Warblers + Juv Flycatchers Hokkaido Japan August (1 Viewer)

MacNara · Feb 6, 2017

I have finally got around to sorting my photos from a trip to Hokkaido at the end of last July and beginning of August. Basically, it was thick fog and rain with odd breaks.

The first warbler (photos 1 & 2) is from Notsuke Peninsula on the east coast of Hokkaido. The torrential rain broke for a couple of hours just as we arrived. This bedraggled bird was in the low bushes behind the nature centre. I don't think it's Black-browed, and therefore it should be Middendorf's, but I might be wrong. The other possibility in the area is Gray's.

The second warbler (photo 3) is, I assume a juvenile Black-browed, given the strength of the brow. But has its tail not grown in yet, or has it had an accident? We saw quite a few displaying Black-browed, and they all had normal tails. It isn't Stubtail, is it?

And the first flycatcher (photo 4), I think is Grey-streaked juvenile. The second (photo 5) I think is juvenile Asian Brown, but could it be Dark-sided?

Thanks for all help.

andyb39 · Feb 7, 2017

No expert with these species, but as nobody else has responded.....

The bird in #1 and 2 looks large and hefty-billed and its upperparts look to be unstreaked, so my suggestion would be the amnicola form of Gray's, AKA Sakhalin or Stepanyan's Grasshopper Warbler.

The bird in #3 doesn't really have the clear-cut black brow I'd expect in BBRW, but I'm not sure what else it could be. I'm pretty sure it's not Stubtail, which would have a long black eyestripe flaring behind the eye and smaller feet?

Re #4, I think this time would be quite early for Grey-streaked to be coming through and I read somewhere that they complete moult before migrating, so I'm not sure you'd see a juvenile like this one on passage - more something like this:

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=2700&Bird_Image_ID=42522

How about Dark-sided for that one? Quite regular streaks though.

I'm undecided about #5. The heavy white spots on the mantle, gingery covert and tertial fringes and chevrons on the breast suggest Dark-sided but it doesn't look as small-billed or long-winged as I'd expect. Anyone?

MacNara · Feb 7, 2017

Thank you Andy. That's very helpful.

I forgot to say that the flycatchers were at Shikaribetsu, which is a mountain more or less in the centre of Hokkaido. It's not that high, but it was above the fog, and we saw some birds, including a Common Crossbill which was over-summering. The adult flycatchers we saw were indeed all Dark-sided.

Here is one more juvenile I missed yesterday. Quite brown and very long pp, but still a lot of fluff on the back. Not sure about this either.

Grahame Walbridge · Feb 7, 2017

1 & 2 Middendorf's Grasshopper. The bill does look hefty but the tertials are clearly marked with a pale buff tip to the inner web. And the white throat and buff flanks look better for MGW.

I think the only other resident would be Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler.

3. Looks like a juvenile Black-browed Reed.

4. Fairly sure its a juvenile Dark-sided though I've had no experience of this plumage before i.e recently fledged juvenile. I am going mainly on structure in that appears small-headed, small-billed with a long pp. I also suspect the lines of spots to the crown, streaked ear-coverts and underpart makings are better for DS though I have failed to find any images to support this.

I think Grey-streaked is very scarce/rare on passage in Hokkaido and I would echo Andy's comment that I would not expect to see a bird in this plumage away from the breeding grounds.

5. Agree juvenile Asian Brown. Note the obvious white-spotted scapulars, face pattern and average pp.

Grahame

MacNara · Feb 7, 2017

Thank you also Grahame.

A funny thing about Grey-streaked Flycatcher is that the Japanese name for the bird - Ezobitaki - translates as Hokkaido Flycatcher. So, I had assumed that it bred there (not only, but commonly enough), and comes through where I am much further south in the spring and autumn. So I was surprised when looking at the books after this first summer visit to Hokkaido to find that it gets three stars out of four for rarity in 'The Wild Birds of Hokkaido'.

While we're on this topic, we saw Slaty-backed Gulls and Black-tailed Gulls, but we also saw this one bird that looked too pale to be Slaty-backed. I assume it's a Vega back early. But I'm hopeless at gulls - I seem to have a mental block on even the simplest IDs.

johnallcock · Feb 7, 2017

I think #4 may be an Asian Brown Fly. The patterning doesn't look right to me for Dark-sided, especially because it doesn't show the 'checker-board' pattern on the underparts, being more streaked instead. The eye-ring is not as broad as I usually see on Dark-sided, and it doesn't show dark malar stripe as Dark-sided often do. It also looks slightly browner/less grey than I would expect.

I've attached photos of juvenile Dark-sided for comparison, taken in Russia last August. I saw both Dark-sided and Asian Brown juveniles on that visit. Dark-sided were typically like the birds in these photos (also like birds we have on passage in Hong Kong). Unfortunately I didn't manage any photos of Asian Brown juveniles but these were generally paler, browner and more streaked, especially on the head - similar to the bird in your photo.

One thing to say is that I have never seen juvenile Grey-streaked, so maybe these are similar to this bird. However, I think that this bird is structurally wrong for Grey-streaked, which should look larger-headed I think.

Grahame Walbridge · Feb 7, 2017

johnallcock said:
I think #4 may be an Asian Brown Fly. The patterning doesn't look right to me for Dark-sided, especially because it doesn't show the 'checker-board' pattern on the underparts, being more streaked instead. The eye-ring is not as broad as I usually see on Dark-sided, and it doesn't show dark malar stripe as Dark-sided often do. It also looks slightly browner/less grey than I would expect.

I've attached photos of juvenile Dark-sided for comparison, taken in Russia last August. I saw both Dark-sided and Asian Brown juveniles on that visit. Dark-sided were typically like the birds in these photos (also like birds we have on passage in Hong Kong). Unfortunately I didn't manage any photos of Asian Brown juveniles but these were generally paler, browner and more streaked, especially on the head - similar to the bird in your photo.

One thing to say is that I have never seen juvenile Grey-streaked, so maybe these are similar to this bird. However, I think that this bird is structurally wrong for Grey-streaked, which should look larger-headed I think.

Thanks John. I bow your greater experience which probably explains why I could not find an image of Dark-sided to match. I see what you mean about the 'checker-board' markings......and here's another which illustrates your point. One point I disagree on is that the bird does show malars if you look closely.

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_Image_ID=33239&Bird_ID=2708&Bird_Family_ID=&Location=

Post 5 is at a tricky angle but I'm pretty sure it's a Dark-sided due to a combination long pp and presence of dark chevron on one the longest under tail covets.

Grahame

MacNara · Feb 8, 2017

Thank you all. My wife and I like Hokkaido, but it's expensive to get to on full-price tickets - Cairns in Australia is cheaper, though there is now a budget airline to Sapporo and we might try that next time. I was surprised to read in a newspaper listicle recently that Tokyo Haneda to Sapporo Chitose is the second-busiest air route in the world (highest total number of seats available over a year)! Next year we may make a trip in early June which might be better for weather (the fog meant that our plane was diverted from Kushiro, eastern Hokkaido both going and coming back, which meant we had to drive across the whole island twice in a four-day trip). However, it depends on whether my wife can get a couple of days off to make a long weekend.

Warblers + Juv Flycatchers Hokkaido Japan August (1 Viewer)

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