Ed Forum birdwatching 2008

(Initial note: please continue to report things, but I won`t be able to add them when I am travelling. EHocking will start doing that once he comes back from his trips...sorry for this inconvenience...)

14/9 Yatsuhigata, Tokyo Bay (*=photo available):
Great Egret Egretta alba*
Little Egret Egretta garzetta*
Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia*
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea*
Black-crowned Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax*
Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha*
White Wagtail Motacilla alba lugens
Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis*
Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis
Little Grebe Tachybabtus ruficollis
Grey Starling Sturnus cineraceus
Teal Anas crecca
Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris*
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchus
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleuca
Domestic Pigeon Columba livia domestica
Great Cormorant Phalacrocoras carbo

This locality was a large tidal mudflat in the middle on Tokyo! There are usually a lot of waders here, they say, but about a week ago, they got some low/ozygen water coming in that killed most of the bottom fauna, so apart from the plovers and the sandpiper, there hadn`t been any waders there for a few days. We did get to see a ray, some crabs, some kind of fish that seemed to be eating the surface (anyone know why they are doing this?), and those gobi-like fishes that live in mud (slime-crawlers?). We did some Dango-mushi, which was excellent, and I totally fell in love with the Spot-billed duck...

14/9 Gyotoku, Tokyo Bay:
Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyana
Great Tit Parus major

And a lot of the same as the other place. This was also a place where they take care of injured birds, and my host here knew the people in charge, so I got to collect some lice^^. It`s also bordering on a pond where the Imperial Family catches ducks for banding! We went back there the day after to get some more lice (which also succeeded!) and could add:

15/9 Gyotoku, Tokyo Bay:
Oriental Greenfinch Carduelis sinica

Today on the way to the institute, we had two new records:

16/9 Abiko, Chiba:
Grey-faced Buzzard-Eagle Butastur indicus
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

I`ve also been attending the annual meeting of the Ornithological Society of Japan, which has been very enlightening. We`ve seen some amazing posters and presentations, and learned a lot. I will tell you more when I have more time.
 
(Initial note: please continue to report things, but I won`t be able to add them when I am travelling. EHocking will start doing that once he comes back from his trips...sorry for this inconvenience...)

14/9 Yatsuhigata, Tokyo Bay (*=photo available):
Great Egret Egretta alba*
Little Egret Egretta garzetta*
Intermediate Egret Egretta intermedia*
Grey Heron Ardea cinerea*
Black-crowned Night-heron Nycticorax nycticorax*
Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha*
White Wagtail Motacilla alba lugens
Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
Oriental Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis*
Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis
Little Grebe Tachybabtus ruficollis
Grey Starling Sturnus cineraceus
Teal Anas crecca
Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris*
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola
Kingfisher Alcedo atthis
Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchus
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleuca
Domestic Pigeon Columba livia domestica
Great Cormorant Phalacrocoras carbo

This locality was a large tidal mudflat in the middle on Tokyo! There are usually a lot of waders here, they say, but about a week ago, they got some low/ozygen water coming in that killed most of the bottom fauna, so apart from the plovers and the sandpiper, there hadn`t been any waders there for a few days. We did get to see a ray, some crabs, some kind of fish that seemed to be eating the surface (anyone know why they are doing this?), and those gobi-like fishes that live in mud (slime-crawlers?). We did some Dango-mushi, which was excellent, and I totally fell in love with the Spot-billed duck...

14/9 Gyotoku, Tokyo Bay:
Azure-winged Magpie Cyanopica cyana
Great Tit Parus major

And a lot of the same as the other place. This was also a place where they take care of injured birds, and my host here knew the people in charge, so I got to collect some lice^^. It`s also bordering on a pond where the Imperial Family catches ducks for banding! We went back there the day after to get some more lice (which also succeeded!) and could add:

15/9 Gyotoku, Tokyo Bay:
Oriental Greenfinch Carduelis sinica

Today on the way to the institute, we had two new records:

16/9 Abiko, Chiba:
Grey-faced Buzzard-Eagle Butastur indicus
Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

I`ve also been attending the annual meeting of the Ornithological Society of Japan, which has been very enlightening. We`ve seen some amazing posters and presentations, and learned a lot. I will tell you more when I have more time.
 
Kotatsu said:
some kind of fish that seemed to be eating the surface (anyone know why they are doing this?)
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I am not qualified to opine but here are two guesses. We have a fish called the Menhaden or Pogy which often looks like it is feeding on the surface. They are filter feeders feeding on stuff smaller than 20 microns and it may be that the surface is rich with their target food. It might also be that the lower levels of water are oxygen starved and only the top surface has the needed oxygen.
 
51248cfcb006a5b5.jpg


I got a nice close up of one of "my" birds. She's a female ruby-throated hummingbird. I can hold their feeder with one hand and they'll gladly keep drinking. I was holding the feeder with one hand and the camera with the other.




Nice shot of my dish, eh?
 
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YoPopa:
Hmmm. The tide was just coming in with fresh water (from Tokyo Bay, so it`s freshness may vary...), so I guess that the first option is probably more correct.

Are you in Japan as well?

Sphenisc:
Yeah, that`s the fellow! (the fish)

Also:
16/9 Teganuma, Chiba:
Mute Swan Cygnus olor
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis
Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis*
Skylark Alauda arvensis
Moorhen Gallinula chloropus
Carrion Crow Corvus corone orientalis
Latham`s Snipe Gallinago hardwickii
Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus (unsure about the latinm and forgot my birdbook)
Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis
 
That's it. From now on I'm bringing my camera to work.

Ever since I gave up smoking, I've been going for walks during my rostered breaks. I usually see something worth photographing. Today, it was a bird.

There's a block of flats not far from where I work, a sort of yellowy brown in colour. Sitting on an ornament today, proud as you please, was a crimson rosella. It was a perfect pose - high contrast background, well within the zoom range of my camera... Ngaaarhh!
 
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Mercutio said:
Ok, with EHocking about to intrude on my Greece (*sigh*)... I was looking through my other pics... and it seems I can provide evidence for two, perhaps three (depending on the birders here) species in Bulgaria. Nothing new (domestic pigeon, yellow-legged gull) unless I am mistaken... but a whole new country (at least until I alert Hipparchia and she starts putting me to shame).
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he he. I don't have many to add to your Greece list, Lanner Falcon, Nightjar, Little Ringed Plover, but I will be listing the whole Crete lot, it makes little difference to compiling the lists (but a hell of a job to correct and taxonomise (is that a word?)).

So anyway, my question is, does it really matter at all if I can add another country, even with just a couple of common birds that are already on the list? Or would that just be silly? (And yes, I know that the entire endeavor is already silly, or important, or whatever, it is what it is, and I am new at the game.)
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I'm all for listing sightings by country (at the moment that's all I seem to be adding). It fleshes out country lists even if it doesn't add to our species list. I find it interesting to note the globally common birds - no need to guess the most common one reported is there?

So with Kotatsu away and me back for a week or two I'll be spending the rest of the week catching up here and putting together the web pages.

Oh and if Kotatsu is reading Accipiter brevipes? It must be a misspelling, I'll have to check through my notes again, but it definitely wasn't anything as exotic as that...
 
sphenisc said:
I think I've found BillyJoe's bird.
http://galliform.bhs.mq.edu.au/~cisab/images/Bell_Miner.jpg
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I think you are correct - a Bell Miner bird!



BTW...

I lost some posts recently including one here where I compared my pic of this bird with a googled pic of a Bell Miner bird. I cannot find it again.


Also, Yopapa, gave me a bit of advice in a PM, so thanks for that if my reply to you was lost as well.


regards,
BillyJoe
 
Just dropping in quickly brag about two rare birds I saw yesterday:
Halcyon miyakoensis
Tadorna cristata

Those of you who know your birds well might know that both of these birds are extinct. The kingfisher is known from only one individual, and the shelduck exists in only three stuffed ones, of which two are here at Yamashina institute! The duck is apprently well documented in paintings and so on from ancient times, but the kingfisher has never been recovered after its initial discovery! That is, it`s one of the rarest birds ever!

I also saw the type specimen of the Okinawa Rail Rallus okinawae, which was also quite cool (and quite dead).

None of these, sadly, qualifies for the list, but I thought it might be worth bragging about^^.
 
It was my birthday this week, and guess what? I got a backpack and tripod! I must have talked about this thread at dinner or something. I already have a telephoto lens, though not a good one, and together with the camera, standard lens, and video-camera, the whole thing weighs in at about 4kg. Hmmm...I like to go practically naked, and here I am with a backpack loaded with camera gear!

I bet it rains for the next few weekends.
 
BillyJoe said:
It was my birthday this week, and guess what? I got a backpack and tripod! I must have talked about this thread at dinner or something. I already have a telephoto lens, though not a good one, and together with the camera, standard lens, and video-camera, the whole thing weighs in at about 4kg. Hmmm...I like to go practically naked, and here I am with a backpack loaded with camera gear!

I bet it rains for the next few weekends.
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Happy belated birthday BJ

If it rains fill the backpack with rocks, pull on your woollens, swallow a toad for breakfast, and get out on those hikes come heck or high water. When it clears you'll be so happy to have just the weight of the tripod that it will seem a blessing (if there were any such thing as blessings).
 
Sometimes the cats help out with the bird watching. This one isn't terribly pleased about sharing his breakfast, but the Currawongs beat him up if he doesn't.

Poor%20Puss.jpg
 
Eastern Screech Owl

So I'm walking into my shop to finish off a batch of biodiesel and hear a very loud screeching. It's a Savannah Sparrow skwawking away at this beautiful bird. The sparrow was too dark in the eaves, but the owl didn't move.

EasternScreechII.jpg
 
From last weekend on the Warburton Trail.

I'm sure we already have these in the list:
A couple of Galahs, a Black Duck, and a Wagtail:

KillaratoWooriYallock124.jpg



KillaratoWooriYallock135-2.jpg



KillaratoWooriYallock165.jpg





And a mystery bird:

KillaratoWooriYallock029.jpg


KillaratoWooriYallock031-1.jpg
 
You're using the 300 tele lens now BJ. Nice. Hope this hasn't slowed you down too much.
 
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