Woodcock

No, don't be surprised, no woodcock would turn up in Kyushu during mid summer of course. These are some old photos I took in March. After I came back from Thailand during the spring vacation, I brought my 550D out and wandered around Asami 3 Chou-me. It was March 31. I was trying to get photos of a pair of Brown Dipper, which was nesting in a small hole on the upper stream of Oyukaeri-gawa. However, the birds were extremely shy and I couldn't even get a single shot. Then I luckily came across Furuso-san and we shared some new information about birds in Beppu. She told me that there are 2 Eurasian Woodcocks (Scolopax rusticola) staying in a small neglected area next to the car park behind Shiragiku Hotel near Beppu Park. She said that they had been there for over a month. I looked at the time and saw that we still had some time left before sunset, so I headed there with the lead of Furuso-san.

Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)

As we arrived at the place, I almost couldn't believe how close they live with human. In Thailand, woodcocks are extremely scarce. They can only be found in montane evergreen forest with marshy area far away from human. Here, we could watch it even from the busy roadside. Furuso-san quickly scanned the area and caught a single bird sleeping at its usual spot. She said the birds always stayed close to the white plastic bag, so it wasn't too difficult to find. Unfortunately, there was only one bird showing up that day. She showed me photos that she took the other day where 2 birds can be seen sitting close to each other. There's a white fence that separated the area where the bird was and the street. We first watched it from behind the fence, but then I tried walking in to get some better shots without the fence getting in the way of my camera. However, the bird suddenly flew off as I stepped over the fence. I then sat down and waited behind a big tree hoping that it'll come back again. The sun slowly set behind Mt. Tsurumi and I was about to give up, when I heard a cracking sound of dry leaves. I looked around and suddenly the same woodcock finally showed up. It came running from behind the dune and stopped right in front of me. It quickly walked into the shadow. All I could do was waiting, so I waited and waited, until it finally came out of the shadow and walked into the warm evening light, probing its long beak into the soft soil looking for food. Though I could only get a few shots of it under the light, and it didn't turn up again on the next day, I was really satisfied with the result. Furuso-san spotted the bird again few days later before it disappeared with all the other winter migrants. I hope that they'll come back to use this roosting area again next season.

Love the pattern on the back of its head!

What's Left?

So I've been away from this blog for quite a while...here's the final post for the Japanese stuff I took before flying back to Thailand. Nothing much, just a bunch of common birds and some landscape shots from the top of Mt. Tsurumi. The Chinese Plum in Beppu Koen was already starting to bloom since February 2. There were a few trio; Japanese, Varied, Long-tailed Tits, hopping here and there among the plum trees. The Japanese Tits were concentrating on singing their sweet songs and trying to attract the females.

Japanese Tit (Parus minor)

Varied Tit (Parus varius)

At the Beppu Ropeway bus stop, I was a bit surprised to see a pair of Varied Tit busily looking for a place to build a nest. One of the bird, possibly a male, was very tame and vocal, while another bird flew up and down the roof checking anything with holes that could fit its body. Seems like spring has already made its appearance and the breeding season has finally arrived once again. There were lots of Meadow Buntings feeding on the small lawn near the ropeway station as usual. Among them were a few Black-faced and Yellow-throated Buntings. I noticed that most of the male Meadow Buntings had brownish eyestripe instead of black, almost like the subspecies found in China. I guessed it's a matter of breeding/non-breeding plumage.

Varied Tit (Parus varius) "Anyone knows when's the next bus?"

Male Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides)

As the cable car went up towards the summit of Mt. Tsurumi, I could see many Sika Deer feeding out in the open down below. They seemed to favour grassy area among the forest. I could grab a few shots as the car was moving. At the summit, I spent time taking some landscape shots as the scenery and the weather were just brilliant. There was some common stuff around as well, including the Long-tailed, Coal and Willow Tits, Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers and Meadow Buntings. I also saw my first Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) for a few minutes. It was a female bird perching far in the woods.

Sika Deer (Cervus nippon)

Mt. Yufu viewed from the top of Mt. Tsurumi
Willow Tit (Parus montanus)

In The Park

Photos taken from Beppu Park earlier this month. After the finding of the Ryukyu Minivet on January 12th, I went back again on the next morning hoping to get some better shots. The bird was nowhere to be found, by the way. So I spent time taking photos of other common birds around the park instead. I was surprise to see that a small flock of Eurasian Siskins was still lingering inside the park. I thought all of them have already moved further south. There were a few Hawfinches, as well as a pair of White-bellied Green Pigeons, of which I could almost take some nice photos while they were coming down to drink, but flew away just before I pressed the shutter button. Other stuff like Pale and Dusky Thrushes, Grey-capped Greenfinches and Daurian Redstarts were all presenting well as usual.

This male Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) was staying at the northeast gate of the park. It was so tame that I didn't have to crop all of the images above, well, simply because there's already no space to crop. It was foraging on fallen berries underneath a fruited tree. There were a few more individuals in the other areas of the park, but not as numerous as during the autumn passage.

Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus)
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)

A flock of Eurasian Siskins (Carduelis spinus)

There seemed to be an influx of Olive-backed Pipits (Anthus hodgsoni) in the pine zones of the park. More than 10 birds were busy walking all over the ground looking for something to eat, not really sure what. I tried to photograph these birds and found it really difficult. They were all very energetic and didn't stop walking for even a second. I had to use flash to help make the photos sharper, since the area where they were feeding was very dark. Some of the birds looked really pale, while some looked much buffier. I wondered if a single or two Tree Pipits (Anthus trivialis) might have sneaked in, but after checking all of the photos, I found none.

Olive-backed Pipits (Anthus hodgsoni)