1st-winter Slaty-backed Gulls

I'm going back to Japan on this post. And one of the things I really wanted to get to grips with during the trip was the concept of a 'search image' for 1st-winter Slaty-backed Gull. Unfortunately, I found this to be extremely difficult on the basis of both plumage traits and the massive range in structure. Hopefully this post though will illustrate how distinctive they can be, to varying extents, and you'll see like other gulls the variability in moult and plumage wear - all photos taken on Hokkaido from 25th to 31st December 2015.

To summarise shared characteristics, I guess the following will do: -
- pale-fringed, dark brown to near black primaries
- plain brown tertials
- all dark tail
- tightly barred uppertail and rump
- dark, velvet underwing coverts
The problem is though, 1st-winter Slaty-backed Gulls really are variable and to some extent it's an unknown in terms of how much leakage in the gene pool there is with Glaucous-winged Gull (check out the second photo down as an example). Any comments on these birds are appreciated. For sure though, one of these at some stage is likely to wing its way to Britain or Ireland...

Duncannon dipping

Last Sunday, Sir Killian found an adult Vega Gull at Duncannon, County Wexford. Possibly the classiest find and illustration of skill you're likely to see. With others, I ended up spending more time than I wanted at Duncannon with little reward - the bird had flown or at least it wasn't in the immediate area. This area of southwest Wexford was actually a part of Ireland I'd not visited before, so the huge numbers of gulls around taking advantage of huge numbers of sprat was a bit of a surprise. Apparently this is an annual phenonemon...

sprat catching gulls Duncannon, Wexford 16th January 2016

Duncannon, however, is not a site you'd want to be searching for a lone gull - it's on a wide estuary that spans right the way down to Hook Head with gulls moving in and out with the trawlers. The Vega Gull could still be about of course, but with a full set of wings through regrowth imminent, it'll be that bit harder to pick out going forward too. As it is with most sites in Ireland, there is always the chance of a white winger or two so true to form, I noted a couple of juvenile Iceland Gulls and a juvenile Glaucous Gull during my visits.

juvenile Iceland Gull Duncannon, Wexford 16th January 2016

There was also a ringed Great Black-backed Gull from Skokholm first thing too, and with some decent company and guys I hadn't seen for a while, it wasn't too arduous to be honest. I also worked out that the thermals I'd bought for Japan are a very useful addition when sleeping in the car in Britain and Ireland.

Back to business as usual at Dungeness

After an enjoyable Saturday in school administering some resit mock exams, I was pretty keen to get out today despite the diabolical weather forecast. A bit of local gulling yesterday was unproductive, so I headed (as usual) down to Dungeness. It seems as though things had been pretty static down there while I'd been in Japan, but at least I may see the currently regular Caspian Gull down there (that had arrived while I was away).

And so it was that, with Mick S and Richard S, the regular 1st-winter Caspian Gull arrived to feed by the fishing boats earlier this afternoon. A really bold bird, enjoying the feast we provided and as well as being often the closest bird it also preferred to run around a fair bit rather than use its wings.

1st-winter Caspian Gull Dungeness, Kent 10th January 2016

There was little else of interest, bar a NTGG ringed Herring Gull and a couple of Norwegian Great Black-backed Gulls. It got me looking at the Herrings, and though there haven't been many yet this winter, this guy is probably a northerly bred bird. Not a massive, swarthy typical argie but retarded enough moult wise to assume more northerly than most.

1st-winter Herring Gull Dungeness, Kent 10th January 2016

I had a brief look at the RSPB reserve last thing, and saw the Long-eared Owl by the dipping pond which was proving popular once again with the punters. I'm obviously out of touch with things, but my opinion is that a roosting owl is one of the most boring birds you can feast your eyes on. Evidently not. A couple of redhead Smews distantly from Makepeace Hide in the dismal weather furthered my desire to be back birding in Japan.

Karuizawa no snow but snow monkeys show (then back to the airport)

The first couple of days of 2016 (Happy New Year to all by the way) were spent around Karuizawa with a morning visit to see the snow monkeys (Japanese Macaques) at Jigokudani. However, birding around Karuizawa was extremely hard work, perhaps mainly due to the really mild winter where we were walking about this place - normally with a foot or so of snow already by now - admiring all the greenery. No good for birds really, but we gave it a really good go.

Japanese Serow Karuizawa, Honshu 1st January 2016

Karuizawa, an upscale town in the 'Japanese Alps' is where people come to see the likes of Copper Pheasant, Japanese Waxwing, Pallas' Rosefinch and Japanese Accentor. Unfortunately I saw none of these, despite a day and a half walking around the woods - Josh J flushed a Copper Pheasant and we had brief views of a Naumann's Thrush (which was nice) but other than that, we had to console ourselves with Japanese Green Woodpeckers and Long-tailed Rosefinches. Plus all the usual species for the last time, including lots of Dusky Thrushes, some Japanese Grosbeaks, a couple of Japanese Wagtails and some showy Spot-billed Ducks.

male Long-tailed Rosefinches Karuizawa, Honshu 1st and 2nd January 2016

Meadow Bunting Karuizawa, Honshu 1st January 2016

Spot-billed Duck Serow Karuizawa, Honshu 2nd January 2016

The snow monkeys, however, did show well... which is no less than we expected. We got there for when the park opened (9am) and within 45 minutes had our fill just as the masses started to arrive. Pretty good value primates.

Japanese Macaques Jigokudani, Honshu 2nd January 2016

And so to this morning, Sunday. We got ourselves back to Narita airport, and carefully positioned, had a couple of hours of birding this morning - with the one target of Brown-headed Thrush, seemingly pretty straightforward around the airport hotels. And indeed they were, as within an hour of birding, we'd seen about three of them along with our last looks at stuff like Black-faced Buntings, Japanese White eyes and Oriental Turtle Doves.

Brown-headed Thrush Narita, Honshu 3rd January 2016

So that's it for this trip. Back to work tomorrow but a load of memories and a good first venture to Japan. A country that, unfortunately, puts Britain to shame in terms of etiquette, courtesy and cleanliness. A very impressive place.

Hokkaido - Cape Nosappu and Kirtappu then back to Kushiro

We've now left all the ice behind unfortunately, having just spent a couple of great nights at Lodge Furen with Take and his wife. Wonderful food and loads of birding info too. On our way there, we stopped at a couple of harbours - Shibetsu which was good for some nice Harlequins and then the frozen over Odaito harbour, where enticed with bread and popcorn among the Slaty-backed and Glaucous-winged Gulls, we found an adult Kumlien's Gull (pretty decent for Hokkaido apparently) and an adult Vega Gull.

Harlequin Ducks Shibetsu, Hokkaido 29th December 2015

adult Kumlien's Gull Odaito, Hokkaido 29th December 2015

adult Glaucous Gull (presumably barrovianus) Odaito, Hokkaido 29th December 2015

We had a full day around the peninsular too; it wasn't really enough time to do the place justice but we poked our noses in to enough places to realise just how many seaduck, cormorants and alcids enjoy spending their time here in winter. Cape Nosappu was decent with a handful of Red-faced Cormorants roosting among the numerous Pelagic Cormorants while from the lighthouse a dozen or so Ancient Murrelets, lots of Spectacled Guillemots and a couple of Pigeon Guillemots were noted. Plenty of Harlequins, Black Scoters, Pacific Divers and Red-necked Grebes offshore too.

Red-faced Cormorant Cape Nosappu, Hokkaido 30th December 2015

We stopped off nearby to look for Rock Sandpipers, but the rocks they tend to favour were vacant so we had to console ourselves (predictably) with a load of gulls, Black Scoters, Harlequins and a showy Long-tailed Duck nearby.

juvenile Glaucous Gull Onnemoto, Hokkaido 30th December 2015

drake Long-tailed Duck Onnemoto, Hokkaido 30th December 2015

drake Long-tailed Duck Onnemoto, Hokkaido 30th December 2015

We were starting to sweat our rings over Asian Rosy Finch, having again not located them on Cape Nosappu. Therefore, there was only one thing for it, to spend time specifically targeting the species - and Cape Kirtappu is and always has been the guaranteed site. There's some feeders in a pension a couple of km from the lighthouse that seem to deliver the species year in, year out. And thankfully it was here that our quest ended successfully with a flock of about forty birds.

This morning we said goodbye to Lodge Furen and headed south, taking in a Bullfinch nearby on the way (as well as a couple of Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers), stopping off for our last look at the Hokkaido gulls in Akkeshi and then back in Kushiro.

1st-winter Vega Gull Akkeshi, Hokkaido 31st December 2015

1st-winter Slaty-backed Gull Kushiro, Hokkaido 31st December 2015

We're now back on Honshu, with just a couple of days left before we return to grey and stormy Britain. Happy New Year everyone and thanks for reading this during 2015.

Hokkaido - Abashiri, Notoro and Notsuke

We'll be leaving Hokkaido tomorrow afternoon, after a really memorable time here. Despite the winter being extremely mild, lower snow than normal and a distinct lack of sea ice we've managed to come away with some really decent stuff. And it was still pretty cold too to be honest! Large numbers of quality birds all along the coast... copious numbers of Harlequins mainly with a load of Black Scoters thrown in.

We started our coastal birding in the north around the town of Abashiri and Cape Notoro. This was the first in a long line of sites we'd check for Asian Rosy Finch, but pride of place here was a Siberian Grey Shrike on roadside wires a km or so before the lighthouse. A pretty scarce bird in Japan, and one we've got Josh J and Google translate to thank for the gen.

Siberian Grey Shrike Cape Notoro, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

Back in Abashiri with a nice dumping of snow, the local Slaty-backed Gulls and a few Glaucous Gulls were out in force. A handful of Falcated Ducks were on the river, and a few Oriental Greenfinches seemed a bit out of their depth.

adult Slaty-backed Gull Abashiri, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

juvenile Glaucous Gull Abashiri, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

We headed east along the coast towards Shari, stopping off at a swan park where there'd been a hutchinsii Canada Goose a couple of days previously. We couldn't find this yank stray but a few Harlequins on the river, a drake Smew, a couple of distant Steller's Sea Eagles and Red-crowned Cranes at least gave us something to look at.

adult Slaty-backed Gull Shari, Hokkaido 27th December 2015 (with Mick S looking elsewhere)

Despite our best efforts to get the gulls in with the usual bread and popcorn at Shari, as soon as one of these beasts flew over they all scarpered, even the Glaucs.

White-tailed Eagle Shari, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

The next day (after our first night with Blakiston's Fish Owls - see previous post), we headed east and onto the coast again after a check of Yoroushi-onsen for Solitary Snipe. This was unsuccessful but the many brandtii Jays played ball.

Jay Yoroushi-onsen, Hokkaido 28th December 2015

Once on the coast, checking of harbour revealed good numbers of Harlequins and Black Scoters once again, with a scattering of Pacific Divers and Red-necked Grebes. We headed into Rausu, knowing full well all the boat trips to see the eagles on the ice wouldn't be happening (due to the lack of ice), so we cut our losses and retraced our steps south and then onto the Notsuke Peninsula. And the Steller's Sea Eagles duly obliged, in large numbers.

Steller's Sea Eagles Notsuke, Hokkaido 28th December 2015

There were also a number of White-tailed Eagles on the peninsular too, as well as twenty or so Snow Buntings; however our quest for Asian Rosy Finch would have to be finishe another day.

Blakiston's Fish Owl nights x2

We've had a cracking time the last three days, seeing lots of good birds including Steller's Sea Eagles, Northern (Siberian) Grey Shrike, countless seaduck including Stejneger's and Black Scoter and more Harlequins than you know what to do with; we're still going good with the gulls too. However, there is a certain bird that deserves its own post... the world's largest owl. This is our first night off them, having visited a couple of sites, Yuyado Daiichi at Yoroushi-onsen and then last night at Washi no Yado just outside the town of Rausu. Both were absolutely gripping, in their own ways. We saw two birds at each site.

Blakiston's Fish Owl Yoroushi-onsen, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

Blakiston's Fish Owl Washi no Yado, Hokkaido 27th December 2015

Yoroushi-onsen gave us by far the closer views, with birds perched just metres away as they fished. You're looking through glass here though, and as the place is a spa retreat it's possible you'll have to put up with members of the public blocking your view. Make sure too that if you visit this site you have something less than a 400mm lens as the birds are obviously massive and way too close (unless you just want head shots).

Washi no Yado is the old school site, set up for birders and photographers with a more rustic feel. It was probably more atmospheric too, perhaps because we visited in heavy snow. What you have here is a special viewing room, where you can open the windows without any glare. Compared to Yoroushi-onsen, the birds are a little bit more distant (but that's not necessarily a bad thing!).

One thing's for sure, with either of these sites you really can't go wrong - an experience you'll remember for all your life.