On the way home we checked the forest pool again. Sadly it was also the wrong time of day again.
Got some nice views of this female Japanese Thrush at least.
A female
Category: Shikotsuko
More birds from the pool
The above Narcissus Flycatcher was perched in nice light away from the pool.
I’ve seen about 20 or so species at the pool including some dirt common ones………..
A dark pool
We sopped by a well-known forest pool a couple of times recently. Unfortunately we were there in the morning both times when the light is awful.
Still a good place to see some of the shyer forest birds like Japanese Thrush, Grey Bunting and Siberian Blue Robin though…………
Eastern Crowned Warblers were particularly common.
Yet more Narcs
Some more Narcissus Flcatchers from the forest pool…………..
Japanese White-eyes
Various common species also visted the pool: Eurasian Nutatch, Eastern Great, Coal, Marsh and Varied Tits and Japanese White-eyes. The latter species seem popular with some of the local photographers.
Kamchatka Leaf Warbler
Eastern Crowned Warblers are the common phylloscopus breeders in Hokkaido. Another species, Sakhalin Leaf Warbler also breeds but seemingly not in the forests near this pool. This species, Kamchatka Leaf Warbler, is a common passage migrant in late May/early June. It is part of the Arctic Warbler complex that was recently split into 3 species.
Not many visit the pool, just the few passage migrants that happen to be passing through that part of the forest I suppose.
Eastern Crowned Warbler
Another common visitor to the pool was Eastern Crowned Warbler. Their songs could be heard everywhere in the forest.
Short-tailed Bush Warbler
Yet another forest skulker. Short-tailed Bush Warbler (also known as Asin Stubtail) are common summer visitors but are small unobtrusive birds that are easily overlooked.
Their song is so high pitched my 50 year old ears can’t hear it.
Siberian Blue Robins
My personal favourite bird at the forest pool is Siberian Blue Robin. Another summer skulker. Several males showed up but only 1 female…………..
They look better against the forest plants than they do in the water………..
More Narcs
One of the commonest visitors to the pool were Narcisus Fycatcher. They often came together as pairs…………..the one below is a female.
Grey Bunting
Another difficult species to photograph is Grey Bunting. They occur in dark wet forests and tend to keep down in the long sasa grass.
A male visited the pool a couple of times………………
Japanese Thrush
A male Japanese Thrush at a well-known forest pool near Tomakomai. This is a common summer visitor but is a shy forest dweller and is generally difficult to photograph. The male put in 2 appearances as did the female but even at the pool they are jumpy and don’t stick around for long.
