Failed Attempt

After discovering the Japanese Grosbeaks in Minami Tatte-Ishi koen on April 3rd, the next morning I headed back again to the park. I easily located a pair of bird singing on a tall flowering tree, but the birds were too high for me to get any decent shot. They then flew into a thick tree and stayed there. Later I spotted a flock of 3 birds feeding on the ground with a single male Hawfinch nearby. The birds quickly flew out as soon as I tried to get closer to them. I followed them until they finally flew out of the park's area and that was the whole story of that day, another failed attempt for a bird.

The only shot before the birds flew out.

Brown-eared Bulbul

The cute Long-tailed Tit

A male Black-faced Bunting

A female Hawfinch

Pale Thrush

Apart from the grosbeak, the birds were actually pretty good. A wave of Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers, Long-tailed Tits and Japanese White-eyes moved around all over the park. I spotted a female White-bellied Green-Pigeon flew by rapidly. A pair of male Black-faced Buntings was feeding along low vegetation near the park entrance. They were shy as usual, but I could get some better photos of them. Hawfinch and Grey-capped Greenfinch were common as the day before, and the 2 thrushes plus White-cheeked Starling were abundant as always.

Good Birding Day

Today I tried to wake up early to catch up with sunrise and I almost succeeded. I've been waking up very late for many days now, so I think it's about time that I should do some morning birdwatch. So I finally got myself out of bed around 7:30 and one hour later I was arriving at Minami Tatte-Ishi koen. It was a beautiful morning I've been yearning for for so many days. The sky was clear and blue and the cherry blossom was still quite splendid.

I just love the feeling of spring!

Mt. Tsurumi

I have a feeling that there are more Pale Thrushes than Dusky here in Minami Tatte-Ishi park, unlike Beppu park, where Dusky Thrush is notably more numerous. I tried looking for Brown-headed Thrush, which I've seen a male bird once here, but couldn't find any. Few Hawfinches were also feeding on the ground side by side with the thrushes. I walked to the center zone of the park, then a bird of a bulbul-size flew up and perch on the dead tree top. I almost ignored it, but then the bird gave a very trange call which I've never heard before so I pointed my lens towards it and bingo! it's a male Japanese Grosbeak (Eophona personata), a species I've yet to photograph. The bird perched up there and sang its short sweet song, a song I've never expected to hear from a grosbeak!

A male Japanese Grosbeak

The birds fed on cherry seeds.

I later noticed that there were another 3-4 birds feeding on a cherry tree nearby. Though the birds were not so shy, but I was too nervous and there were too many people walking all over the place, which made the birds flew out every once in a while, so I had a very hard time photographing these birds, and I still feel unsatisfied about the results.

A pair of Oriental Turtle-Dove

A male Dusky Thrush

Brown-eared Bulbul was very numerous.

A breeding male Grey-capped Greenfinch

One shy male Daurian Redstart was still presenting in the park.

Pale Thrushes here are very tame!

A breeding male Hawfinch

Other than the grosbeak, which was simply the highlight of the day, the normal stuffs were still presenting very well. Long-tailed Tits were common and Japanese(Great) Tits were singing. A Common Kingfisher flashed by quickly as usual. Lots of Grey-capped Greenfinches, very vocal and surprisingly tame. Several Japanese/White/Grey Wagtails were in a small stream in the back of the park. Lots of Barn Swallows were catching insects along the stream and a pair Siberian Meadow Bunting was showing in a small reedbed nearby. Before leaving the park, I came across an approachable male Hawfinch, so I finally have some nice shots of the species.

Feeding Frenzy

Finally finished processing the pics from Wednesday morning at Beppu Koen. Lots and lots of thrushes that day, especially the Dusky Thrush (Turdus (naumanni) eunomus). A flock of about 30 birds was moving around in circle between the pine trees and a small pond in front of the park. They were mainly sunbathing on the top of the trees when I first got there, but after a while they started to come down to the pond and drink water. Around 10.00 all the birds started to move into one fruiting tree on the other side of the park. It's not a large tree but for some reason very popular among these thrushes. There are more trees which produced the same kind of purplish fruits like this tree all around the park, but I saw no bird coming to eat the fruits from them, didn't know why, location might be the best answer.

Watching the birds flying in and out the fruiting tree, eating berries altogether was really fantastic. I've actually never seen the Dusky Thrush being this gregarious before. I'm thinking of going up to Mt.Tsurumi someday after finishing the exam. There must be more fruiting trees, I guess. There was a female Naumann's Thrush (Turdus (naumanni) naumanni) mixing in the large flock of Dusky also, the first time for me to see this form. Unfortunately, I couldn't get much of a decent shot of her. The Pale Thrushes (Turdus pallidus) were also in a good number. They look very different from those Dusky/Naumann's in flight. The wings and tail are much longer and the shape looks really different.

The best I could get from this female Naumann's Thrush

And this one seems to be an integration of eunomus x naumanni

Pale Thrush (left), Dusky Thrush (right)

The pattern of these Dusky Thrushes is very variable.

Another shot of the Naumann's Thrush visiting the fruiting tree

What about other birds other than the thrush, a single female Hawfinch, a pair of Daurian Redstart, of course, male and female, Oriental Turtle-Dove, Brown-eared Bulbul, White-cheeked Starling, few Grey-capped Greenfinches, pigeons and crows and surprisingly a female White-bellied Green Pigeon, which I saw flying out of another fruiting tree. I've got some shots of the birds that came down to the small stream to drink water, mainly thrushes and bulbuls.

The male Daurian Redstart was still doing well there.

A male Pale Thrush

A record shot of the female Hawfinch

These Brown-eared Bulbuls were more wary than the thrushes.

A male Pale Thrush (right) with another Dusky Thrush (left)

Another shot of the Brown-eared Bulbul

Ahh...only 3 days left and my spring vacation is going to be started. Actually I feel like time flies so fast these days, much faster than before. I'm still feeling like I've just spent my New Year eve in my hometown and now January is almost over, pretty soon I'm gonna go traveling to Hokkaido too, and when the spring break is over, I'm gonna be a 3rd year student and that's even a harder thing to believe how fast time has passed by living here in Japan.