Ono River

Late December excited me with the discovery of a male Scaly-sided Merganser (Mergus squamatus) at Ono River. On January 29, I went there to look for the bird but failed to see it. The bird proved to be nomadic. It disappeared from the first location where it was found and was later spotted many kilometres upstream several days later. I followed the news with the help from other birdwatchers in Oita but still couldn't manage to see it. I failed twice and felt so discouraged that I stopped following it. Last month, the bird was spotted again with a female! The pair was found staying in a lake up on the mountain in Yufu city. The place seems to be accessible only by private cars, so I had no chance to see them. Anyway, this post is all about the other birds that I found and photographed during my visits to Ono River.

Probably non-breeding male Long-billed Plover (Charadrius placidus)

Probably a female bird

Ono River (大野川) seemed to be a very good place to see Long-billed Plovers (Charadrius placidus). They were numerous along the rocky riverbanks in the area where I was looking for the merganser. Almost all of them were staying in pairs. I noticed that one of the birds in each pair would have more black on its face and breast band, and another one would have plainer face. I assumed that the darker one might be a male bird and another is a female. Even though they were numerous, it was really difficult to photograph them. They were shy and would normally fly away before I reached a certain range that is good enough for my lens. I finally found the trick that made me more successful in photographing these shy birds. I noticed that they would try to camouflage by lying low among the rocks when I walked with my back straight, but tended to fly away when I tried to approach by crawling towards them. This is quite opposite to most birds that feed on the ground, which tend to be less comfortable with any vertical matter than moves horizontally, i.e. human. So I tried walking indirectly towards them with my back straight and when I got to the acceptable distance, I would sit down and wait for the birds to rise up and move freely.

More individuals with blackish face and breast band

Another bird that I tried to photograph while I was waiting for the merganser was the Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei). There were about 3-5 pairs staying in the same area. Like the Long-billed Plovers, they were numerous but clearly moved in pairs. With a photography hide, I could take some photos of them in a close range since they tended to favour shallow water near the banks. I also noticed that one of the individuals in each pair would be slightly darker than another one as well. The darker individual would have darker brown cap and upperparts. These darker individuals might as well be the male birds.

A non-breeding Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei)

A darker individual

A non-breeding Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Black-eared Kite (Milvus lineatus)

Apart from the Long-billed Plovers and Little Grebes, there were not so many other birds in the river. I feel like even Oita River seems to be a much better place for general birding. Birds in Ono River seemed to be much more wary and less numerous. Other birds found on my 2 visits included a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, an Osprey, Black-eared Kites, Little and Great Egrets, distant Mandarin and Falcated Ducks, a female Common Merganser, Great Cormorants and lots of Common Teals. The transportation fee is quite expensive, so I don't think that I'll make another visit to look for the Scaly-sided Merganser again. Hopefully, I'll be able to see it someday in the future before it becomes even more endangered than it is now.

Little Grebe

Last Tuesday saw me visiting Oita River in Kaku area looking for Baikal Teals, which I found at least 3 individuals (1 male and 2 females) last winter. To my surprise, the river was almost empty, another major disappointment for this winter. Only a few small flocks of Mallards and Common Teals flushed up from the river banks as I arrived. I set up my hide and waited in hope of something to show up. In fact, I was waiting in vain. No duck came back to the area where I set up my hide. A group of 1 male and 2 female Common Teals and at least 2 pairs of Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei) were all that I found and photographed. At least, I could get some better shots of the grebes.

Non-breeding Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei)

Little Grebe seems to be abundant in this area of the river. I hardly see any of them near the river mouth where they are replaced by the much larger Great Crested Grebes. Here in Kaku, they scatter in every 100 metres along the river. I've never come here in spring or summer but I believe that they also breed along the reedbeds. I heard from Furuso-san that they also breed in lakes on high mountains near Beppu as well. I wonder how they migrate up there, where the lakes are located among the forest on the mountain top, completely isolated from any body of water.

Non-breeding Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis poggei)

Even with a photography hide, the grebes were still relatively wary. Unlike the Common Teals which came swimming only about 10m away from of the hide, the grebes didn't come any closer than at least 20m. I sat there waiting from about 9:30AM until 10:30AM. As you can see from the photos, the light has changed from the warm yellowish morning light to normal midday light. One interesting thing was that the grebes were quite vocal. Its call was very loud and distinctive. All of them seemed to be staying in pairs as well. I'd love to come back again in March and take photos of them in their breeding plumage.

Oita River

If you can still remember, I made a visit to Oita River earlier this month and found a small group of Baikal Teals around Onozuru area. This post will be about any other birds I found on that day. There was quite a good number of ducks, mainly Mallards and Common Teals. There were also a couple of Coots, a lone female Greater Scaup and a female Common Pochard, the 2 species I've never seen in Oita before. Apart from the ducks, the numbers of finches were also remarkable. There was quite a big flock of Eurasian Siskins feeding in a small grassy patch on the river side, as well as many dispersed flocks of the Grey-capped Greenfinches. This winter has proved to be good for Siskins.

A view of Oita River (大分川) from the bridge to Kaku (賀来)

It was the first time for me to catch a train from the South Exit of the Oita Station.

A flock of ducks in the river

I've got a few better flight shots of the Eurasian Siskins here.

There were several Little Grebes feeding in the water in front of my hiding place. These birds were too shy though. Even though I sat very still behind the bush waiting patiently, they never seemed to come any closer than 20-30 metres or so. Though the Little Grebes were a bit tamer than the ducks, they were still too small in size to fill in the frame. Hope next time I can get some better shots of them.