They breed in pristine mountains somewhere in northeast Asia but in the winter they slum it in the flotsam and jetsam in the corner of fishing ports………….
Fish crates are used for perching instead of heather or moss-covered rocks………..
Slumming it
Category: Sawara
An influx
Asian Rosy Finches were everywhere on Sunday: we saw them in at least 4 different locations.
In the corner………
There were some more Asian Rosy Finches in the corner of another port.
Shame it was in the harsh midday sun……….
Some cropped Harlequins
I was trying to get some Harlequin Duck BIF shots in one of the small ports. All heavy crops: they were a little shy.
The watcher
This Peregrine was atop an old lighthouse…………….
More winter finches
There were lots of Asian Rosy Finch on the coast near Sawara today.
I’ve already seen this species several times this winter but not for several weeks…………
Bullfinch, Redpoll and Brambling were also around.
A break from Waxwings
I headed up to Yakumo yesterday and was amazed to find virtually no Eagles. Only about 6 or so, they’ve eaten all the Salmon they could find and have gone. I was very surprised: in the 19 or so winters I’ve been going up there, this is by far the earliest they’ve dispersed.
Not much else around there either. On the way back one of the ports at least had a few common birds like the above Harlequin and this Great Crested Grebe.
Today we went east of town to the Hawk-Eagle spot and there were 2 of them. This is an immature.
Other stuff around included White-tailed Eagle, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-necked grebe and Peregrine.
The Waxwings were still in town this morning and I saw some in Yakumo and Esan this weekend too.
A cold walk in a bleak spot
Today we were in the Onuma area. At Sawara we took a walk on the grasslands: a cold bleak place with no birds except a few crows, kites and gulls. The location is famous for Gyyfalcons and other raptors as well as winter buntings. But not today.
A nearby port had a few ducks including half a dozen Harlequins. Also around were Red-necked, Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes, Pelagic Cormorant but not much else.
At Onuma all 5 species of woodpecker were present as well as Smew, Whooper Swan, Eurasian Siskin, Dusky Thrush and Eurasian Treecreeper.
Some HIFs
Some Harlequin Ducks taking flight in Sawara this morning. Not much on that stretch of coast: Black Scoter, Pelagic Cormorant, Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls and several White-tailed Eagles being the only noteworthy species.
Glaucous-winged Gull
Glauocus-winged Gulls are common winter visitors and can be easily seen on all the local coasts at this time of year. Like the paler Glaucous Gulls they seem so evocative of far northern latitudes. I wonder if this individual, in Sawara this afternoon, comes across Polar Bears or Snowy Owls in summer?
Sleety Monday
Really rotten weather today: sleet, rain and snow. I was with an old birding friend and we went to all the local spots over the weekend. A shame I was labouring under a nasty cold which combined with the aforementioned weather kind of scuppered any chances for nice photos. These Harlequin Ducks were taken in a brief 10 minute window when all precipitation stopped.
Birds seen at the weekend included 8 species of gull with large numbers of Black-legged Kittiwakes heading south off the Pacific coast, the usual raptors including both species of eagle at Esan, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Peregrine, Brent Goose, Black Woopecker and Smew.
Harlequin BIF
A Harlequin Duck in flight this sfternoon from a bitterly cold Pacific coast……………
I was showing Philip, an American birder living in Tokyo, the eagles in Yakumo. Unfortunately the weather up there was absolutely vile. Whiteout conditions and we even got stuck in the snow in an uncleared car park…………….and the only way we could dig the car out was with our tripod and monopod.
A few interesting birds about though including Great-crested Grebe, Black Woodpecker and the eagles of course, even if we could barely see them in the blizzards.