This week I have been mostly ..finding rare birds!

It is not often I get to say this, but suddenly downtown Hiroshima is turning into a postivie Avian Mecca.

In the past week I have seen more rare or unusual birds than in the past 8 years in the grounds of Hiroshima Castle. I would like to pretend that I have been finding all the truly rare birds ...but well I didn't, that was mosty down to Sumida-san..who is rapidly turning into something of a twitcher..pretty much unheard of outside Tokyo.

The local birders have accused me of having magical pockets..little do they know that this purple patch cannot last!

We have had so many good birds, that a birder from Osaka even turned up!

So what is all the fuss about? Well the star players in this surreal avian movie-like feast are mainly some locustela warblers that seem to think they are mice (big ones mind) and creep around, pretending that the sad little few box hedges we have are the wide grasslands of hokkaido.

In the past week, we have had 3 or 4 Grays Grasshopper Warblers (1 adult and 2-3 juveniles) and 4 Middendorf's Grasshopper Warblers (2 aduts and 2 juveniles)...sometiimes 2 of each species at once.

This has been backed up by an admirable supporting cast: 1 Brown Hawk Owl, 2 Oriental Honey Buzzard, 1 Ashy Minivet, 1 Black-browed Reed Warbler, 5 Stub-tailed bush Warblers, 10+ Eastern Crowned Warblers, 2-3 Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, 5+ Arctic Warblers, 10+ Brown Flycatchers, 2-3 Sooty Flycatchers, 5+ Narcissus Flycatchers, 2 Blue and White Flycatchers, 1-2 Grey-streakd Flycatchers, 2 Japanese Paradise Flycatchers, 1 Siberian Blue Robin, 2 Grey Thrush, 1 Swinhoes Robin, 20+ Red-cheeked Starling..and a Yellow Bunting (alas I missed the Bunting, Grey-Streaked Fly and Swinhoe's Robin).all in two small green oasis of hiroshima Castle and Shukkein Garden.

I have even found time to fit in a couple of side trips to the hasu fields of Minami-Iwakuni, with a Red-necked Phalarope and Long-toed Stint taking the wader prizes and an odd gull (answers on a postcard please!) running a close second.

Also managed to find a Greater Sand Plover and Marsh Sandpiper at the ever declining Yahata River.

What ever will be next...I have a wish list, but don't want to jinx things... The photos of the grays Grashopper Warbler and the iddendorf's Warblers are Sumida-san's..the phalarope and flycatcher are my...alas rather pathetic attempts!

If you want tosee more of his stunning images, go to his blog:

http://darrowby.seesaa.net