Birding Diary July - December, 2005

Birding Diary (Top)

12-13 November : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, Temp in Hara Village: High 55.8, Low 27.3 (F)
The additional construction in Tateshina was completed. We had a final meeting and now we got our cozy wooden stove room. We did't see any particular birds, we saw a bird-watching party in Gakuroku park, our nearby park. Was it a bird watching point? This small park...? Anyway, we felt the beginning of winter. Now we are waiting for Red Crossbill to come.
Birds we saw were Little Egret, Gray Heron, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Tree Sparrow, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

5-8- November : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Cloudy and rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 60.4, Low 32.5 (F)
From 3-7 November, Mutsume-sai festival, a campus festival of Saitama University was held. My husband was in charge of poster session on Saturday, and took compensatory days off on Monday and Tuesday. It was the best weekend for viewing autumnal leaves. We visited park, temple and shrine which were noted as a tourist spots. Each car parking space was full with cars and sightseeing buses. It was one of the most beautiful autumn leaves I've ever seen. The yellow, red and green leaves in Enrei-kouen park, the cardinal red in Chouen-ji temple and colorful trees in Izuhaya-jinja shrine. From the window of our house in Tateshina, we also could see bright golden colors. And more autumn leaves in Yatsugatake Nature Cultural Park. We enjoyed balmy weather, the strange-shaped clouds and the leaves in various shapes.
Birds we saw were Mallard, Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Kestrel, Lapwing, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Wren, Daurian Redstart, Bush Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Japanese White-eye, Rustic Bunting, Brambling, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Grosbeak, Hawfinch, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow and F-O-X.

21-23 October : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, Temp in Hara Village: High 58.5, Low 37.4 (F)
Birds we saw were Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Wren, Daurian Redstart, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

15-17 October : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, cloudy and rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 65.1, Low 52.7 (F)
Birds we saw were Great Cormorant, Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Bush Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

7-10 October : Togakushi & Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, cloudy and rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 74.7, Low 50.9 (F)
10/9 Togakushi 9:30-15:00
Birds we saw in Togakushi were Little Grebe, Goshawk, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, Brown-eared Bulbul, Brown Thrush, Bush Warbler, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Gray-spotted Flycatcher, Willow Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Rustic Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Brambling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

Tateshina
Birds we saw in Tateshina were Black-crowned Night Heron, Mallard, Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow Gray Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, White's Ground Thrush, Bush Warbler, Gray-spotted Flycatcher, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Oriental Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

22-26 September : Shirakaba-touge Pass & Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, cloudy and rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 78.3, Low 55.2 (F)
9/23-24 Shirakaba-touge Pass 9/23 8:45-15:20 & 9/24 8:45-14:05
It takes about four hours from Tokyo to Shirakaba-touge pass. We drove two hours in advance, the night before, and had good sleep in Tateshina. Next day, we had a reservation for the hot-spring hotel in Norikura-kogen Height. According to the weather forecast, it seemd not good. And the result was...we could see blue sky and enjoyed hawk watching. I couldn't take any good photos of birds, it was hard to take photos with my scope + digital camera. The number was...902(9/23) and 103(9/24). I thought it was enough to satisfy photographers and bird watchers, but surprisingly enugh, 3,441 on 26 September!! Shirakabatouge is great. It sure is. We will be back here again, next year. See you next year, migrating hawks!
Other birds we saw in Shirakaba-touge were Osprey, Honey Buzzard, Black Kite, Sparrow Hawk, Common Buzzard, Gray-faced Buzzard-Eagle, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Pigeon, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, Bush Warbler, Brown Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Oriental Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Jay and Jungle Crow.
Tateshina and its vicinities
The mountain villa is under construction!! The chain-saw works and the sound of banging the nails are noisy. During daytime, we go shopping around steel racks and looking for the flycatchers. We couldn't find flycatchers in the parks: Gakuroku and Togari-ishi. And we realized that "the lighthouse does not shine on its base." Sooty Flycatcher was flying out behind the house. Thank you for coming to our house. Please stay long and rest for a while...
Other birds we saw in Tateshina were Gray Heron, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Oriental Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

16-19 September : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny and balmy, Temp in Hara Village: High 83.1, Low 51.8 (F)
We had three consecutive holidays, including Respect-for -the-Aged Day. After my husbund returned from his work, we started for Tateshina in Friday's evening. I enjoyed easy driving at night: it got already dark and there was no time limit to reach our house in Tateshina. There is our favorite small park near our house, Gakuroku-park. Every year in this season, we enjoy seeing Flycatchers at dusk. We saw a good harvest of dogwoodtrees, but no flycatchers... ...coming weekend...???
Other birds we saw were Common Buzzard, Rufous Turtle Dove, Ural Owl, White-rumped Swift, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted, Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, Gray Wagtail, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

9-11 September : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, Temp in Hara-village: High 82.4, Low 59.5 (F)
In September, we usually go to Tateshina to take a nap, but not this year. It is "under construction". We have to go out in the daylight hours. To see the migration birds, we went to the nearby park, but we could not find them. Another a couple of days, maybe. Next week, we will be back here again.
Birds we saw/heard in Tateshina were Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, Gray Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Brown Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

3-5 September : Karuizawa, Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny after heavy rain, Temp in Hara-village: High 84.2, Low 61.9 (F)
For the first time in this year, we went to Karuizawa Bird Forest. There is our favorite Azumaya, and we always have breakfast here. In this season, we didn't expect to hear the bird songs and... as expected. There was no bird watchers except us in the forest. We just took a walk at ease. After that, we went to the relative's house to pick up the goods to be moved, and got them in our small car to the limit of its load capacity. Good job today, Mai-chan. In Tateshina, I felt the autumn flavour and after returning to Tokyo, I realized that it was a dream.... I was exposed to the chirring of cicadas in chorus...and tired.
Birds we saw/heard this weekend were Little Grebe, Gray Heron, Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Common Buzzard, Rufous Turtle Dove, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Ashy Minivet, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Gray Thrush, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Japanese White-eye, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Azure-winged Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

20-22 August : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, Temp in Hara-village: High 83.1, Low 63.7 (F)
The construction has begun. In mid-October, we will have our cozy room with a woodstove.
Birds we saw/heard in Tateshina were Great Egret, Gray Heron, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, House Martin, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Azure-winged Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

12-17 August : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny occasionally rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 84.9, Low 63.9 (F)
Birds we saw/heard were Great Egret, Gray Heron, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Wren, Siberian Bluechat, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Bush Warbler, Arctic Warbler, Pale-legged Willow Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Varied Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Bullfinch, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

5-8 August : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, cloudy and rain, Temp in Hara Village: High 88.2, Low 67.6 (F)
Other birds we saw/heard were Gray Heron, Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Pheasant, Rufous Turtle Dove, Little Cuckoo, White-rumped Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, White Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Bull-headed Shrike, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Azure-winged Magpie, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.

25-27 July : Tateshina and its vicinities (Nagano) Sunny, Temp in Hara Village: High 85.6, Low 61.2 (F)
Birds we saw/heard this weekend were Gray Heron, Rufous Turtle Dove, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Gray Wagtail, Brown-eared Bulbul, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Great Tit, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling and Jungle Crow.

17-23 July : Stuttgart, Heidelberg and Mainz (Germany)
It was our second time visit to Germany. Two years ago, we visited Gelsenkirchen for a week. I just accompanied to my husband business trip, and the same this year. The different this was that need to take trains (ICE and S-barn) and bus to get our hotel and the conference hall in the University Stuttgart. As you can see in this Web page, I am not good at English, but better than German. You can imagine how we had difficulties to get the hotel by ourselves. The hotel we stayed for five nights was very nice. Hotel Dachswald was in the forest, with terrace and good restaurant. There was no elevator in this hotel, it was two-storied building. In front of our room #3, we could see a big tree where was a nest of Amsel (Turdus merula) in it. How nice to wake up with a cheerful song of Zaunkonig (Troglodytes troglodytes)! We also could hear the song of Rotkehlchen (Erithacus rubecula) and saw the Tits: Kohlmeise (Parus major), Tannenmeise (Parus ater), Blaumeise (Parus caeruleus), Haubenmeise (Parus cristatus), Kleiber (Sitta europaea). During my husband was in conference, I went on an expedition to the shopping street. On the main street, there were Gruunfink (Carduelis chloris) and Stieglitz (Carduelis carduelis). After work, we took a walk in the Mittl. Schlossgarten. Thanks to the day-light saving time, we enjoyed walking in the park before the sun went in. There we could see Haussperling (Passer domesticus), Stockente (Anas platyrhynchos), Blasshuhn (Fulica atra). And sudden, I felt something was approaching from behind...it was Hockerschwan (Cygnus olor)with the air of dignity (!?)...and the main body followed. I was gawking at the sight. We realy enjoyed our staying in Germany, and want to come back to Stuttgart again. It is a neat city.
Other birds we saw were Ringeltaube (Columba palumbus), Mauersegler (Apus apus), Bachstelze (Motacilla alba), Buntspecht (Dendrocopos major), Kleinspecht (Dendrocopos minor), Singdrossel (Turdus philomelos), Elster (Pica pica), Eichelhaaher (Garrulus glandarius) and Star (Sturnus vulgaris).

1-3 July : Tateshina and Shiga-kogen Heights (Nagano) Sunny, cloudy and thunderstorm
Birds we saw/heard in Okushiga were Gray Heron, Rufous Turtle Dove, Horsfield's Hawk-Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, Little Cuckoo, Scops Owl, White-rumped Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Bull-headed Shrike, Wren, Siberian Blue Robin, Siberian Thrush, Short-tailed Bush Warbler, Bush Warbler, Crowned Willow Warbler, Narcissus Flycatcher, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Japanese Yellow Bunting, Jay and Jungle Crow.
Birds we saw/heard in Tateshina were Gray Heron, Spot-billed Duck, Black Kite, Rufous Turtle Dove, Common Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, Little Cuckoo, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Skylark, Barn Swallow, House Martin, Gray Wagtail, Ashy Minivet, Brown-eared Bulbul,Bull-headed Shrike, Gray Thrush, Brown Thrush, Bush Warbler, Narcissus Flycatcher, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Black Paradise Flycatcher, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Nuthatch, Japanese White-eye, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Japanese Yellow Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Oriental Greenfinch, Japanese Grosbeak, Tree Sparrow, Gray Starling, Jay, Carrion Crow and Jungle Crow.