foresttwitcher
Virtually unknown member

Thursday 20th March:
Another relaxed start to the morning to take advantage of the breakfast and the bird feeder entertainment, with Coal Tit added to the species seen yesterday morning. Then it was time to reluctantly say thank you and goodbye to Take-san & Masako-san and leave this great little place.
First I drove past the eagle feeding site again and then continued along the road that leads down the spit between the lake and the sea - plenty of Corvids, Black-eared Kite and White-tailed & Steller's Eagles around but not too much else. So I continued further north and then drove slowly along the Notuske Peninsula. More raptors along here with some on the roadside overhead services poles giving close views but not from the best angle. About half way along I saw a large flock of small birds right by the roadside and approaching slowly managed to spend some time watching about 40+ Asian Rosy Finch (sorry, Mike!) foraging in the gutter and on the road verge. There were also plenty of Sika Deer around. On reaching the end, or at least as far as you can drive, I walked the short distance to the hide but it was very quiet bird-wise. Heading back along the peninsula I saw a flock of finches fly into some roadside trees so stopped to have a look - most were Oriental Greenfinch but I also picked out a single Common / Mealy Redpoll and a small group of Northern (caudatus) Long-tailed Tit.
Continuing north again I headed to Rausu. From Notsuke it had been possible to see what I thought was the edge of the pack-ice but, despite my hopes, I did not seem to be any closer even this far further north. But I checked out the harbour while I was there plus also the same at Shibetsu on the way back. In both places all the duck seen yesterday at Habomai were present in good numbers as well as Pelagic Cormorant. I also gave the (adult) gulls a good go - for me anyway - and as well as the previously seen Kamchatka, Glaucous, Glaucous-winged & Slaty-backed I also managed to ID Black-tailed Gull & Vega Gull.
It was now time to head inland for my long anticipated visit to Yoroushi Onsen where I arrived around dusk. It was a little unclear which building was Yuyado Daiichi but luckily a 'greeter girl' had spotted me parking the car and came out to welcome me. The book-in procedure was a little stilted due to soon reaching the limit of my Japanese and her English but she went off and returned with a young lad who spoke more English and as he approached I heard him greet another guest in a language I thought I recognised and so the process was completed in a strange mix of English, Japanese & Nepali! You are asked which dining slot you want and after having a quick look at the log where the owl sightings are kept I went for the latest one (7pm) intending to then sit out the rest of the evening on watch.
In the meantime I had had a wander along the snowy roads of the resort, spent some time to find my way around this warren of a place and briefly took advantage of the very nice room. On the way to the dining area at the allotted time I glanced at the log again and 'it' had been sighted whilst I was faffing about! So I settled down to a fantastic meal expecting for a very long, and hopefully not fruitless, wait afterward. Once done eating I headed straight to the stake-out spot and joined 8 Japanese photographers already in place. As the evening progressed there was a lot of waiting and staring at the wintry stream; there were brief flurries of excitement and camera shutter clicking with a couple of appearances by a (or possibly 2) Sable - the first very brief but the latter one more prolonged and very satisfying - and later a Mink. Help yourself coffee & tea helped keep alert but the lighting of a small fire in the fire pit had the opposite effect! As time progressed the staff filtered away, the lights went out and the group lessened gradually. Eventually it was just me and another die-hard left and I was beginning to doze so tried to select the most uncomfortable seat I could. I hadn't even realised I had drifted off but I was brought too by a movement and softly utter exclamation (or possible swearword) from my patient companion and looked up to see a monster of a bird had seemingly materialised out of nowhere and was sitting just beyond the glass! As the photographer filled his boots I just watched in awe as this massive beast slowly looked around, grabbed a fish from the small pool and calmly ate it's early hours of the morning meal. After a brief shake it plucked out another fish and demolished that as well. Eventually it flew off - I guess my Blackiston's Fish Owl experience was probably over in no time at all but it was one of those 'time stands still' moments and seemed to last for ages. What a bird!
So off I went to bed a very happy chap.
1. Black-eared Kite;
2. Sika Stags;
3. Rather worrying sign;
4 & 5. Icy mountain scenery.
Another relaxed start to the morning to take advantage of the breakfast and the bird feeder entertainment, with Coal Tit added to the species seen yesterday morning. Then it was time to reluctantly say thank you and goodbye to Take-san & Masako-san and leave this great little place.
First I drove past the eagle feeding site again and then continued along the road that leads down the spit between the lake and the sea - plenty of Corvids, Black-eared Kite and White-tailed & Steller's Eagles around but not too much else. So I continued further north and then drove slowly along the Notuske Peninsula. More raptors along here with some on the roadside overhead services poles giving close views but not from the best angle. About half way along I saw a large flock of small birds right by the roadside and approaching slowly managed to spend some time watching about 40+ Asian Rosy Finch (sorry, Mike!) foraging in the gutter and on the road verge. There were also plenty of Sika Deer around. On reaching the end, or at least as far as you can drive, I walked the short distance to the hide but it was very quiet bird-wise. Heading back along the peninsula I saw a flock of finches fly into some roadside trees so stopped to have a look - most were Oriental Greenfinch but I also picked out a single Common / Mealy Redpoll and a small group of Northern (caudatus) Long-tailed Tit.
Continuing north again I headed to Rausu. From Notsuke it had been possible to see what I thought was the edge of the pack-ice but, despite my hopes, I did not seem to be any closer even this far further north. But I checked out the harbour while I was there plus also the same at Shibetsu on the way back. In both places all the duck seen yesterday at Habomai were present in good numbers as well as Pelagic Cormorant. I also gave the (adult) gulls a good go - for me anyway - and as well as the previously seen Kamchatka, Glaucous, Glaucous-winged & Slaty-backed I also managed to ID Black-tailed Gull & Vega Gull.
It was now time to head inland for my long anticipated visit to Yoroushi Onsen where I arrived around dusk. It was a little unclear which building was Yuyado Daiichi but luckily a 'greeter girl' had spotted me parking the car and came out to welcome me. The book-in procedure was a little stilted due to soon reaching the limit of my Japanese and her English but she went off and returned with a young lad who spoke more English and as he approached I heard him greet another guest in a language I thought I recognised and so the process was completed in a strange mix of English, Japanese & Nepali! You are asked which dining slot you want and after having a quick look at the log where the owl sightings are kept I went for the latest one (7pm) intending to then sit out the rest of the evening on watch.
In the meantime I had had a wander along the snowy roads of the resort, spent some time to find my way around this warren of a place and briefly took advantage of the very nice room. On the way to the dining area at the allotted time I glanced at the log again and 'it' had been sighted whilst I was faffing about! So I settled down to a fantastic meal expecting for a very long, and hopefully not fruitless, wait afterward. Once done eating I headed straight to the stake-out spot and joined 8 Japanese photographers already in place. As the evening progressed there was a lot of waiting and staring at the wintry stream; there were brief flurries of excitement and camera shutter clicking with a couple of appearances by a (or possibly 2) Sable - the first very brief but the latter one more prolonged and very satisfying - and later a Mink. Help yourself coffee & tea helped keep alert but the lighting of a small fire in the fire pit had the opposite effect! As time progressed the staff filtered away, the lights went out and the group lessened gradually. Eventually it was just me and another die-hard left and I was beginning to doze so tried to select the most uncomfortable seat I could. I hadn't even realised I had drifted off but I was brought too by a movement and softly utter exclamation (or possible swearword) from my patient companion and looked up to see a monster of a bird had seemingly materialised out of nowhere and was sitting just beyond the glass! As the photographer filled his boots I just watched in awe as this massive beast slowly looked around, grabbed a fish from the small pool and calmly ate it's early hours of the morning meal. After a brief shake it plucked out another fish and demolished that as well. Eventually it flew off - I guess my Blackiston's Fish Owl experience was probably over in no time at all but it was one of those 'time stands still' moments and seemed to last for ages. What a bird!
So off I went to bed a very happy chap.
1. Black-eared Kite;
2. Sika Stags;
3. Rather worrying sign;
4 & 5. Icy mountain scenery.
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