Japanese Waxwing and Bohemian Waxwing (Dave Farrow) JAPAN – THE COMPLETE TOUR 12 – 28 NOVEMBER 2017 with HONSHU EXTENSION to DECEMBER 4 A BIRDQUEST CUSTOM TOUR FOR STEVE BIRD LEADERS: DAVE FARROW, STEVE BIRD and GINA BEEBE NICHOL. GROUP MEMBERS: TONY BAVERSTOCK, NICK COBB, SIMON FOGG, RON HOFF, DOLLYANN MYERS, WINNIE POON, ROY SMITH and JOHN RICHARDSON. Our tour to Japan covered a huge range of territory, combining the best of the winter birding circuit with four of the smaller islands, each with their own endemic species. In the Ryukyu Islands we saw Ryukyu Serpent Eagles, Slaty-legged Crake, Amami Woodcock, Japanese Wood Pigeon, Japanese Scops Owl, Ryukyu Scops Owl, Northern Boobook, Grey Nightjar, Owston's Woodpecker, Okinawa Woodpecker, Lidth's Jay, Ishigaki Tit, Japanese Leaf Warbler, Amami and Okinawa Robins. In Kyushu we saw thousands of Hooded and White- naped Cranes, Baikal Teal, Green Pheasant, Black-faced Spoonbill, Long-billed Plover, Saunders's Gull, White-backed Woodpecker, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Daurian Jackdaw, Chinese Penduline Tit, Brown-headed Thrush and Yellow-throated Bunting. A trip out to Izu islands produced Laysan, Black-footed and Short-tailed Albatross, Owston's Tit, White's Thrush and Japanese Robin, while the winter 1 Japan Custom tour 2017 wonderland of Hokkaido provided us with Steller's Sea Eagles, Red-crowned Cranes, Harlequin Duck, Stejneger's Scoter, Red-faced Cormorant, Pigeon and Spectacled Guillemot, Blakiston's Fish Owl, Ural Owl, Bohemian and Japanese Waxwings. On our Honshu extension we saw Marsh Grassbird, Copper Pheasant, Solitary Snipe, Japanese Accentor, Long-tailed Rosefinch, and a whole host of great waterfowl. We gathered at Tokyo's Haneda airport and began our adventure with a long flight to (almost) the end of the Ryukyu island chain to Ishigakijima, a flight that took us fairly close to Mount Fuji, visible on the starboard side. On arriving on the sub-tropical island in the mid-afternoon we picked up our vehicles, but heavy rain put paid to any birding today. We ventured out on a drizzly morning, finding Ryukyu Green Pigeon, but rather more surprising was a Grey Nightjar flying around in daytime, a flock of 35 Brambling, and a calling Yellow- browed Warbler. Despite the birds seeming rather quiet following the overnight rain, in areas of open fields and forest edge we saw Japanese Sparrowhawks, Chinese Bulbul, Green Sandpiper and Common Greenshank, and eventually we saw Ryukyu Serpent Eagle flying along the edge of the tall trees, then perching along a canal and giving us some great views. On nearby shorelines we saw Kentish, Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Dunlin and Ruddy Turnstones. A pair of Slaty-legged Crakes surprised us as they tried to cross a road, offering a brief view as they scooted for cover, however they could not be coaxed out of the thick undergrowth. On another beach we found Pacific Golden Plovers, Grey Plover and Common Greenshanks, before we returned to the interior of the island. Around livestock paddocks we found Brown Shrike and White-breasted Waterhen, and as the rain returned we slowly drove forest lanes where we found another very obliging Ryukyu Serpent Eagle perched over the narrow road. At dusk we heard both Northern Boobook and Ryukyu Scops Owls, but the rain seemed to deter them from making an appearance. Ryukyu Serpent Eagle (Dave Farrow) 2 Japan Custom tour 2017 The next morning we returned to Banna Park where we found several of the ashy-plumaged Ishigaki Tits, Ryukyu Minivets and Asian Brown Flycatcher, then further inland we encountered a further two Ryukyu Serpent Eagles, some impressive butterflies, but few other birds were found in the quiet jungle. Moving to Okinawa, we traveled the length of the island in darkness, and had a busy day exploring the forests of Yamburu. Soon after our arrival at the hotel we found a vocal and obliging Japanese Scops Owl in nearby trees, followed shortly afterwards by a confident and photogenic Northern Boobook. We tried for the hat trick, but the Ryukyu Scops Owls wouldn’t play along. The Okinawa Robins were obliging, with many hopping at the roadsides, while Pryer’s Woodpecker played hard to get until mid-afternoon when we finally had a good look. Okinawa Rails? Vocal in many places both day and night, but tried and tested strategies failed and we just couldn’t get even a glimpse of one. A flock of Red Crossbills was a surprise and almost certainly an Okinawa rarity. Another Japanese Scops Owl was seen well on our second evening, and the pre dawn of the next day produced a Ryukyu Scops Owl, sitting on the side of the road. We travelled to Amami Oshima via Kagoshima, where our first stop in the Amami forests produced an Owston’s Woodpecker and several Lidth’s Jays. Our nightdrive produced many Amami Black Rabbits a couple of Ryukyu Scops Owls, but alas no Woodcocks. Further work was required! Birding the next morning gave us some looks at the shy Amami Robins, and flight views of some Japanese Woodpigeons. The weather decided to close in and we had an afternoon of rain, and exploring a far part of the island we eventually found Amami Woodcock at the roadside after dark, returning to our hotel in an atrocious rainstorm. Northern Boobook (Dave Farrow) Ryukyu Scops Owl (Dave Farrow) Next stop was Kyushu, and the wooded hills of Mi-ike in the shadow of Mt Kirishima. We were met by a large flock of Russet Sparrows, and fields full of Black-backed Wagtails together with our first Japanese Skylarks, Buff-bellied Pipits and White-cheeked Starlings. Around the forested crater lake we found Yellow-throated Bunting, Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, a Yellow-browed Warbler, and two female White-backed Woodpeckers having a tiff. A look-out onto a fruiting tree produced our first Pale and Brown-headed Thrushes and a lovely male Japanese Green Woodpecker, we found a surprise late migrant male Narcissus Flycatcher and a distant Mountain Hawk Eagle soaring over the forested volcano. Moving from here we visited a reservoir where we saw hordes of rather shy Mandarin Ducks, Brown Dipper, and a Crested Kingfisher perched on a wire over the mountain river. We rolled into our minshuku at Arasaki in darkness, our home for the next three nights, with the sound of bugling Cranes all around. We began at dawn in the fields where hundreds of Hooded and a scattering of White-naped Cranes were roosting before they descended in their thousands onto tracks where grain had been laid out for them. We picked out four Sandhill Cranes during our stay, plus a few Common Cranes. Oriental Rooks were abundant, together with a few Daurian Jackdaws including a nice pied adult. On one morning we enjoyed the sight of the Cranes coming and going against an orange dawn sky, with a range of Pipits including a single 3 Japan Custom tour 2017 Richard’s, several Red-throated, and many Buff-bellieds. Chestnut-eared Buntings showed nicely as did Chinese Penduline Tits, and a cock Green Pheasant gave a good display as he sprinted across the rice paddies. A wet morning produced a Wryneck, our first Dusky Thrushes and a flock of White- shouldered Starlings. Side trips included visiting the Sendai Gawa, a rocky river where we saw Long-billed Plovers and Japanese Wagtails, another Crested Kingfisher and some Japanese Grosbeaks. On the west coast we visited two areas of tidal mudflats where we found many Black-faced Spoonbills, hordes of wildfowl that included a few Baikal Teal, many Common Greenshank, over a hundred Saunders’s Gulls, a flock of Vega Gulls with a few taimyrensis Heuglin’s and Black-tailed Gulls, Brown Boobies circling offshore, Japanese Cormorants sat on rocky outcrops, a perched Merlin and thousands of Bramblings. Returning to Haneda, we rolled our luggage down to Takeshiba port and boarded the ferry to the Izu Islands. As we left the shelter of Tokyo Bay in the early hours, the ship began to thump and shudder as it ran head on into a strong blow from the south. The ship continued from Miyakejima and headed for Hachijojima at the terminus of its route. We cowered in shelter from the sheets of spray breaking over the bow of the ship, finding a few seabirds shooting past over the foaming waves. We were happy to see several Laysan and Black- footed Albatrosses cruising past, a couple of Tristram’s Storm Petrels, Streaked Shearwaters, and some dark-morph ‘Pacific’ Fulmars that had us fooled for a while as to their identity. On reaching Hachijojima, the ship turned across the wind, and we had the scary sight of seeing two crew members being picked up by the howling gale and thrown across the deck! Once the ship had safely turned we enjoyed a tail wind back to Miyakejima where we landed, and were whisked away to our hotel. We headed to remnant forest surrounding a crater lake, and found the Izu endemic Owston’s Tit, and a Japanese Robin bathing in a puddle. We scoured the forest the next morning, unable to locate any Izu Thrushes, but a showy White’s Thrush was much enjoyed. The ship came back for us (contrary to expectations, as it was still very stormy) and once we were steaming northwards into the ‘Oshima Triangle’ we saw many Laysan and Black-footed Albatrosses, and a huge immature Short-tailed Albatross came drifting by. Hurrah! Owston’s Tit (Steve Bird) White’s Thrush (Steve Bird) We spent the night in Tokyo and flew to Kushiro in the early morning, finding this part of Hokkaido to be snow-free.