Trip Report David and Sarah Blair Jan – Feb 2016

Japan DIY – Honshu, Kyushu and Hokkaido

Introduction

We used Sarus Bird Tours (ATOL 6563) to organise our first to Japan what they call a Do It Yourself tour.

They booked all the hotels, internal flights and Car Hire and worked with us to produce an itinerary. We

simply paid locally for accommodation, trains and most meals, included in the deal was information on

birding sites and some helpful travel recommendations.

We stayed in Tokyo Haneda on our first night and will stop off at the same hotel a few times so we can

leave a bag behind and travel light.

We decided not to take a ferry to or from Tokyo because of worries over weather and also the fact that

Sarah was happier just doing a couple of short pelagic trips rather than be at sea for the best part of the

day (probably wise as ferries were cancelled on a few days due to weather).

In summary we are spending 4 days around Kyushu before going back to Haneda, then 4 days round

Karuizawa and Jigokudani, back to Tokyo each time; then a week on Hokkaido finishing in Tokyo before

having a brief warm up in Dubai on the way back to the UK.

Day 1 – Arrival in Tokyo

We stayed in Tokyo Haneda arriving quite late, in hotel after 23.00 on our first night and we stopped off at

the same hotel a few times so we could leave a bag behind each time and travel light. The Hotel full name

“Toyoka Inn Kuko no.1” has a free bus to and from the airport and staff that speak a little English, better

than relying on Google translate app as we did at some places. Breakfast was Japanese style with little

European options. For Tokyo the price of Y10000 under £60 a night was very reasonable and there were a

few restaurants and bars with a 5 minute walk. There were free pyjamas from a machine at reception and

the ubiquitous vending machine offered a good selection of beers, coffees and soft drinks.

There is a JR metro station within 2 minutes if you don’t want to use the free bus.

31st Jan: Tokyo – Kumamoto - Izumi Overnight Royal Inn -Station Plaza

We were pretty tired after travelling via Dubai, just time for a nap there and just having 5 hours sleep in

Tokyo before getting to the airport early, 05.00 for first flight to Kumomoto on Kyushu Island. Flight was on

time and we cleared luggage collection very quickly so we were early at car hire desk.

That said we picked up the hire car at the airport without too much hassle, using Google translate the lady

behind the desk let us know that someone was on their way, and a chap who spoke a little English soon

picked us up, took us to the office and helped with the paperwork and showed us how to use the number

part of sat nav, useful when getting to the hotel tonight when you know a number but not much good for

GPS coordinates.

After struggling with directions we finally found Uki Mudflats (aka Yatsushiro) I'll be glad when I can use

googlemaps on the phone (eConnect - Japan Data Sim cost £18 for 15 days) was delivered to hotel and we

picked up on arrival so I can use mobile data without fear of bankruptcy from now on.

Anyway birding was good with Dusky Thrushes

everywhere, plenty of Brown eared Bulbuls, the

first male Daurian Redstart in the fields before on a

track down to the river we found Japanese Bush

Warbler, Eye-browed Thrush, Grey Bunting and

Eastern Great Tit before arriving at the river, there

were not many waders about but we did see 5

Black-faced Spoonbills, a Saunders Gull and

single Falcated Duck amongst dozens of Shoveler,

Teal, Shelduck and just a couple of Common

Sandpipers, Greenshank and Lapwing. It was a

case of heading down to the coast via Mimamoto

coastal park - Great Egret, Black-eared Kite and

Blue Rock Thrush before heading towards Arasaki

crane reserve near Izumi City.

After grabbing some lunch from a Family Mart it was off to Arasaki. Signs for the "Crane resting place" are

easily seen from most major roads within 10

miles of Izumi.

As soon as we turned off the main road we

started seeing cranes in most fields, first it was

4 Hooded Cranes, then three elegant and

much bigger White-naped Cranes also new.

By the time we could see the Observatory,

there were hundreds of each of the two

species. The count this morning was of 17005

cranes of 5 species with over 12,800 Hooded

approximately 4000 White-naped, despite

much searching all we could find was a couple

of Sandhill Cranes, but it wasn't all about

cranes.

We also spotted Buff-bellied and Olive-backed Pipits, a large group of Russet Sparrows, Hen Harrier,

a dozen Black-eared Kites, Rustic Bunting, Lapwing and European Spoonbill.

I should have mentioned that temperature got to a balmy 16 degrees and we even had an ice cream.

Overnight for next two nights is Royal Inn Station Place in Izumi quite spacious and good value at only

Y7600 less than £50 per night with an excellent restaurant next door (cook all your meat at the table with a

combination of rice, salad and miso).

Temp had dropped to zero when we returned to the hotel.

One tip for those wanting a beer, use machine on 6th floor as it is third of price of the bar

1st Feb: Arasaki Overnight Royal Inn Station Plaza

Our info said “Before breakfast, you can take the option of visiting Kogawa Dam, where Grey Bunting and

Japanese Accentor can sometimes be found. In addition, this is a good locality for Japanese Green and

Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Red-flanked Bluetail, White-bellied Green Pigeon, Chinese Bamboo

Partridge, Mandarin Duck, Crested Kingfisher and Elegant Bunting”.

I had completely forgotten it is dark until just before 7, so 5.30 alarm and 6 o'clock breakfast before leaving

was too early so we kicked our heels then got to bridge off the main road just before the Kagowa Dam at first

light and got our hoped for Crested Kingfisher immediately, Sarah then spotted a Brown Dipper but light

was too poor to take photographs, not helped by some freezing drizzle that lasted most of the day. We drove

around the dam stopping regularly and

walking a few paths. First birds seen were

Grey Bunting, Red Flanked Blue tail, Jay

and Oriental Greenfinch.

On the water there was no sign of Baikal

Teal, but lots of Mandarin, Wigeon,

Shoveler, Spot-billed Duck and Little

Grebes.

Woodpeckers were proving tricky with only

fleeting glimpses of Pygmy and Green that

Sarah deemed not good enough to count,

however we did get the White-bellied

Green pigeon and then an unexpected

Red-billed Leoithrix. That was about it until

we reached a logging area where there was

a pair of Crested Kingfishers and a Ryuku

Minivet we then carried on until the final

bend after the water when a nice mixed flock of Buntings contained Rustic, Meadow and Elegant with a

bonus Pale Thrush showed.We decided to head down to Satsuma and the Sandai River to look for Scaly

Sided Mergansers despite a long walk both ways and a drive to various bridges we had no luck, and had to

make do with Japanese Grosbeak, Siskin, Long-tailed Tits, Japanese White-eyes, Daurian Redstart

and a pair of Long-billed Plover.

It was also nice to compare Japanese Wagtail and White Wagtail at close hand and we flushed a Ruddy-

breasted Crake from the reeds that showed quite well for a crake.

It was then time to head back to the crane sanctuary. Again we saw and photographed Hooded and White-

naped Cranes and after much scanning we found a single Common Crane but we just couldn't find a

Demoiselle still 4 out of 5 isn't a total failure as some folk only saw two species other birds included White-

cheeked Starling, Dusky Thrush, Daurian Jackdaw, Olive-backed and Buff-bellied Pipits, Hen Harrier

and European Spoonbill, Great Egret and Japanese Sparrowhawk.

It was back to Royal Inn Station Plaza in Izumi

which was a pretty good hotel at good rate

with a couple of good restaurants nearby.

2nd Feb: Arasaki – Miike - Hyuga Verfort

Hotel

There was the option of visiting Arasaki or

Kogawa or Sendai River again. We decided

not to try for the Merganser again so plan was

to do Kadowa Dam again and then head to

Lake Mike, spending the afternoon there.

At the bridge we found two Brown Dippers and Rustic, Black-faced and Meadow Buntings. Then when

we stopped at the first track every bird seemed to be a Red-flanked Blue-tail or a Brown-eared Bulbul,

by the end of the day I was sick of Blue-tails not a sentence I thought I would ever write. We did see most

of the birds we saw yesterday but not a lot else.

When we arrived at Lake Mike, we stopped at the

viewing point and picked up some roasted sweet

potato for lunch, as we had missed our chance for

7-11 or Family Mart by driving too close, it smells

really good over charcoal and then made our way

down towards the campsite to eat. We were

greeted by Daurian Redstart, Meadow Bunting,

Great Tit, Grey Wagtail and the calls from both

Woodpeckers but not able to see them. While

sitting at the lake we saw Wigeon, Mandarin, Little

Grebe and a common Kingfisher. As we started

up the trail I heard a Japanese Pygmy

Woodpecker and this time I got Sarah on it with

good views.

Up the trail it is clear there has been some major rains this year with a couple of paths completely washed

away. A you can guess from previous comment every bird we got on seemed to be a Red-flanked Blue

tail, we saw over a dozen and one male just followed us around it seemed, there were no signs of the

pheasants but we did see Mountain Hawk Eagle (I thinks this has it been split as Japanese nipalensis), a

few White-eyes and a Grey Bunting.

We then tried our luck at the temple but only added Green Pigeon and Large-billed Crow.

It was getting late so off to Hyuga and stay at Verfort Hotel, where there is great fish restaurant. Forecast

was for frost overnight but warm and calm tomorrow not ideal weather to get things taking cover in the

harbour.

As predicted there was frost to be scraped from the car, with no scraper a plastic Emirates luggage tag was

called into action and did the job fine.

3rd Feb: Hyuga – Miyazaki – Tokyo Toyoko Inn Haneda Kuko No 1

We headed up to Kadagowa Harbour in the hope that

we would find some easy Murrelet's; latest advice

was that there is nearly always some birds in the

harbour but you sometimes need to try hard. So we

gave it three hours in really light wind, so almost no

waves and didn't find a single bird. We did see Great-

crested, Horned and Little Grebes, Slaty-backed,

Black-tailed, Common and Black-tailed Gulls,

Kingfisher, an unexpected Fulmar fly past, Blue

Rock Thrush, Daurian Redstart and breeding Barn

Swallow but no Murrelet's, so we decided to try

Hyuga Cape.

At the Cape we found a Black-faced Bunting,

Brown-eared Bulbul and some Oriental Greenfinch but no sign off Japanese Murrelet and it is now

nearly 13.00, we decided to visit the temple as much for a comfort break as anything, when I scanned from

the barrier and saw two birds that I was certain were Murrelets land in the sea. I called Sarah and said I've

got two, I quickly grabbed the scope and focused and after what seemed like an eternity I managed to

zoom in on the two quite distant birds, they were still in winter plumage so grey and white not the natty

black and white evening-ware with accessorised head gear but unmistakeable as Japanese Murrelet.

What a relief.

Whilst still sunny there was now a bit of a breeze blowing so we decided to get a pic-nic and head back to

the harbour to see if we could have lunch and get a closer / maybe summer plumage bird. Long story short

we saw nothing new.

It was then time to drive to Miyazawa for our flight back to Tokyo, en route we stopped at two river mouths

about 40k and 55k south of Hyuga to look for Baikal Teal at first stop we added Little Egret and Meadow

Bunting whilst at the second we found an American Wigeon amongst a huge flock of Eurasian Wigeon and

spotted a Bull-headed Shrike and a Varied Tit, we got the car back with 10 minutes to spare on our hire

and was in the airport an hour before the flight.

Overnight at Toyoka Haneda no.1.

4th Feb: Tokyo – Karuizawa Pension Edohara

Today we got the monorail from Haneda to Hammochuko, then JR line to Tokyo Station, we timed our

arrival for just after 9 to miss the rush hour and got the 9.44 Shinkasen (bullet train) to Kariuzawa where the

owner of Pension Edohora picked us up and took us to drop off our bags and get ready for an afternoon at

the Bird Park. The trains including reservations cost just over Y6000 each about £35. It was actually

cheaper to buy on the day than to buy in advance.

There was at least 18 inches of snow on the ground and even the roads were a bit slippy.

Target was to see some wintering passerine and if lucky Copper Pheasant which is by no means

guaranteed but we hoped that with very little cover or leaves we would stand a good chance.

We quickly got a couple of Japanese Accentors, then

some Long-tailed Tits, before the first woodpeckers a

Japanese Green (Sarah was happy to count this one),

then a Greater Spotted, by the not yet frozen pool half way

up the track, there was a mixed flock of Nuthatch (surely

not long before it is split as Siberian) Japanese Great Tit,

Willow Tit and more Long tails. The next find was a bit

more unexpected when we had White-backed

Woodpecker in the same tree as a pair of Japanese

Pygmy Woodpeckers.

Despite lots of searching only other birds seen were

Japanese Grosbeak and Dusky Thrush. Just before dark

we tried calling Ural Owl but no response. Temp tonight as

we finished was -13c.

5th Feb: Karuizawa – Nakano Route Inn Nakano

Bloody cold start to the day. We headed down to Shiotsuba spa where they put some feeders out, on the

way we had a nice view of Japanese Green Woodpecker, whilst on the feeders and around were Willow

Tit, Great Tit and Varied Tit, and the a few Oriental Greenfinch. It was then time to get down to the Bird

Park, where we had a couple of really close-up Pygmy Woodpeckers and a Dusky Thrush but weirdly no

Accentors, Wagtails or Dippers which

we reckon after speaking to the guy in

Piccio may have gone lower after the

18 inches of snow earlier in the week.

It was making finding Pheasants

tricky as there was little exposed leaf

litter for them to feed in and getting off

the tracks was very difficult and noisy,

through the knee deep snow, so

anything was likely to be disturbed.

Still we covered every trail and found

quite a few fresh track and Sarah

even found a feather but no Copper

Pheasant today. Only other birds of

note were a pair of early Brown-

headed Thrushes, Japanese

Grosbeak and Jay.

We then picked up a hire car and headed up to Nakano so we could be up a Jigokudani Spa (snow monkey

forest) for morning. The nice family at Pension Edohura let us keep our room at Karuizawa so we left our

luggage there and travelled even lighter. Half board including transportation and very nice dinner cost just

over ¥20000 about £110, and about half that on the second stay when no meal was provided. The whole

family speak English and the son speaks very good English having lived in US. (phone 0267-46-5559 –

email edohara@karuizawa.ne.jp)

We stayed at Route Inn in Nakano, the night in between very handy as just off the expressway and easy to

find when arriving in the dark and only 30 minutes to the Monkey Park. ¥13700 about £70 for B&B.

6th Feb: Nakano – Karuizawa Pension Edohara

In search of the snow monkeys or more accurately

Japanese Macaques.

We set off just after first light in lightly falling snow, the

Sat Navigation system works based on phone numbers

if you want to use English, first problem is that phone

number we had was for Car Park nearest the site and

that road and car park was closed, second was that

directions we had while clear in hindsight depended on

us knowing which Shell petrol station to turn off at. It is

actually no problem to find the alternate car park and it

leaves a pleasant 2k forest walk through the National

Park, allowing us to kill an hour before the park opened

at 9.00 and getting us in before the crowds arrive on

this Saturday morning. Anyone going should head for Yaen Koen entrance (phone 0269-33-5550).

The park is actually quite birdy but once the crowds arrive everything seems to disappear into the forest.

However we saw quite a bit, Varied Tit, Goldcrest, Treecreeper, Siskin, Asian Rosy finch, Pygmy

Woodpecker, Long tailed Tit, Large-billed Crow and Rook without too much effort and I'm sure on a non

week-end day when the park is less busy and noisy it could be very good.

Our target though was Snow Monkeys and this was a big target ever since Sarah saw a National

Geographic special on the Macaques who were the most northerly group in the world and who kept warm

in the famous spa at Jigokudani.

Our plan worked pretty much perfectly we were amongst the first people in and got down to the main

Onsen before the bulk of the monkeys arrived, so we saw and photographed the jockeying for position, the

brave trail blazers, then the mothers with babies getting into the pool for their morning constitutional bath.

We spend only 1 and a half hours there before it got too busy and we decided to head back to Karuizawa.

Unfortunately the road to the bird forest R146 was

blocked by an accident so we headed for a lake and

some gardens we saw on the map, but it was closed

by snow the snow plough just clearing the car park,

nevertheless we saw Japanese Wagtail, Jay and

Japanese Green Woodpecker. We then decided to

head by another route to the bird park, and actually

managed to drive around the park boundary on

some pretty hairy roads arriving at the park from

Kose forest road direction. It would have been an

inspired choice if we had found a Copper Pheasant

but we didn't. However things were better than

yesterday and we found Bullfinch (must be split as

Grey-bellied as some books already advocate), Grosbeak and Hawfinch, then more Jays, a flock of

Dusky Thrushes and then Great-spotted, Green and Pygmy Woodpeckers all in quick succession.

We did feel we gave the pheasants a good try (we found more tracks in fresh snow) but we were not alone

in not finding them the guide from Piccio had been out on 6 tours and hadn't found them either.

He also said that there have been only two sightings of Ural Owl this winter so not finding the day roost

wasn't due to our birding skills suddenly deserting us.

In summary we liked Karuizawa for the people the restaurants and proximity to the Snow Monkey Park but

if going back would suggest spring or summer.

7th Feb: Karuizawa – Tokyo Toyoko Inn Haneda Kuko No 1

This was pretty much a travel, tourist day.

We did see a Japanese Squirrel before we left Karuizawa, we took the Shinkasen train back to Ueno, and

we went Gran Class only about £10 more than standard. We then left our luggage in a single huge locker

on platform 13 (good advice given) for ¥800 and you need 8 x ¥100 coins, alternately there are smaller

more expensive lockers at the exit.

We then did sightseeing round Ueno Park area with visit to Museum of Japan (ok) and the Zoo reasonable

with best Aye-aye exhibit I have seen but Giant Pandas were breeding so not seen, price was a very cheap

¥600 (about £3.50).

There were a few birds about, we saw Tufted Duck, Mallard, Tree Sparrow, Brown-eared Bulbul,

Japanese Great Tit and Alexandrine Parakeet (feral pop established in Honshu).

We also saw the first Cherry Tree in full blossom with all the locals really excited about it.

It was then back to Tokyo Inn near Haneda before an early flight to Koshiro on Hokkaido. This was the bit

of trip we were most looking forward to.

8th Feb: Tokyo – Kushiro – Tsurui Green Park Hotel

Hokkaido in search of Red-crowned or Japanese Crane.

We arrived in Kushiro a few minutes early, had a little bit of trouble at the car hire, they wanted to charge

again despite me having a voucher in English and Japanese, a little bit of Google Translate and

involvement of supervisor and we were good to go in a bigger than expected Nissan 4 x 4.

We stopped first at the Akan crane observatory, lots of people but no birds so we headed up towards

Tsurui, I spotted the first 8 Red Crowned Cranes in a field off the R243, the road that leads to the famous

bridge where the birds all take off in the morning. Despite it being after ten we decided to take a look and

the bank of long lenses told us we were in luck. I counted an incredible 90 mostly adult birds still on the

river and over the next hour or so flying off. This number dramatic as less than 100 years ago the birds

were thought to be extinct until in 1920 a population of 20 was found in Kushiro Marsh, the locals who

revere the cranes (just visit the museum) decided they would help feed the birds through the tough winters

and the recovery began. Now almost 900 birds.

We picked up some food at the shop on the corner of R53

which is the turn off to the original feeding station. They

actual put out food in a few farms, this one at 9am but the

birds come later. By 2.00 there were 52 birds - the

highpoint that day and birds were beginning to show some

mating behaviour, other birds around here included,

Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Jay, Tree Sparrow and Great

Spotted Woodpecker.

We then found a field back on the main road with about 50

Whooper Swans and almost 400 Cranes with another 80 in

a nearby field, so I reckon we saw at least 60% of all the

birds now in the world today.

We did briefly try the woods behind our Hotel an Onsen called Green Park for Ural Owl but thigh high snow

cut that short. We bumped into another British birder John who had given it a longer try but found nothing.

9th Feb: Tsurui – Yoroushi Dai-ichi Yoroushi

So early start to get to the Crane Bridge on R243 there is

obvious parking areas and if you are there at the right time a

group of birders with scopes and long lenses. This is prime

spot to see the

mist rise from the

river at sunset

giving the cranes

an ethereal glow,

however on this

day it was

snowing, so no

mist at sunrise

but still the opportunity to see the hundreds of roosting cranes

set off for their various feeding efforts and to try to get those

elusive flight photos.

After the bulk of the cranes had left we headed back to the hotel for breakfast and then back to the feeding

centre, there were no birds feeding, only Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Jay and Jungle Crow. We then had a

couple more Crane stops at other farms along the main

road before deciding that the snow now looked ominous

and we should head for the coast.

Initially it proved to be quite a good call as we saw

Harlequin Duck, Goosander, Goldeneye, Scaup,

White-winged Scoter in Akkeshi Bay, we then had a few

White-tailed Sea Eagles, before the star bird of the

morning, total dwarfing a nearby Whooper Swan was a

huge Steller's Sea Eagle, just sitting allowing us great

scope views. However the weather was getting worse

and a couple of stops were White-outs with the only bird

of note a Rough-legged Buzzard. So we abandoned

Cape Kiritappu and we decided to head to Yoroushi to get there in time we hope for the crowning glory on

a great day. On the way we saw many Ezo deer and the first Red Fox.

The snow was now very heavy and at one point things were

looking pretty bleak before a snow plough cleared a track onto

the only open road to Yoroushi. We finally made it just before

dark and with use of 4 X 4 got into the car park. We were

shown to our room about 16.55 and I had Sarah in the lounge

by 17.00 having heard that our star turn had put in an early

appearance on 5 of the last 7 nights. Sure enough we just got

settled when the Blakiston’s Fishing Owl put in an

appearance and showed really well for some photographs

against the backdrop of heavy snow. Then about 17.45

second bird turned up although on a nice branch the light was

poor so only one Owl was photographed at a time.

At least one Owl remained visible all the time until 21.00 -

result. So no pressure now for Rausu especially as forecast

tomorrow is for blizzard conditions.

A Japanese Marten also turned up but we missed that as

we were at dinner but did see what looked like a Black

faced Weasel, so off to bed happy and not really caring

about the snow.

We had a suite at this hotel and a 10 course dinner

including Saki and beer, use of the new Onsen to ourselves

and accommodation that was very luxurious, we paid the

most of any accommodation about £180 a night but regretted not spending another night here as it was

great accommodation and we could have seen more around here and got to Lake Kussharo.

10th Feb: Yoroushi– Rausu Dai-ichi Hotel

Good news the snow plough had kept the road

open that we came in on, bad news that it looked

like we had to head East as snow drifts to the

West still hadn’t been cleared, we couldn’t even

go beyond the Chacha Bridge, next to the hotel

– over 5 feet of drifting snow; and thus Lake

Kussharo our initial plan for the morning wasn’t

an option. Even to walk into the woods and along

the riverside was to wade through waist high

snow.

When we went down to breakfast Sarah didn't

take her binoculars and I left my camera in the

room. When we saw lots of activity around the

feeders, I left Sarah and went back to room,

good move for me for at the edge of the river was a Solitary Snipe, Eric another guest mentioned that one

had been around most of yesterday. I rushed down and told Sarah about the snipe but she decided it would

probably stick around so let's have breakfast and see what's here now. There was a Hokkaido Red

Squirrel, loads of Jays (Brandt’s sub species) and Brown-eared Bulbuls, Nuthatch, Greater spotted

Woodpecker, Marsh Tit and Brown Dipper. The

bad news for Sarah was by the time we got back to

to the room the Snipe had moved and when we

accessed the bit of the river where the path was

passable all we could see were Jays and a

Dipper, we could have waited around as the guy

from the Onsen said that it usually seen from the

breakfast lounge in the afternoon, but we had a full

days birding planned and thought we should set off

before 10.00, to do some of the harbours from

Shibetsu north to Rausu. The weather was pretty

appalling with winds bringing snow across from the

trails and drifting down off the mountains at any junctions or gaps. So we were really glad to get to the

harbour, the last bit by following a snow plough clearing the way for some fishermen. Good news was that

the rough weather had brought in loads of birds, firstly plenty of Goosander, Scaup, Common Scoter,

Harlequin Duck, Goldeneye, Merganser and then I spotted

a Red faced Cormorant – I quickly got it in the scope and

then Sarah called time on our watch, so we retreated to use

the car as a hide. I suppose the wind chill did make it feel

around -22 (or that's what AccuWeather said on my phone).

We didn't see anything else new just some gulls we had

already seen.

After a bite of lunch, we tended to use SeicoMart or 7/11 on

Hokkaido, we headed up to Rausu not stopping much until

we got to Rausu Harbour where we did some birding mainly

from the Car adding Steller's and White-tailed Eagles, some close Harlequins and Glaucous Gull. We

decided to follow the coast road as far as we could go and for 30 glorious minutes, the snow stopped and

the sun shone, it didn't last but we saw an Orca at Sea and when we stopped to try to get a better view we

found 3 Spotted Seals swimming nearby - probably the

Orcas target. We had the bonus of seeing the spot for

Fishing Owl, you can't really miss it as it is immediately

before the tunnel back into Rausu and there are two huge

spotlights trained on the small stream opposite the

Minshuku.

After the short respite in the weather, it really turned bad

with visibility virtually Zero, fortunately the sat navigation was

able to guide and I just crawled along at 10mph to our Hotel.

Confusingly this was also called Dai Ichi but in Rausu.

While deciding what to do next we checked on the sea ice

report, it is still miles away, but when I emailed a local company they said a boat trip would still get us close

up views of the Eagles, that was tomorrow sorted. For tonight we warmed up in the Hot Spring baths and

when finished looked outside, it was blowing a blizzard so we decided to have dinner and some drinks and

we wouldn't try for the owl tonight.

The hotel offers use of the Onsen / Spa a decent breakfast and a set Japanese style dinner for around

£120 per night for two.

11th Feb Dai-ichi Hotel

A nice leisurely start with time to use the Onsen before getting down to the harbour by 8.00.

The Evergreen was going out at 9.00 and despite showing no availability on the Shiretoko Web site were

taking passengers with no bookings as was our boat which I booked via the Shiretoko East Sightseeing

website found via a search on trip advisor. I then exchanged emails in English and agreed an 8.30 start;

getting to the harbour at least 15 minutes early.

Things started promisingly there was nice young lady who spoke English who took our fee and issued our

ticket, fee was ¥7000 each with no surcharge for DSLR users on this trip, some boats charge extra ¥2000

and this would be levied if the ice was in.

The boat would tie up and we could board when the Evergreen moved out after dropping its early

passengers.

In the harbour were some close up Harlequin Ducks but in poor light and snow the shots were not great.

There was also Slaty-backed, Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gulls, with Tufted Duck and Scaup.

Sarah need not have worried about sea sickness for this trip as

for all our 2 hour plus trip we were within 10 minutes of the

harbour or in the harbour itself, still the goal was close up views

of Eagles and we certainly got that. First when we left the

harbour they threw a crate of fish to the birds, it didn't take long

before we had our first interested Steller's Sea Eagle then about

10 more joined with around 20 White-tailed, including those

waiting on the wall I counted 73 Eagles after attracting some

more birds and by this time the Evergreen was also feeding

about 400m away. After the photographers among us had our fill

of flying birds we headed towards the far harbour wall where with

a bit of training the Eagles had learned that they should now

gather for second servings. We were all encouraged to get on the upper deck of the boat, we wondered

why we should leave the shelter of the lower deck but in the

falling snow we found ourselves at eye level with nearly a

hundred eagles. The crew threw the remaining fish onto the

wall and into the sea nearby and we had great scenes of

Eagles fighting over fish and territory and with the wall

covered with over 2 feet of snow and ice it actually looked

like they were on sea-ice (if you ignored the 20 foot wall

beneath them). Anyway in summary a very good experience

and I would advocate it as a good alternative to trying to get

many miles out to the sea ice which was still many hours

away.

After warming up with a coffee we decided to head up into Shiretoko as far as we could go, it wasn't much

further than our hotel just past the information / visitor centre where a little stream crossed (more on that

later). So looking at a map we decided with the bad weather

we should head south checking the various harbours

including Shibetsu which was good yesterday and then head

out onto spit which looked ideal in the prevailing wind.

Nothing much in the harbours just some Common Scoter,

Goosander and Golden-eye before the peninsula which

ends up in Todawara Dried up Pine Trees. We found this

pretty good with lots of Long-tailed Duck, rafts of

Harlequin Ducks, a couple of White-winged Scoter a pair

of Spectacled Guillemot (lifer), while on the iced up lake

were lots of Steller's and White-tailed Sea Eagles.

There were also quite a few Dusky Thrush, a finch and a bunting that got away unidentified by us and then

a number of Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls of various ages to compare including some almost pure

white birds. We decided this place definitely warranted a second look on the way down to Furen.

We then headed back to Rausu and beyond, only an

Eastern Buzzard to add. It was 16.00 when we got to

Wada No Yada and we had to decide whether to be

greedy and try again for the Fish Owl, they could fit us in

tonight but Binoculars only, there was no room for

additional tripod and big cameras as there were a couple

of big parties in. That sort of made my mind up for me,

as I couldn’t attempt better photos, I would go out and try

to find my own Blakiston's Fishing Owl, at the spot on

the Shiretoko road near the closed visitors centre.

Note: A guy we met a couple of times and who saw the Owls at Yoroushi with us said that the Owl didn't

turn up until 23.22 and by that time most of the groups had already left and I’m not sure we would have

stayed after 23.00

It would have been great to say I got the birds but not quite. I set off at 20.00 with Sarah choosing not to

come out in the snow after a tumble in the car park earlier,

instead she soaked in the Spa and read the guide book.

I wasn't even sure if the Owl responded to calls but set up

the speaker at the bridge and tried a few calls, at the third

time of asking I got a response so with camera on tripod and

spotlight scanning the likely trees I tried again the bird

sounded pretty close this time but with no set-up feeding

area and only one pair of eyes I had no idea where it might

show, whether up-stream or down-stream, lots of scanning

was just producing snow covered branches, my vision of

some super photos unique to me was now looking a bit

suspect but I thought let's give it another blast, the owl

called back but distantly and then didn't respond again. As I walked back in the snow I didn't regret not

sitting up waiting for the owl at the usual site especially as I already had good shots of the two owls at

Yoroushi

12th Feb: Rausu – Furen Lodge Furen

Today we were heading down to Lake Furen but not

before spending some time at Todawara and the Notshuke

Peninsula, after yesterday's bad weather we hoped that a

number of birds would be close to the shore. The signs

were good at the first viewing point there were over a

hundred Common Scoter, then a few rafts of Long tailed

and Harlequin Ducks, and plenty of Goldeneye, Tufted

Duck and Scaup.

The frozen lake had plenty of both Steller's and White-

tailed Eagles, on the sea wall were Slaty-backed, Black-

tailed and Glaucous Gull but it was the next sea watch close to the visitor centre that produced the goods.

I was sorting through loads of Long-tailed when I said to Sarah I think I've got a Steller's Eider, it's with the

left most group of male Long-tails Ducks, she was on it quickly it was only 50-60 metres out but I got it in

the scope to study it and took the precaution of checking

the field guide as we weren't that familiar with the bird

(seen only once before a while back). While I was

checking the plate, Sarah was watching through the scope

and while the male Steller's Eider was looking to associate

with the male Long-tails Ducks, they were trying to drive

him away. However when we left it was still in the

company of these ducks. It was only later when we were

with Matsuo San that we realised that what used to be a

regular annual occurrence in Japan was now rare. We

gave some Japanese birders and a Brit the exact location

and they were going to try for the bird the next day.

Hopefully they also found it as it was a very smart male bird in almost full breeding plumage and the only

other bird around in Japan so far this year has been a dowdy eclipse female.

We then headed up to Furen with a look at the local

nature reserve and surrounds, plenty of Great spotted

Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Great Tit and

Tree Sparrows around but no sign of Black

Woodpecker which hasn't been on this side of the lake

for a while.

I was playing Sarah the Rosy Finch call to remind her

of it, when I wrongly played the Ural Owl call, an Owl

then drifted across a gap and went into the trees, I

didn't really see it well as I hadn’t really expected an

Owl to show, but Sarah described it as very pale,

medium size and round winged, we then saw the bird together fleetingly. I really didn’t get enough to count

a new lifer and despite searching we couldn't find the bird.

There was a bird with a regular day roost here all last winter but Matsuo San said that photographers had

got too close and scared it on. It was almost certainly a Ural Owl we saw as only other Owls occurring

Blakiston’s Fish (too huge) and Short eared (only once have I ever observed a Short-eared flying in woods

and Matsuo reckoned birds here all stay in open). I didn't see the bird as well as Sarah and as she is only

90% certain we won't count what would be a lifer (must do a Finland Owls trip).

Overnight was at Minshuku Furen, Mr Matsuo is the font of all local bird knowledge, there are feeders in the

garden and small comfortable rooms and a shared toilet / bathroom. However it is very friendly and £80

gets you half board, nice dinner with mainly cooked fish and with breakfast offering toast and lovely home-

made Jams. Over Dinner we discussed recent sightings and decided that we would do a boat trip from

Habomai tomorrow morning then try for better views of Asian Rosy Finch, only seen briefly at top of a tree

in Jigokudani.

13th Feb: Furen East Harbour Hotel, Nemuro

We had 6.30 breakfast, 3 Japanese birders were off to look for the Steller's Eider (Eric had gone off early

en-route to the airport at Kushiro - a long detour so I hope he got the bird), we were waiting for confirmation

that our boat trip was on as some poor weather was forecast, Mr Matsuo got the call from the captain we

would be going out as things were still calm. So off we went to Habomai but not before Sarah took her sea

sickness medicine, you have to buy your ticket from the bank in the harbour it is the only office

accommodation in the area up some stairs a few yards from the harbour so allow some time. You buy your

ticket at the last desk, they spoke a few words of English and the tickets show a picture of the boat we were

on, tickets are ¥5000 (Phone 0153-28-2121). There were only

3 others on the trip a Japanese family who seemed more

interested in getting close to Russian territory than the birds.

We set off about 15 minutes early and it was pretty calm, we

quickly got Harlequin Duck, Black Scoter, Long tailed

Duck and Scaup, then as we leave the calm of the sheltered

harbour it gets a bit choppy but we are happy to get a good

flight view of Crested Auk, as we got out towards the Russian

waters the guy on deck was pointing at things and the captain

would slow, we were seeing things regularly and we got lots

of Spectacled Guillemots, a couple of Pigeon Guillemot

before one of our main targets a nice Ancient Murrelet put in

an appearance, we added to the list with Bruinich's

Guillemot and then found our main target Least Auk, it was

just about possible to photograph things in the rising waves

and spray. We were still seeing quite a bit but the Captain

indicated we needed to get into a stuffy little cabin, the 2

Japanese ladies were already alongside the captain on the

small bridge, the younger lady had been suffering with sea

sickness since we left the harbour. We didn't mind a bit of

spray so we were allowed to stand at the back but things

were getting much worse, we must go in now as the captain

wanted to get back quickly, no sooner were we in than a

massive wave washed across the boat, it could have taken us

overboard if we had stayed where we were. We then had

a most unpleasant 20 minutes as the little boat fought the

conditions and got us back to harbour. A 2.5 metre swell

doesn't sound much but on a small boat coupled with a

strong wind it meant that we were almost completely under

water on deck. We were just glad to get back onshore and

although feeling a little queasy we avoided sickness,

Sarah said it was the worst she has felt without being sick.

We didn't feel short changed that the trip was slightly

shorter than planned, we would try to get the birds missed

at a sea-watch from the Cape.

So after a quick stop for coffee we arrived at Cape

Nosappu, we intended to do a sea-watch but minor tragedy struck almost immediately, I left the scope as I

made a scan of the rocks to find the Red-faced Cormorant, a huge gust blew the scope over, Sarah

almost caught it but missed it and I feared the worst when I heard a crack on the concrete, the good news

was the scope was undamaged, the bad news was the tripod footplate retaining clip and mount had broken

so using the scope was going to be difficult, due to lack of steadiness, in fact we struggled to find anything

just by scanning with the scope and the only additions were a couple of Common Guillemot and we failed

to find any of the Murrelet that were meant to be around. (good news on return was £49 bought a

replacement part for the tripod).

We then headed west to Cape Kirritappu via Lake Furen where they were feeding the Steller's and White-

tailed Sea Eagles these birds are just magnificent; of the 3500 photos I took the bulk were Sea Eagles and

Cranes.

We then found a nice flock of Bullfinches (see the grey

breast) near Hamanaka Town before we got to the Cape

Kiritappu peninsula road. The cape is famous for two birds

Rosy Finch and Rough Legged Buzzard. The finches are

usually found by the bushes near a feeder on the first

house on the right as you head to the cape. We had been

warned not to try to enter the garden or nearby field. You

can tell you are at the right house when you see a horned

puffin sign but there were no birds around and the home

owner was clearing

the snow from his drive so we decided to try again later. On the

way to the cape we stopped for a Red Fox and spotted the Rough

Legged Buzzard on a fence post. At the cape it was blowing a

gale and wobbly scope wasn't much good for any distant sea-

watching so we made do with some Black Scoter, Harlequin

Duck, Scaup, Goldeneye and Pelagic Cormorant.

We decided to take a different tack for the finches on the way back,

we parked on the main road level with the garden and feeder and

stayed in the car until a nice flock of Asian Rosy Finches flew into

the bushes near the garden. Having seen the birds OK we decide

to try to scope them for better view but no sooner had I got them in

the scope than householder saw us and chased the birds off, so we weren't going to get great views or

photographs. We did see a larger tour group nearby and it appears that the guy is just fed up with people

watching his birds, so if possible much better to go in the week when he is hopefully at work.

We actually spoke to the tour leader who was staying in our hotel later and he described him as extremely

cranky and a little dangerous - he has pulled a shotgun on a tour group before.

Anyway we saw the birds so decided to head back to the nature reserve near Furen to try again for the Ural

owl. On the R44 just before the lake I saw three birds on the power wires, I thought at first Waxwings from

a brief drive-by view but fortunately I was able to turn around and parking in the Nemuro Canoe car park

took a closer look and found a flock of 14 Pine Grosbeak,

lighting wasn't great but managed a few record shots as

this was a lifer for Sarah.

I gave details to the tour group as there hadn't been many

sighting of these this year. I hope they also connected.

In the woods there was no sign off Ural Owl and we made

do with Ezo Deer, Great Spotted Woodpecker,

Nuthatch and Tree Sparrow.

Overnight at East Harbour Hotel in Nemuro City – really

good hotel to finish off in Hokkaido with some steaks for

dinner, a mini Onsen bathroom for a soak and a good

selection at Breakfast to satisfy us after days of too much

raw fish. Price was about £75.

14th Feb: Furen – Kushiro – Tokyo

Today was our last full day in Japan. We were flying out from Tokyo to Dubai early next morning but having

heard horror stories from some friends who missed their international flight last year due to bad weather in

Kushiro we decide to take an afternoon rather than evening flight to Haneda. This left us with half a day to

do a last bit of birding.

We decided to head up to the lighthouse and hide at Cape Nosappu and also stop at a neighbouring hide

where some Rock Sandpiper were about.

It was about 50 minute drive from the hotel to the car park. When we got there the weather was poor with

freezing rain making things unpleasant, particularly as the hide was still locked. We set up the stuck

together tripod and scope in the shelter of the hide and lighthouse so it wasn't too windy.

We quickly found the Red-faced Cormorant (seems to be regular here), then a couple of Pigeon and

Spectacled Guillemots before we found the target birds a couple of Long-billed Murrelet quite distant but

good enough.

We were now soaked so we headed round to another hide - head towards the Hippo Primeval Flower

Garden, we were luckier here with the Rock Sandpipers flying into view immediately rather than sitting on

the rocks as we expected. We had an outside hope of Asian Rosy Finch, there was a bird was seen on

some fishing baskets 2 days before but unsurprisingly there was nothing willing to sit out in the open in the

poor weather.

The drive back to Furen took us past a pond with some

Wigeon before we stopped at the Lake where the feeding

was just about to take place. So we stopped and had our

fill of over 60 eagles mainly Steller's with about 20 White-

tailed on the ice with just a couple of Black-eared Kites

for company.

On an open bit of Lake there was a small group of

Whooper Swans.

Doesn't time get away from you when you are enjoying a spectacle, we realised it was going to be a bit tight

to get to Tsurui for a final look at the cranes. Instead we drove to Akkeshi for a quick stop adding

Glaucous-winged and Slaty-backed Gull and a last pair of

Harlequin Duck.

The trip back to the airport was uneventful until we realised

that we were at the airport and hadn't refuelled, there isn't a

petrol station anywhere near if you come in off the new road.

Fortunately we had enough time to drive 10K to get fuel and

then get back, probably worth filling up in Kushiro. We didn't

do that as on our last car hire in Karuizawa they wanted to

see a receipt showing that the fuel was bought nearby.

Anyway sods law having picked an early flight to avoid

possible weather delays, there were delays to the early flight but in Tokyo where the weather was an

unseasonal 20 degrees with thunderstorms. Still it wasn’t too bad and we were in Haneda before dark

seeing a last bird White Wagtail as we transferred to the International Terminal.

We stowed our luggage Y1000 (on same floor as monorail) and headed into Tokyo for a trip up the Tokyo

Tower and a final meal before returning to the Airport for our flight early the next morning

15th Feb Travel to Dubai

Our flight left just about on time in the early morning and with the time difference we arrived in time for a full

day in Dubai. We actually had a second day to warm up in Dubai.

Just some local birding in Jumeriah Beach area. We stayed at Movenpick Hotel which was nice enough just

across from the Beach and near the grounds of Jumeriah Beach Hotel and some spare ground being

cleared for building.

We saw Peregrine Falcon, Black-headed Gull, Red-vented and Red-whiskered Bulbuls, Little Green

Bee-eater, Ring-necked Parakeet, Laughing Dove, Indian Silverbill and House Sparrow.

Then annoyingly on the day we flew home we heard about an easily accessible Pharaoh Eagle Owl in

Mishraf Park that we didn't have time to go look for, so need to add that to the to do list next time we go

through Dubai.

Still an excellent trip with some high quality birds even if numbers were not hugely impressive.

Incidental Information

Driving License: An international driving license is required

to hire a car in Japan. These are readily available from most

Post Offices in the UK. You also need to take your home

country license, but it wasn’t asked for.

Books:

Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia: Mark Brazil: Helm

Credit Cards

There were still quite a few places that don’t take

cards. Make sure you take cash. ATMs at 7-11

and Family Mart seem to work with UK cards.

Language

Away from tourist areas there is little English spoken but

people are really friendly and we got by with a few words of

Japanese and Google Translate actually works.

Etiquette

Sarah was quite worried about eating, using right end of chop

sticks to eat/serve but it was pretty relaxed. The use of slippers,

just take outdoor shoes off on entry unless it is western style

hotel. Then

take

slippers off

when you

step on to

rattan mat or change into toilet slippers when you go into

bathroom. You can wear the robes around the spa hotel

at all times most people did but if you went down to

dinner or breakfast in western garb no-one bothered.

Before using the Onsen wash thoroughly and get rid of

all soap / shampoo - I think that was about it.

List of what we Saw

No. Bird Seen Where Seen 72 Common Guillemot Habomai

1 Whooper Swan Hokkaido 73 Pigeon Guillemot Hokkaido

2 Common Shelduck Various 74 Spectacled Guillemot Hokkaido

3 Mandarin Duck Kadogwa Dam 75 Long-billed Murrelet Nosappu

4 Falcated Duck Sendai River 76 Ancient Murrelet Habomai

5 Eurasian Wigeon Various 77 Japanese Murrelet Hyuga

6 American Wigeon Kyushu 78 Least Auklet Habomai

7 Mallard Various 79 Crested Auklet Habomai

8 Eastern Spot-billed Duck Various 80 Oriental Turtle Dove Various

9 Northern Shoveler Kyushu 81 White-bellied Green Pigeon Kadogwa Dam

10 Pintail Hokkaido 82 Alexandrine Parakeet Tokyo

11 Eurasian Teal Kyushu 83 Blakiston's Fish Owl Yoroushi

12 Greater Scaup Hokkaido 84 Common Kingfisher Hyuga

13 Tufted Duck Hokkaido 85 Crested Kingfisher Kadogwa Dam

14 Steller's Eider Todawara 86 Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Various

15 Harlequin Duck Hokkaido 87 Japanese Green Woodpecker Karuizawa

16 White-winged Scoter Hokkaido 88 White-backed Woodpecker Karuizawa

17 Black Scoter Hokkaido 89 Great-spotted Woodpecker Various

18 Long-tailed Duck Hokkaido 90 Ryuku Minivet Kadogwa Dam

19 Golden-eye Hokkaido 91 Bull-headed Shrike Arasaki

20 Goosander Various 92 (Brandt's) Jay Hokkaido

21 Red-breasted Merganser Various 93 Daurian Jackdaw Arasaki

22 Smew Hokkaido 94 House Crow Various

23 Northern Fulmar Various 95 Rook Various

24 Little Grebe Various 96 Japanese Crow Various

25 Great Crested Grebe Hyuga 97 Eastern Great Tit Various

26 Slavonian Grebe Hyuga 98 Coal Tit Hokkaido

27 Eurasian Spoonbill Kyushu 99 Varied Tit Karuizawa

28 Black-faced Spoonbill Uki 100 Asian Marsh Tit Hokkaido

29 Grey Heron Kyushu 101 Willow Tit Various

30 Eastern Cattle Egret Kyushu 102 Long-tailed Tit Kyushu

31 Intermediate Egret Arasaki 103 Barn Swallow Kyushu

32 Great White Egret Various 104 Brown-eared Bulbul Various

33 Little Egret Kyushu 105 Japanes Bush Warbler Kyushu

34 Doub-crested Cormorant Hyuga 106 Red-billed Leiothrix Kadogwa Dam

35 Pelagic Cormorant Various 107 Japanese White-eye Various

36 Japanese Cormorant Various 108 Winter Wren Karuizawa

37 Red-faced Cormorant Hokkaido 109 Nuthatch (Siberian) Various

38 Merlin Akeshi Bay 110 White-cheek’d Starling Various

39 Peregrine Falcon Dubai 111 Brown-headed Thrush Karuizawa

40 Black-eared Kite Various 112 Dusky Thrush Various

41 White-tailed Sea Eagle Hokkaido 113 Red-flanked Bluetail Kyushu

42 Steller's Sea Eagle Hokkaido 114 Daurian Redstart Kyushu

43 Hen Harrier Arasaki 115 Blue Rock Thrush Kyushu

44 Japanese Sparrowhawk Kyushu 116 Brown Dipper Various

45 Japanese Buzzard Various 117 Eye-browed Thrush Uki

46 Rough-legged Buzzard Cap Kiratappu 118 House Sparrow Various

47 Japanese Hawk Eagle Lake Miike 119 Tree Sparrow Various

48 Ruddy-breasted Crake Sendai River 120 Russet Sparrow Kyushu

49 Moorhen Kyushu 121 Japanese Accentor Various

50 Coot Various 122 Forest Wagtail Lake Miike

51 Sandhill Crane Arasaki 123 Grey Wagtail Various

52 White-naped Crane Arasaki 124 Japanese Wagtail Various

53 Common Crane Arasaki 125 White Wagtail Various

54 Hooded Crane Arasaki 126 Olive-backed Pipit Kyushu

55 Red-crowned Crane Tsurui 127 Buff-bellied Pipit Kyushu

56 Northern Lapwing Arasaki 128 Oriental Greenfinch Various

57 Long-billed Plover Sendai River 129 Siskin Various

58 Solitary Snipe Yoroushi 130 Asian Rosy Finch Kiratappu

59 Greenshank Uki 131 Pine Grosbeak Furen

60 Common Sandpiper Various 132 Hawfinch Karuizawa

61 Sanderling Kyushu 133 Grey-bellied Bullfinch Furen

62 Rock Sandpiper Nosappu 134 Japanese Grosbeak Karuizawa

63 Black-tailed Gull Various 135 Meadow Bunting Kyushu

64 Glaucous Gull Hokkaido 136 Pine Bunting Kadogwa Dam

65 Glaucous-winged Gull Hokkaido 137 Chestnut-eard Bunting Kadogwa Dam

66 Kamchatka Gull Rausu 138 Rustic Bunting Kadogwa Dam

67 Slaty-backed Gull Various 139 Elegant Bunting Lake Miike

68 Black-headed Gull Various 140 Black-faced Bunting Kyushu

69 Saunders Gull Uki 141 Grey Bunting Kyushu

70 Fulmar Hyuga

71 Brunich's Guillemot Habomai

Other Wildlife Seen Dubai

Japanese Macaque Ezo Deer 1 Peregrine Falcon

Hokkaido Red Squirrel Spotted Seal 2 Cattle Egret

Japanese Red Squirrel Red Fox 3 Slender-billed Gull

Black-faced Weasel Orca 4 Ring-necked Parakeet

5 Laughing Dove

Island named where more than once seen 6 Little Green Bee-eater

on that Island 7 White-cheeked Bulbul

8 Red-whiskered Bulbul

Various = multiple islands 9 House Sparrow

10 Indian Silverbill