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)

Twitcher

I hadn't been to Beppu Koen for such a long time, until yesterday. While I was walking to Sekino-E on the evening of Sunday 21 November, I came across Furuso-san who was about to leave the place. She excitingly told me that yesterday she found a flock of Eurasian Siskins (Carduelis spinus) at Beppu Koen, and showed me the photos of them. I know most of you wouldn't be excited about this, but I was. I've never seen a Siskin before and from the expression of Furuso-san, I can be sure that it is not something ordinary for her, and Beppu as well. So I hurried to Beppu Koen on the morning of Tuesday 23 in search of the Siskins. From the photos in Furuso-san's camera, I could recognise the place where the birds gathered. It was a tree near a small stream where most of the finches like to come down to drink and bath. After I arrived at the park, I walked straight to the stream and sat down and waited for them. After a while, I spotted a large flock of small birds came swirling passed over my head and landed near the big pond in front of the park. I was sure that were them, so I ran right to the pond, and on the dead treetop, there were more than 50 of these small Eurasian Siskins, my latest lifer!

Eurasian Siskin (Carduelis spinus)

I tried to take photos of them while they're drinking water from the pond, but they were so wary and flew off before I could get any decent shot. They're much more approachable and still while perching on the trees. There were several of their favourite perches. One is near the small stream and another two on the different sides of the pond. They always perched on these trees before coming down to drink. The tree near the stream was also fruiting, and they seemed to enjoy eating the fruits.

The Three Companions

So this post is gonna be another post to clear up photos in my stock. These shots were all taken around Beppu Ropeway area. Tits are the most common yet very cute birds around here. I went to see the Varied Tit's nest I've found last time but seemed like the birds had already left it. However, another pair of Varied Tits was seen carrying some food into another nest box in the park near the cable car station.

This set of photos is the best I've ever get from the Varied Tit. There was another bird behind the one here. That individual had some kind of food in its beak but it was strangely doing a begging gesture towards this one. I've no idea what kind of message that bird was trying to say.

More from the same bird

Apart from the Varied Tit, I also got a very nice opportunity to photograph the Coal Tit which you might have seen earlier in this post. A pair of this bird tried to investigate me and my white Canon lens. They came in very close and I just had to put my camera down and watched them with bare eyes when they came too close for my lens to focus. One of the bird, which should be the male, was very busy finding food for another one. The male bird was also the one that often sings.

The last species of tit family I photographed that day is the super cute Long-tailed Tit. It was probably the most numerous species at the summit of Mt.Tsurumi. I always see a flock of this bird moving around in the forest behind the cable car station. However, I couldn't get many photos because it was too dark and the birds also moved very fast. So here are the only 2 acceptable shots I've got.

Other than the tits, birds around the park near the cable car station were very good. The same pair of Asian Brown Flycatcher was still staying around. I saw one bird brought food for another one. Not too soon, they must be nesting somewhere around here. A flock of Ryukyu Minivets was flying around as well. The birds kept staying only on high canopy, so I couldn't get any photo of them though. Japanese Grosbeak was quite numerous and all of them were moving in pairs. I saw a flock coming down to take bath at the waterhole too, but these birds are always too shy for me to get any shot at close range.

Asian Brown Flycatcher

A Japanese Grosbeak to finish off with.