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Japan in Spring May 7–20, 2019

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Japan in Spring May 7–20, 2019 JAPAN IN SPRING MAY 7–20, 2019 Okinawa Woodpecker / Okinawa / photo: Wendy Naruo LEADER: KAZ SHINODA LIST COMPILED BY: KAZ SHINODA VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM JAPAN IN SPRSPRINGING MAY 77––––20,20, 2019 BBByBy Kaz Shinoda While we were smacking our lips over the Japanese delicacies at the farewell dinner at our hotel in Narita, we listed the highlights of our tour. Yellow-browed Bunting / Tobishima / photo: Wendy Naruo One member of the group said that the quest of migrating passerines on Tobishima while walking several miles a day was most rewarding. Indeed, we saw 9 species of Old World buntings, including such rare ones as Little, Yellow, and Yellow-browed Bunting, on the island. Also, we stumbled into a few mega-rarities in Japan, which was very lucky. We got some great views of Radde's Warbler and Siberian Chiffchaff, both of which are almost vagrants to Japan. Tobishima was a great magnet to migrating passerines again this spring. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Japan in Spring, 2019 Radde's Warbler / Tobishima / photo: Wendy Naruo For some of the group, our two-overnight stay at Ryokan Obako on Tobishima was a trip highlight. Staying at this traditional Japanese inn owned and run by a local fisherman's family provided our group with intriguing cultural experiences, including Japanese styles of living and culinary delights. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Japan in Spring, 2019 Narcissus Flycatcher / Tobishima / photo: Wendy Naruo Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Japan in Spring, 2019 Also prized were a mini birding tour at Amami Natural Forest Park. The warden of the park voluntarily led us to several "hot spots" of the park. He let us see a tree cavity where the endemic Amami Ishikawa's Frog was roosting. He showed us two Himehabu Snakes, an Otton Frog, and some Sword-tailed Newts, all endemic to the Nansei Shoto Islands, in a little pool, by which a pair of Owston's Woodpeckers were nesting in a tree, where a chick was calling continuously. Then he told us to wait at a spot where we could see some steps in the forest. He said that he often saw Ryukyu Robin, a great skulker, hopping around on the steps. As soon as he whistled robins to show up, a male, a female, and two juveniles suddenly appeared, and surprisingly, the female began to feed the fledged chicks! It was as if it were magic. Ryukyu Robin / Amami / photo: Wendy Naruo The spot-lit night-bird drive on Amami also garnered top honors. Mr. Tsuneda, a local bird authority, guided us into virgin forest. He was so efficient that he could find local specialty birds, mammals, and herptiles one after another, using his powerful flashlight. We were very lucky to see three roosting Amami Thrushes. This thrush is endemic to Amami, and a critically endangered species, of which the global population is only a few hundred. Many Lidth's Jays and a Ruddy Kingfisher were roosting in the foliage, nocturnal Ryukyu Scops-Owls were vocal in the dark forest, and Amami Woodcock were on the forest paths poking around for worms. Also, he spotted about a dozen Amami Black Rabbits as Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Japan in Spring, 2019 well as a Habu, the notorious , venomous snake on the island. I agree that the night -drive was amazingly productive and truly enjoyable. Amami Thrush / Amami / photo: Wendy Naruo One of the top highlights mentioned by most members of the group was the sighting of two global rarities, Okinawa Woodpecker and Okinawa Rail, at Benoki Dam in Yanbaru Forest. Indeed, it was truly exciting to watch three Okinawa Woodpeckers foraging in red tropical flowers and two Okinawa Rails poking their beaks into grass stacks for invertebrates almost at the same time. We enjoyed the awesome views at quite close range. Usually, pre-breakfast birding around our hotel in Yanbaru Forest is very productive, but that morning, we got a mere glimpse of a rail crossing the road, which was a bit disappointing, so we headed for the dam area after a late breakfast. To tell the truth, I didn't expect so much out of midday birding in the subtropical forest, but actually it turned out to be a bonanza! I learned that that is what birding is. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Japan in Spring, 2019 Okinawa Rail / Okinawa / photo: Kerry Brandin I agree with the participants that these were definitely the highlights of the tour, and great birding was complemented by a great group ready for the next round of new experiences in Japan. The tour was very successful! Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 7 Japan in Spring, 2019 Japanese Green Pheasant (National Bird of Japan) / Yokohama / photo: Wendy Naruo Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 8 Japan in Spring, 2019 ITINERARY: 5-8 – Assembly in Tokyo: At 7:00 p.m., I met Jan and Kerry in the lobby of Excel Hotel Tokyu, located in Terminal 2 at Haneda International Airport. The other participants arrived later in the evening. Following introductions, we proceeded to dinner in the hotel’s excellent restaurant where we became acquainted. 5-9 – Tokyo to Sakata: Our 11:10 a.m. flight to Shonai Airport allowed for a leisurely breakfast at Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu and repacking without pressure; we arrived at Shonai on-time at midday, taking a shuttle to our hotel in Sakata. While en route, we spied the first birds of the trip in and near rice paddies along the roadside. Following check-in at Hotel Inn Sakata, we had lunch at a nearby steak and burger restaurant with a Japanese touch. An afternoon excursion via taxi to the nearby Mogami River for our first “on the ground” birding was very productive, including a nice variety of waterfowl, shorebirds, and passerines. Dinner at Hotel Inn Sakata. 5-10 – Sakata to Tobishima: Following breakfast at the hotel, we loaded into a taxi for our drive to Sakata’s port for our 9:00 a.m. ferry trip to Tobishima Island, offshore in the Sea of Japan. We stopped at a convenience store on our way to choose items for lunch, a routine with which we became quite familiar. (It should be noted that the variety of prepared foods available in Japanese convenience stores is truly impressive; don’t think in terms of hot dogs under heat lamps!) Although the boat trip was quite choppy, we birded from the exterior deck during the hour and a half passage, of which the highlights were two large flocks of more than 100 Streaked Shearwaters and a pod of about a dozen Pacific White-sided Dolphins. After checking into our traditional Japanese inn at the harbor waterfront, the Ryokan Obako, we walked up to the island’s plateau with its forests and vegetable gardens where we spent a productive afternoon finding Asian passerine migrants. 5-11 – Tobishima: Some in the group were up early, birding nearby in the closest gardens before our 7:30 a.m. traditional breakfast in the inn. Following breakfast, we received a boxed lunch and walked to the school’s athletic field at Tobishima’s north end. The athletic field is a Tobishima hotspot with its grassy expanse surrounded on two sides by native forest. Then, we walked up to the island’s plateau where we spent most of the day birding in gardens and forest. We then walked back to the inn to have dinner. Our iPhones’ health app said that we walked about 7 miles while birding today. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 9 Japan in Spring, 2019 5-12 – Tobishima to Tokyo: After breakfast at 7:30, we walked up to the island’s plateau again and added such cool birds as Siberian Blue Robin and Siberian Rubythroat to our list. We returned to the harbor to board the ferry a little after 11:30 before beginning our return voyage to Sakata at 12:15. Birding from the ferry was even better than two days previous on glassy seas. We saw more shearwaters and phalaropes from the deck. A taxi awaited us at dockside to transport us to Hiyoriyama Park in Sakata, where we had a picnic, watching such cool birds as flycatchers, warblers, starlings, and thrushes. Later in the afternoon, our taxi conveyed us to Shonai Airport for our ANA flight back to Haneda, Tokyo. Dinner and overnight at Excel Hotel Tokyu. 5-13 – Yokohama & Kamakura: We met up at the hotel lobby at 9:30 a.m. and rented a van to head for Yokohama. Our target birds were a few Japanese endemics. The first spot was Maioka Park located in the woods. Then we visited the Sakai River Wetland Park, where we saw 3 stunning male Japanese Green Pheasants, the national bird of Japan as well as an endemic species to the country. After birding, we went sightseeing in Kamakura and visited Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, one of the most famous shrines in Japan. After we had traditional Japanese cuisine at a restaurant in Kamakura, we made a return drive back to our hotel in Haneda. 5-14 – Tokyo to Amami: A leisurely breakfast in the hotel before our 12:05 flight from Haneda to our next destination, Amami Island in Japan’s southerly Ryukyu chain. On arriving at Amami Airport, we secured a rental vehicle which we loaded and drove to Amami Natural Forest Park, where we got great views of the regional specialty birds. Then we dropped in at Akina to see some farmland birds. We had dinner at our hotel, the West Court Amami in Naze, a small city an hour to the southwest.
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