Western Honshu (Hiroshima & Oki Islands), Japan. 28 April - 6 May 2016 (1 Viewer)

Last Thursday I started my part-birding part-tourist visit to western Honshu (Hiroshima, the Oki Islands (staying on Nishinoshima) and Onomichi) in Japan with a walk north along the river in central Hiroshima to Central Park, picking up Grey Heron on the river, a dozen or so White-cheeked Starlings which zipped overhead towards the Atom Bomb Dome, and a Carrion Crow scavenging on a clover-strewn lawn before finding a group of six or seven Dusky Thrushes – most of which were in full-blown black and white breeding plumage – beneath the trees at the northwest corner of the park.

Amongst them was a Grey-backed Thrush – indeed a pristine male – which turns out to have been the first for Hiroshima! The rarity was a little wasted on me as I‘ve had well over 100 bird days of Grey-backed Thrushes on my patch this winter! Other birds here included a couple of Long-tailed Tits and a neat Oriental Turtle Dove waddling complacently down the path in front of me as I headed along the northern edge of the park.

I picked up a couple of grotty female Black-faced Buntings in the northeast corner before heading over to the grounds of Hiroshima Castle. A Little Egret and a Japanese Cormorant were in the moat and I failed to get onto a flock of twenty-odd Brown-eared Bulbuls as they took of from the top of a flowering tree. There were more Long-tailed Tits along with a confiding Pale Thrush, some showy Japanese Tits (including a begging juvenile) and an Eastern Crowned Warbler. The birds I enjoyed most here were a couple of very approachable Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers picking their way over some of the lower branches.

Cheers
Mike

Look forward to this one, especially the Oki Islands

Are you sure you had a Temminck's Cormorant in the moat of the castle? I've never seen one inland in 30 years. Indeed most of the cormorants you see at the coast are Great, not Temminck's.

The next day Carrie and I headed over to Miyajima – the island famed for its a vermillion tori shrine standing 100 metres out in the sea. The island was heaving on the first day of the Golden Week holiday and as we stayed mostly in the busier areas the birds were hard-earned. These included a couple of Varied Tits and a pair of Japanese Wagtails, plus a Black-backed Wagtail, a confiding Oriental Turtle dove, acouple of Blue Rock Thrushes a couple of Ospreys and a few more Black Kites. I was surprised to find fifteen Wigeon and a pair of Mallards feeding in the shallow water in front of the aquarium just before we headed back to the ferry.

Today we took a bus north from Hiroshima across the spine of Honshu to Matsue and then transferred to the port of XX to catch the ferry to Nishinoshima in the Oki Islands. Birds from the bus included a solitary Jay somewhere in the mountains, ten or so each of Grey Heron and Great Egret, six Chinese Spotbills and an Oriental Turtle Dove. I also had a few Oriental Greenfinches from the shuttle to the ferry pier.

Very little seems to have been written about the Oki Islands, certainly in English, so was something of an exploratory visit, but the three hour ferry ride delivered a good thousand Streaked Shearwaters and five Red-necked Phalaropes. Other birds included a couple of Vega Gulls five or six Black-tailed Gulls around the port and 20-odd Coot and 250 Tufted Ducks seen from the bus in the lakes either side of Matsue. A short clip of the Streaked Shearwater, along with some pix of monks with little wooly hats at a temple on Miyajima the same day, can be found on my Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/mike.kilburn.98

Cheers
Mike

MacNara said:

Are you sure you had a Temminck's Cormorant in the moat of the castle? I've never seen one inland in 30 years. Indeed most of the cormorants you see at the coast are Great, not Temminck's.

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Not at all sure MacNara - happy to be corrected - thanks!

Here's a pic plus crops of a couple of birds from the Oki Islands which I think are Temminck's based on the gape. I'd welcome your thoughts.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

Not at all sure MacNara - happy to be corrected - thanks!

Here's a pic plus crops of a couple of birds from the Oki Islands which I think are Temminck's based on the gape. I'd welcome your thoughts.

Cheers
Mike

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Those from the Oki Islands look OK to me. As you know very well, birds often pop up occasionally outside their usual habitat. But I've never seen a Temminck's other than fully in the sea. When I started birding, I used to take photos of local cormorants, and examine them closely for Temminck's, but eventually I realised there was no point. But it's not logically impossible; I would have been interested to hear that it happens.

Oki Islands were an interesting choice. I've never been there, but looking up their home page, it sounds interesting. Hegura Island is the popular choice to catch migrants (though many of these will be common enough where you come from I guess). But this year, the Hegura ferry appears to have been cancelled quite a few times due to bad weather.

How funny that you should have seen the Grey-backed Thrush, when Japanese birders probably came long distances to see it (if it was around for a few days). Hiroshima is a bit far from me, unfortunately.

I'm glad you had an enjoyable trip.

An early start on my first morning on Nishinoshima saw me heading into the valley just of the west of the Funishima canal in search of migrants. An initially quiet start kicked off with a couple of unidentified thrushes and then a male Narcissus Flycatcher flashed into view as I came to the top of the first slope, quickly followed by a cracking male Elegant Bunting as I began heading downhill on the other side. This turned out to be a superb session as the valley, and particularly a section with a stream and some scattered trees on a grassy slope brought in a wonderful array of birds. These included no less than four more bunting species Meadow, Rustic, Black-faced and Tristram’s Buntings. The Tristram’s Bunting – a fine male - was the pick of the bunch in terms of its rarity as a bird mostly confined in Japan to a few individuals on offshore islands in spring and autumn.

Other interest came from five Narcissus Flycatchers, three Blue-and-white Flycatchers and an Asian Brown Flycatcher, a male Brown-headed Thrush, four Bull-headed Shrikes, six Hawfinches, three Bramblings, and two singing Eastern Crowned Warblers. Somewhat bizarrely there were a pair Chinese Spotbills on the sea, which I picked up as they drifted past three Japanese Cormorants on a rock. I also had Peregrine, Osprey and Black Kite overhead, as well as a noisy bunch of Large-billed Crows. Birds apart, I enjoyed the briefest of views of a handsome ginger-brown Japanese Weasel crossing the road in front of me, and four monstrous Japanese Bullfrogs astonished me by their size in a roadside pond.

Other birds seen during the day included a dozen Pacific Swifts hunting over a cattle farm on the other side of the ridge, 30-odd Black-tailed Gulls loafing on a breakwater in Urago, a couple of nestbuilding Grey Herons and a good dozen Blue Rock Thrushes in places ranging from village rooftops to the 70m high cliffs that Nishinoshima is famous for. I must have heard over 20 Green Pheasants, but only saw three of this handsome bird. Japanese Bush Warblers and Brown-eared Bulbuls were predictably everywhere and singing away like crazy, while 50 or so Oriental Greenfinches seemed to be round every corner throughout the day.

Cheers
Mike

A great account so far Mike!...Haven't been to your part of the world yet, must go soon. Nishonoshima sounds like the kinda place that would "rock my socks", If only for the migs. Looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Cheers

The wind switched direction from southwest to southeast overnight and following the same route I found much reduced overall numbers, but a very different set of migrants. The highlight of the day was the thrushes – starting with a White’s Thrush zipping into cover by the cedar stand in the first valley and, a few minutes later, a male Japanese Thrush unexpectedly singing from a bare branch. I picked up a two more species – a female Pale Thrush and a couple of male Eye-browed Thrushes feeding on the berries of a creeper overhanging the path down into Urago. This same spot also held a male Narcissus Flycatcher and a cracking male Brambling with a full black hood and brightly contrasting orange flanks – they almost never look this good in Hong Kong.

Before I got this far however I had a wonderful displaying male Narcissus Flycatcher, giving it the full works, its brilliant yellow rump fully fluffed-out to catch the morning sunlight, and elsewhere another one pursued a female that was carrying a beakful of nesting material. In all I had five of these superb flycatchers over the course of the day.

Other signs of breeding activity included a Japanese Bush Warbler posing very obviously on a bare wire carrying a tuft of grass at least as long as itself, and a female Elegant Bunting that was clearly more interested in me than delivering the next load of bedding to the nest. I also had two different males of the same species in the same spot. I later heard that the local birders had only very recently discovered that Elegant Bunting breeds on Nishinoshima.

Many other species had obviously thinned out or moved through completely. There was not a sign of Rustic, Black-faced or Tristram’s Buntings, Asian Brown Flycatcher or Olive-backed Pipit, while there were notably fewer Oriental Greenfinches, Hawfinches, and Meadow Buntings. A Great Egret was a new arrival, a third Chinese Spotbill was in the same bay as yesterday’s pair - dabbling amongst the seaweed - and the number of Pacific Swifts coming in with the storm had risen to some 25 birds.

The other highlight of the day was confirming Japanese Woodpigeon. Having yesterday been tantalized by a dark shape flushing somewhat hysterically from a tree in the approved Woodpigeon manner, and a bit later heard the more normal of its calls, I was more fortunate today as a single bird flushed three times along the road and on the third view I was able to get the bins on it for long enough to confirm it was indeed a pigeon and not a crow and that it too big and darkly uniform to be an Oriental Turtle Dove. I’d love to see one in a tree before I leave and get the “full monty” call. A description I made of the first one I heard in Okinawa can be found here (http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=2786072&postcount=6)

and a recording of its extraordinary call is on Xeno Canto here:
http://www.xeno-canto.org/81142

Other bits and pieces included a sadly deceased Japanese Shrew Mole I found on the road first thing in the morning, both the horses and black cows on the island suckling young, and a fine male Japanese Wagtail that kept me company in Urago as I waited for the bus back to our inn.

And finally . . . the last pic shows the way that our home stay hosts make sure no-one forgets to change out of the slippers one is required to wear to use the toilet . . .

Cheers
Mike

I've gotta go back to Japan in summer!

Today, with the wind blowing at gale force I stayed in the closest valley to the guest house for my early morning walk. There was no sign of new migrants, but I did pick up a couple of Common Sandpipers in the bay at the entrance to the canal. I was pleased to catch a few white flashes of pale underwings offshore as a stream of Streaked Shearwaters headed steadily west past a headland where the spray coming back from the base of the wave-battered cliffs made it look like the sea was on fire. The only other birds of interest I managed were a couple of male Narcissus Flycatchers and better views of the breeding Elegant Buntings at the top of the valley. Green Pheasant and Japanese Bush Warblers made their usual contribution to the sound track, albeit in lower numbers than on previous days.

For the rest of the day we were taken to various spots on the island by a volunteer tour guide – Mr Kuchimura – who showed us various plants and scenic sights with great warmth and knowledge. We saw little in the way of birdlife, but with a gale blowing strongly enough to be yellowing the sky wit dust from the Mongolian desert most birds were sensibly, if frustratingly, keeping their heads down. As we walked back to the homestay after dinner over 100 Black-tailed Gulls were gathered on one of the breakwaters in front of Urago, along with a couple of large white-headed gulls, which I guess were Vega Gulls, but that apart it was a quiet day birdwise. We did however enjoy excellent views of the endemic Oki Hare on our way back down form a windswept headland, and a Green Pheasant that was clearly not at all frightened by the car hung about at the edge of the road just long enough for a photo.

Cheers
Mike

Green Pheasant....pah!!!! Not real

On the final morning the wind had dropped and I headed out along the road on the other side of the bay with the expectation of finding more migrants. I didn’t find many, but a Dusky Thrush in a cattle yard and a Eurasian Sparrowhawk over the ridge kept my expectations up for a while. I did find another female Elegant Bunting with a wriggling green mouthful of caterpillars – presumably another breeding pair - and fine eye-level views of a male Blue-and-white Flycatcher singing its heart out. I also had rather briefer views of a female of the latter, and just my second Asian Brown Flycatcher of the visit. An Eastern Crowned Warbler sang but did not show and a couple of silhouetted Oriental Turtle Doves had me hoping in vain for another Japanese Woodpigeon in the much better woodland habitat along this road. On the final stretch I did pick up a couple of Great Egret and - with no apologies given how painfully Birdboybowley's Steller's Eagle pix have gripped me - another Green Pheasant.

The final highlight was a group of thirty-odd Large-billed Crows and three or four Black Kites gorging on a shoal of several hundred smelt that had unaccountably beached itself on the rocks and pools right in front of our homestay. This was clearly something that had happened before as not only did the crows gather, but so did a number of local residents who were keen to enjoy this free meal from the sea. I don’t usually pay much attention to crows, but this group made a terrific spectacle as they lunged shrieked and guzzled over the struggling fish. Several of them even collected five or six of the little fish in their bills like puffins before lurching off to swallow them in peace. The crows were clearly unimpressed by the human competition, scowling from nearby boats and loitering within just a few feet on the rocks as the residents filed their buckets, and them darting back in to squabble over the remnants of the massacre. When everyone had finished the only evidence of the feeding frenzy was the silvery shimmer of shoals and shoals of scales settling on the tideline.

The return ferry produced substantially fewer Streaked Shearwaters than the journey out, but three or four birds accompanied the ferry for a good two hours of the journey.

In summary this was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, but the Oki Islands are certainly harder to cover for migrants that the smaller and better-known Minami-jima and Hegura-jima, which have far less habitat for good birds to disappear into. I was disappointed that the big winds knocked out the boat trip from which I'd hoped see Japanese Murrelet, which breeds on an offshore islet here, but the place itself is truly wonderful, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone looking for a truly beautiful, peaceful spot for a few days getaway.

Cheers
Mike

birdboybowley said:

Green Pheasant....pah!!!! Not real

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You missed Green Pheasant 3B? Why that'd be like going to oz and not seeing a grasswren.. (Had my pheasant out near Narita )

McM

McMadd said:

You missed Green Pheasant 3B? Why that'd be like going to oz and not seeing a grasswren.. (Had my pheasant out near Narita )

McM

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Oooohhhhh......nasty!! :-O

birdboybowley said:

Green Pheasant....pah!!!! Not real

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Here's one from last year ...saw another half dozen last week :t:

PS. great report Mike ... and nice that you found Furen Lodge BBB - think he still has not forgiven me

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Ha ha.....it's all in your minds guys!
And yeah, I don't think Take-san forgets.....!

I can heartily recommend the Oki Islands for stocking up on illusory phasianidae - I must have ten or more calling every day and saw at least half a dozen.

I've also added a couple more bird pix I meant to post, plus a couple of others from this wonderful islands.

Cheers
Mike