First days in Japan

I've only been in Japan since Sunday, and that was a day of travel across Tokyo. I'm here with Mick S and Josh J to have a decent look around the place and focus on a few target species we all want to have a look at. One thing that has been apparent right from the word go is the cleanliness and politeness of this place. Just a quick post for now though, what with bird filled days and the remnants of jet lag still about slightly.

Sunday was all about arriving in Tokyo and getting across the city from one aiport to the other, in order to get our late afternoon internal flight to Kagoshima. A couple of pleasant diversions at the Meiji Jingu shrine on the way through (as well as the more elusive Grey Bunting): -

Black-faced Buntings Meiji Jingu, Tokyo December 2015

Varied Tit Meiji Jingu, Tokyo December 2015

The next day, Monday, was spent around Hyuga and Kadagowa - we drew a blank on the Japanese Murrelet front but the Black-tailed Gulls and Vega Gulls played ball and so did the Black-eared Kites: -

Black-tailed Gulls (adult and 1st-winter) Kadogawa, Kyushu December 2015

adult Vega Gull Kadogawa, Kyushu December 2015

Black-eared Kite Kadogawa, Kyushu December 2015

And then onto this morning where there was fine weather at Lake Miike - some good birds seen in the end including Ryukyu Minivet, Forest Wagtail, Yellow-throated Bunting and a nice looking male Red-flanked Bluetail.

Forest Wagtail Lake Miike, Kyushu December 2015

Red-flanked Bluetail Lake Miike, Kyushu December 2015

Yellow-throated Bunting Lake Miike, Kyushu December 2015

Onto the Yatsushiro Estuary for the afternoon, and with the target being to see and photograph Saunders's Gulls on the incoming tide we were able to take our time. Black-faced Spoonbills, Falcated Ducks, Chestnut-eared and Meadow Buntings were some of the side show on offer.

Saunders's Gulls Yatsushiro Estuary, Kyushu December 2015

Black-faced Spoonbill Yatsushiro Estuary, Kyushu December 2015

And so that's where we're at currently - lucked out on weather so far, though with some rain tomorrow and just a couple more days of Kyushu warmth, it'll be Christmas Day in the far north on Hokkaido.

The life of PNXB

The life of Saturday's 3rd-winter Caspian Gull was revealed today when, having submitted the ring details, got a response from the ever efficient Polring - they pride themselves in a turnaround of two working days!

3rd-winter Caspian Gull PNXB, Dungeness, Kent 12th December 2015

Anyway, PNXB was ringed as a chick in southern central Poland at the Kozielno, Paczkow on 24th May 2013 and ringed by Jacek Betleja. It's a site I know well, having visited the colony a couple of springs ago; the birds nest in the long grass and when the chicks are ringed all adults disperse so it's very difficult to ascertain the exact parents of each chick. The colony these days is predominantly (or nearly all) Caspian Gulls.

Polish Caspian Gull colony - the birthplace of PNXB and several other Casps to grace British shores

So after leaving the nest, PNXB headed west a bit and was seen near Poznan, Poland from 9th to 15th July 2013. It was then seen next at Den Haag, Netherlands on 3rd August 2013, then Scheveningen harbour, Netherlands on 8th August 2013 and Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France on 12th September 2013. All went quiet til over a year later when seen at Wimereux, Pas-de-Calais, France on 29th November 2014 and then Le Portel, Pas-de-Calais, France on 28th August 2015 before turning up at Dungeness on Saturday.

Interestingly, the two red ringed first-winter Caspian Gulls that I saw at Dungeness in November were also born at this colony. Jacek and his team started off with green rings in the early days, transferring to yellow rings and then 2014 and 2015's offspring have been given red rings.

Another Polish ringed Caspian Gull

It continues to remain really mild here in the SE of England. I've not felt seriously cold at Dungeness so far this winter. So it's therefore a little odd that there seems to have been so many Caspian Gulls coming through this autumn and winter period - perhaps it's a sign of the times what with its extended breeding range. There'd been at least three birds through during the week while I was stuck in the cesspit that's called work.

Today was fairly slow. In fact, by midday there'd been absolutely nothing bar one ringed gull. Quite nice to be out on a blustery day, and a couple of Kittiwakes were feeding amongst the Black-headed Gulls just off the fishing boats. Lashings of bread and fish failed to bring anything in bar a couple of ringed Great Black-backed Gulls that I'd seen several times before - one from the Channel Islands and the other typically Norwegian. And so I decided to have a walk around the area and check the roosts, where I found this handsome Polish chap...

3rd-winter Caspian Gull 'PNXB' Dungeness, Kent 12th December 2015

Once Richard S whacked out some popcorn at the puddles, it was there in a flash. In fact, it remained there right until I had to leave mid afternoon to go and do some Christmas chores. It's the first third-winter I've seen at Dungeness, and looking forward to getting the ring details back over the next couple of days. Unfortunately though this will probably be my last Caspian Gull of 2015, as from this time next week into the New Year, I'll be in a land with no Casps (but plenty of other gulls).

Finally, a plea for anyone reading this who also reads gull rings - I've stopped bothering to submit my sightings of Sussex ringed birds such as the one below as I never get a response these days. Anyone having any better luck getting replies on this ringing scheme, please contact me.

Sussex-ringed Herring Gull 'A3BJ' - a gull with no history...

Loads of wind and few gulls

Last weekend seems a while back now, but my internet hub finally gave up the ghost earlier this week and I only managed  to get back online this evening. Bizarre what life is like these days without it.

Anyway, just a quick post as Saturday was fairly underwhelming at Dungeness. The wind was howling through and there were a fair amount of gulls about, but not the hoped for beasts from the east - not a single Caspian Gull! But an adult Yellow-legged Gull brightened the dull afternoon up slightly.

Yellow-legged Gull Dungeness, Kent 5th December 2015

There were also a few rings - a new Norwegian 2nd-winter Great Black-backed Gull along with a few old faithfuls.

Great Black-backed Gull JT302 Dungeness, Kent 5th December 2015; ringed as an adult at Mandal, Vest-Agder, Norway in May 2013 and present nearby til mid August 2013, then again from April to August 2014 and June to July 2015. It then has been at Dungeness since mid November onwards.

Great Black-backed Gull JT863 Dungeness, Kent 5th December 2015; ringed as a chick at Lindesnes, Vest-Agder, Norway in July 2014, and then seen at Terschelling, Friesland, The Netherlands from 2nd October to 16th November 2015.

Enjoyed the weekend thereafter with my parents, so that was it for the birding until this coming weekend.

Back to the Casps at Dunge today

Last weekend, Porto offered a brief diversion from the regular trips down the M20 to Dungeness. But it was back to business as usual today and mid-morning I was down by the fishing boats at Dungeness. No Mick S or Richard S today, so I was on my own for feeding time. A bucket of fish scraps, cornflakes and twelve loaves of bread were the ingredients for the day.

Long-eared Owl Dungeness RSPB, Kent 28th November 2015

On the RSPB reserve, after seeing a pretty inactive Long-eared Owl (which was thrilling the punters nonetheless), I headed to the Makepeace Hide early a'noon and locked onto my first Caspian Gull of the day, a first-winter. There were a couple of guys who'd gone in there especially to look for the species so I immediately let them know and gave them directions. This was greeted with 'are you sure it isn't a Great Black-backed Gull?' to which I replied very bluntly 'Yes'. I've had this before in RSPB reserves where the needy swivel around and then question those trying to help. Here's the evidence anyway: -

1st-winter Caspian Gull Dungeness RSPB, Kent 28th November 2015

And back in the visitor centre it got slightly better. There was a first-winter Caspian Gull sitting down on one of the islands (different to the bird above, and could possibly have been the ringed Polish bird but I didn't see its legs) while a near-adult bird (with a blackish gonys, retained dark on the tertials and a bit of black in the tail) was busy preening in the water nearby. Once again, I thought I'd be helpful and let people know - this time, the punters were gracious though getting some onto the right island was just the start of my troubles. So I needn't go on to how it progressed from there, but in summary some people probably saw random gulls. Anyway, I genuinely give credit to any birder who regularly birds RSPB reserves - the general level of f*ckwittery I experienced within an hour today drove me back to the solitude and sanctity of my car, and back to the puddles near the fishing boats, where it was just me and the seagulls. And this beauty mid afternoon was the undoubted star of the show: -

1st-winter Caspian Dungeness Point, Kent 28th November 2015

This smart 1st-winter Caspian Gull made it four for the day, and along with four Norwegian Great Black-backed Gulls (including two new rings) that was it. With the wind picking up and a hailstorm darkening the skies, London beckoned.

Porto weekender

I had a decent weekend the one just gone. Karen and I headed to Porto, largely for a bit of relaxation and to see a new place, but also predictably there was an element of birds thrown in. Unsurprisingly gulls to be precise. That said, I'd genuinely recommend Porto as a really pleasant place to spend do one of those weekend breaks 'normal people' do.

So, this is for me how Porto is set out - everything either happens at the Douro estuary or a few miles up the coast at the port (and beach) of Matosinhos. Loads of gulls mingling about, a pretty dynamic area where no two days would ever be the same. I just got a snapshot of things as my birding was constrained by time but would say the following: -
- Matosinhos was the best site (early mornings as is a roost site before gulls head off for the day)
- Estuario do Douro (from the south side at Praia do Cabadelo) during the day for loafing large gulls
- Foz (along the estuary for small gulls and near the port for large gulls)
- Afurada (along the estuary near the marina for small gulls and a few large gulls)
Other birds seen with zero effort included a large wintering flock of Serins, half a dozen Monk Parakeets and a Black Redstart.

Serin Estuario do Douro, Porto 22nd November 2015

But back to the gulls, and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw species wise - a sub-adult Glaucous Gull and a second-winter Iceland Gull the main highlights. Also the odd Herring Gull, single Great Black-backed Gulls and Common Gulls, low double figures of Med Gulls plus all the other usual suspects. Ring wise was a bit disappointing but probably down to my lack of time for a concerted effort with just seven found (a Med Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull from France, a Spanish ringed Yellow-legged Gull and four Lesser Black-backed Gulls from SW England and South Wales). Here's a few shots of the stars involved: -

2nd-winter Iceland Gull Matosinhos, Porto 22nd November 2015

sub-adult Glaucous Gull Matosinhos, Porto 22nd November 2015

adult Lesser Black-backed Gull Matosinhos, Porto 22nd November 2015; ringed in Bristol on 25th June 2006 and regularly recorded in Portugal during the winter and back in Bristol during the summers (and seen on passage at Valdovino, La Coruna in September 2013)

adult Herring Gull Matosinhos, Porto 22nd November 2015

adult Yellow-legged Gull Matosinhos, Porto 22nd November 2015; note the extreme head streaking not unprecedented on Atlantic race birds.

1st-winter Mediterranean Gull Afurada, Porto 22nd November 2015

Thank goodness for rings

It was one of those weekends that, despite things looking promising, didn't exactly pan out as well as it could have. Saturday was spent at Dungeness (in very poor weather) and today I decided to stay a bit more local to home.

Yesterday, despite there being reports of up to 7 Caspian Gulls on the RSPB reserve, my blind faith in the point area meant that I didn't stray there to take a look. And I even managed to miss an adult Caspian Gull at the point! I guess these things happen. Despite loads of bread (and corn flakes) I just had to concede defeat and left Caspian-less. Just four rings too - the faithful Dutch Great Black-backed Gull B4, a new Norwegian Great Black-backed Gull (below) and two Sussex ringed birds (which are next to useless as I never get a reply).

Great Black-backed Gull (J15X) Dungeness, Kent 14th November 2015 - ringed as a chick at Østre Hillekvistholmen, Mandal, Vest-Agder, Norway on 17th June 2007. Seen at Le Portel beach, Pas-de-Calais, France on 11th September 2007, Boulogne-sur-Mer Port, Pas-de-Calais, France on 29th September 2007 and then back in Norway Brennevinsmyra, Mandal, Vest-Agder on 14th May 2012

And to today. I walked out to the mud my the O2 in Greenwich mid-morning, as that was when it was low tide. A Rock Pipit showed up briefly and had a look around. Easily my best views of this species in London to date; though when it clocked me, it flew off east calling vociferously.

Rock Pipit Greenwich, London 15th November 2015

Plenty of gulls, but there was a Thames Clipper that for some reason had been left here so a little bit of disturbance too. Anyway, the gulls coped - there were two Yellow-legged Gull (a second-winter and first-winter) and a slick looking, white-winged Black-headed Gull. Added to this a couple of interesting Black-headed Gull rings (from Lithuania and Denmark - awaiting ring details) as well as a couple of NTGG Herring Gulls, and it wasn't too bad at all. A check in at Burgess Park didn't produce the hoped for Med Gull that is still yet to return this winter, though the copious amounts of Egyptian Geese now present get more brazen as time passes. Pecking at my ankles when I chucked out bread to the gulls was their new trick today...

Black-headed Gull Greenwich, London 15th November 2015; white-winged though this the only obvious feature that would suggest any Med Gull influence - otherwise a fairly typical Black-headed Gull