Monday, December 31, 2007

A New Year

I have neglected this blog since may of this year and indeed been traitorous enough to take my less than frequent ramblings across to Birdforum.

However, as it is nearly 2008 I feel obliged to post something here and now about the past year birding and otherwise.

The first two months of the year saw me in the UK, enjoying the winter gloom and a quick week-long side trip in the winter suntrying to reconnect with my family after so many years in Japan and fight a serious bout of depression. I did little in the way of birding, but did build bridges in the family and recover my mental faculties, more important for me in the long term!

However, despte the serious nature of mission I did manage to catch up with one new bird for the UK , a drake American Wigeon at Strumpshaw Fen. my family indulged me with some nice trips to old favoured haunts such as Landguard, Holland Haven, Tollesbury Wick and Abberton. I was fortunate to see some nice birds such as Purple Sandpiper, Marsh Harrier, Great Northern Diver, Stonechat, Bittern, Corn Bunting, Smew and Slavonian Grebe. It was also interesting to see how much the avifuna is changing with Little Egret and Avocet, as well as Mediterranean Gull no longer the rarities they once were.

I also made trips to Derbyshire and Spain, againwith family, and had a wonderful time with all, and still managed to fit in some birds. The Slender-billled Gulls, Greater Flamingoes and a huge flock of Black-necked Grebe stick in my mind, as do the wintering Crag Martins there, or the Bonelli's Eagle soaring high over an impressive cliff behind Benidorm. The little birds in the countryside surrounding my relatives beautiful home were also wonderful- Serin, Sardinian Warbler, Black Redstart, Crested Lark, Southern grey Shrike, Spotless Starling, Chiffchaffs aplenty and the resident Barn Owl on a neighbourng barn.



In mid-February it was back to Hiroshima, where a part-time work schedule gave me time to bird locally a little. Most of the time was spent at Hiroshima Catle or the local Otagawa gull roost. I was fortunate enough to see Yellow-browed Warbler and Korean Bush Warbler on my local patch of Hiroshima Castle, both first records for the Prefecture and an equally rare for there Great Spotted Woodpecker. Among the gulls it was good to tussle and lose with the ID of many birds, but also satisfying to start to recognize the various forms we have in the region.





March and April saw me make a few local trips to my favorite haunt of Minami-Iwakuni and the Yahata River and a return to full-time work. Some good birds passed through, such as Red-throated Pipit, Temminck's Stint, Black-winged Stilt, Far Eastern Curlew, Ruddy Crake, Water Rail and many more. The pick of the bunch were a Short-billed Dowitcher seen all too briefly and a huge flock (for these parts) of 27 Garganey! A Hoopoe 5 minutes from my house, in the same park where I found Japanese Waxwing feeding on ivy berries above a group of elderly japanese busy enjoying their 'Hanami' Cherry Bloosom party. A Wryneck, Japanese Waxwing and Japanese Thrush also put in appearances at Hiroshima Castle, as did Narcissus and Blue and White Flycatcher.



May saw me make my now almost annual spring pilgrimage to Mishima Island in the Sea of Japan. Neil Davidson and I had an amazing week with over 135 species beween us. The highlights are just too numerous to mention, but include surprising a Japanese Night Heron on a quiet shady track, only my 2nd ever, no less than 5 Chinese Pond Herons, finally catching up with two rare starlings- a White-shouldered and a Daurian, a huge fall of Buntings and Warblers including a magnificent male Chestnut Bunting and Yellow-browed Buntings and Yellow-browed Warbler in the 10's! My only disappointment was Neil jamming Japanese Quail, a bird I have yet to see in Japan and by virtue of being on the toilet missing a first for Japan in the shape of a Song Sparrow only 10 meters from where Mark Carmody and I identified another first for Japan a Blunt-winged Warbler the previous year!

After May, things quietened down birdingwise, with only a brief visit to Mt Garyuzan producing anything of note, in the shape of a Ruddy Kingfisher, and a good supporting cast of the summer birds there- Siberian Blue Robin and Brown Flycatcher being the pick of the rest. I also managed to seea splendid male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher at Hiroshima Castle. In June I settled in for the long hot summer, an increasingly busy schedule and a more lively social life, partaking of the amber nectar a little too much and not winnning Yahtzee as much as I'd like or for that matter scrabble on Facebook! See what an exciting life I lead.



As autumn approached I began to be more active in my birding. Hiroshima Castle had a good showing from the begging of September to the end of October, but nothing like the previous year - Woodcock, Blue Rock Thrush, Gray's Grasshopper Warbler, Middendorf's Grasshopper Warbler, 5 Siberian Rubythroat, Wryneck, 2 Black-browed Reed Warbler, as well as numerous Short-tailed Bush Warbler and the 5 'regular' flycatchers kept things interesting. Unfortunately, a Lanceolated Warbler, still a 'dream bird' for me, put in an appreance one rainy October morning but managed to avoid my gaze.

I made several trips outside the Prefecture and caught up with two lifers, 4 amazing Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Fukuoka, along with a supporint cast of 27 species of waders, the pick being 50+ Broad-billed Sandpiper, 2 Ringed Plover, 1 Little Stint, along with a couple of Eastern Yellow Wagtails and the amzing site of 3 Peregrines trying to pick off lunch among 800 waders.



However, the best find of the autumn was 3 Amur Falcons, a long wanted to see species, which I would not have found had the Baillon's Crake that had been reported in the same location (my 2nd dip of the autumn) appeared, it was such a oy to see them hawking for insects above the long grass of a small airoprt and then settling on wires to feed on grasshoppers, especially adfter the disappointment of dipping the same species the week before.

The strangest find of the autumn was a Chinese Bulbul well out of range in SW Kyushu, at the same site where I missed Amur Falcon, though I did manage to see some good birds tat day, such as Merlin, Red-throated Pipit, Eastern Marsh Harriers galore and amammalian highlight a Racoon Dog.

The final few moths saw me busy with Halloween, Xmas parties and fighting off coughs, cold and flu, but stiill the last two months held a few surprises, the first Japane Crane for 100 years in Yamaguchi, with a supporting cast of Black-faced Spoonbill, Grey-cheeked Bunting, White-fronted Goose, Woocock, Saunder's Gull, Merlin, and 70 Baikal Teal. Locally Baikal Teal, at Hiroshima Castle and a lone Goshawk by the Otagawa River were a nice Xmas Present on a Xmas Day bike ride.



The last few days of the year were touched by sadness by the passing of my friends beautufl baby boy Asuto. On this the last day of the year my thoughts go with him and his mother, in the hope he will find happiness in his new life and to all my other family, friends, co-workers and even blog-readers, wishing the new year brings health, joy and prosperity in the coming year.