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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DaninJapan" data-source="post: 4094752" data-attributes="member: 56176">I haven't even logged in my Korea trip report I took from 3-10 April but wanted to post my findings from my Amami trip (22-25 April).First off, many thanks to my birding partner here on Okinawa Tom, and our visitor from Ireland, Dermot B <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> . We had a great time on Amami and I'm sure the trip exceeded all of our expectations.Not many people get to Amami, it isn't the tourist magnet that Okinawa is for mainland Japanese on holiday. It is about 70% the size of Okinawa but with less than 10% of the population and most of that is in the main town of Naze (Now called Amami-Shi). Mostly mountainous and covered in thick mixed broadleaf deciduous and coniferous evergreen forests that look like a thick green carpet covering the island when we viewed it from the plane. We wondered about the lack of roads and found an incredible number of large tunnels connecting the costal towns. The interior of the island was for the most part, pristine forest uninterupted by the extensive agriculture or golf resorts found on Okinawa.Target birds for the island are the endemic Amami Thrush, Lidth's Jay, Owston's Woodpecker (still considered a subspecies of White-backed Woodpecker by some) near endemic Amami Woodcock and the endemic subspecies of Ryukyu Robin. There are also several other endemic species of mammals, noteably the Amami Black Rabbit along with many endemic amphibians, insects and plants. The island chain that contains both Amami and Okinawa (Nansei-Shoto) is often called the "Galapagos of the Western Pacific"  due to the high number of island endemics in the chain.We were able to hire a rental car with no problem and thanks to the trip reports Dermot brought along, we found accomodations easily as well. It certainly wasn't going to win any award for cleanliness, but our little Minshuku had some charm, a lovely pond outside, a nice quiet location and a great price of 2,000 yen per night.For visiting birders, head straight to the Amami Nature Reserve located about 30 minutes north of Naze city. Visit here at about 6:45 AM (They don't officially open until 8:00) and watch for the Lidth's Jay and the Ryukyu Robin, both we easily found here. Also the Owston's Woodpecker gave great views here and can be heard drumming throughout the park. We also found the Amami subspecies of the Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker and the recently split Ryukyu Flycatcher as well as Narcissus Flycatcher, Great Tit, Varried Tit, Japanese White-Eye, Brown-eared Bulbuls and even an interesting Whip-scorpion! If I had but one day and one place to visit on Amami, this would be it!We met the warden of the Park, Utsunomiya-san and he pointed us in the direction of a few guides that we booked for night trips. One guide wasn't much of a guide at all bringing someone else to drive and talking to him most of the trip while three of us were cramped in the back seat. We weren't happy with him but on a positive note, we did get a pair of Amami Woodcocks that night as well as 10 Amami Black Rabbits and several other interesting rats and mice, we called it our rodent tour!The following night we met up with our guide, Kawaguchi-san. What a difference a great guide makes! Sharp-eyed and very knowledgeable on not just birds, but nearly every creature we came across that night.The evening was not looking good as we started with a light rain and it grew heavier as the night went on. Fortunately, this brought out many frogs and snakes and we had great views of several endemic species of frogs and the dangerous Hime-Habu. Better yet, we picked up another Amami Woodcock and two Amami Thrushes perched on low branches right over the road. This seemed to be our amphibian tour! As that was our last night, it capped off a great trip.The next morning, as our flight didn't leave till 12:30 we had some time and I wanted to get a better photo of the Ryukyu Robin, we dashed off to the Amami Nature Reserve and as if on cue, a beautiful male Robin arrived and much to my delight, posed nicely for photos. We also had more wonderful views of the Owston's Woodpecker and Lidth's Jay with one landing on the ground just 2 meters behind me. Having got my much desired photo, we headed off to a tidal flat area just north of the airport where we observed spring migration in action as flocks of waders were dropping in and landing in front of us. We picked up about 16 different species of shorebirds here in less than an hour including Whimbrel, Far Eastern Curlew, Marsh Sandpiper, Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Grey-Tailed Tatler, Terek Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Great Knot, Red-Necked Stint, Temminck's Stint, Sharp-Tailed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper (a beautiful new bird for me!), Dunlin and Broad-Billed Sandpiper.Time ran out on us all too fast and we had to turn in our car and head back to the airport for our return trip to Okinawa. As Dermot had several hours before his connecting flight back to Tokyo, we visited several of the top spots near the airport and picked up several more birds including a Black-Faced Spoonbill and the first Terns of the season (Little Terns), a sure sign Summer is soon to follow.All told, a fantastic trip with photos of all target species, lots of extras with the waders and our "amphibian tour". Made some good contacts and birded with a good friend and made a new one. Thinking of going again in September!Cheers!Dan</blockquote>

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