark we had our only Goldcrests of the trip along with more Coal Tits.

The Akan Crane Centre is reminiscent of Slimbridge in a way...and is naturally very popular with photographers as these amazing birds perform literally in front of you. Entry fee is only ¥470pp so is well worth it. We saw about 70 birds in all with lots of displaying and fighting going on which made for some atmospheric video opportunities. Several White-tailed Eagles swooped in to pick up food and were accosted by the more belligerent cranes but when the one and only Steller's (a female judging by its size) took off from her perch and flew over the feeding area, every single crane looked skyward and they all shut up....quite an amazing difference in reaction to the two species.
Black-eared Kites were ever-present, swooping down to grab tidbits, an opportunistic Red Fox also grabbed a mouthful but was chased off by an irate immature crane which then proceeded to wildly dance about like a raver on acid....hilarious! Several family groups of Whoopers came in and waddled into the feeding area with inly the same freaked-out immature crane giving them any grief.

We wanderd around the set-up and found another family party of cranes in a more 'natural' seeting and then were introduced tp a couple of captive cranes that can't fly I believe. There was also one forlorn-looking White-naped Crane in a cage here too which seemed a real shame. As the crowds dwindled we had a look around the main visitor centre and read all about the success story of the Tancho that was at one stage thought extirpated from Japan until a small non-migratory flock was discovered in eastern Hokkaido.

Sadly it really now was time to head back so we drove back towards Kushiro where we stopped at a roadside restaurant where they spoke no English but luckily the menu had pictures! A nice steak was had as night fell and we set off again to find a fuel station and return our car by 1800. As we were dropped back at the airport for our 2005 flight back to Haneda, we admired the big Tancho statues outside with their bugling calls echoing around, a fitting end to a wonderful part of our journey. I can't wait to come back again when Hokkaido is all green instead of white!!