Izunuma in Miyagi-ken

Izunuma in Miyagi Prefecture, November 22 & 29, 1997

A: November 22, 1997: A rainy one day visit to an imposant wintering place for geese. There were two reasons for this occasion: Kenji Takehara of the Okinawa Prefectural Museum who was visiting Ikenaga-san and a group of about 10 Canada geese which were visiting Izunuma. Departure was awfully early, and we arrived just in time to see the last gaggle of geese heading for their feeding grounds, which are apparently not at walking distance from the JR-station in Nitta. We tried to relocate Canada geese between the fouraging geese but with little success: we found no Canadians and when at 16.00 hr we came back to the lake we saw about 25000 geese returning, a multiple of the number we had counted fouraging,... Yet it was a great outing. 34 species.

Participants were: Fukuda Atsunori, Ikenaga Hiroshi, Takehara Kenji and Fer-Jan de Vries.

The weather was cold (probably below 10), windy and rain almost nonstop and often heavy.

B: November 29, 1997: Another rainy one day visit to Izunuma and surroundings. In the morning it was kind of dryish, but after 11 am it started pouring down. Reason for the visit was to see those Canada geese. Alas the bad weather played tricks with us, again. However we did see a beautiful adult White-tailed Sea-eagle, two nice Goshawks and a Peregrine falcon, and I did not dip on the Brant goose, this time. It was quite a bit colder than the week before. Due to the dark weather perhaps, geese were slow in taking of from the roost. They flew up, and landed again at other parts of the lake. They also seemed to return to the lake already early befor 4 pm. Total numbers of geese had increased, now probably around 40.000. We saw more waterfowl and more species than during the visit one week before: about 45. We did not see Daurian Jackdaw and Baikal teal, which had been seen by Shiraishi-san on the sunny Friday November 28.

Participants were: Ikenaga Hiroshi, Katayama Shuusaku, Tachikawa Hirotomi, Fer-Jan de Vries and Shiraishi-san from Morioka.

The weather was cold (in the early morning close to 2), dark, windy and rain almost nonstop and often heavy.

One nice area which is not mentioned in Brazil (perhaps because it is not really within walking distance of the JR-station Nitta) is the marsh area Kabukuri-numa. Rough reedland area where we saw the fouraging Bean geese and the Goshawks and the Peregrine. Supposedly the Aleautian Canada geese were there as well. Perfect geese area: absolutely unapproachable over the narrow muddy dykes...

Great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus [Kanmuri-kaitsuburi] A : B > 6
Little grebe Podiceps ruficollis [Kaitsuburi] A > 5 : B
Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus [Ou-hakuchou] A > 200 at the swan feeding site, as well as various groups on the ricefields in the neighborhood. : B
Whistling (Bewick) Swan Cygnus columbianus jankowskii [Ko-hakuchou] A > 10 : B
Brant Branta bernicla [Koku-gan] A 1 ex in a group of White-fronted geese, which I dipped : B
White-fronted goose Anser albifrons [Ma-gan] A We saw 4500 ex fouraging on the stubbled ricefields However some 25000 unidentified geese came back the roost on the lake. : B
Lesser white-fronted goose Anser erythropus [Karigane] A 2 ex. I saw one in flight, after Ikenaga-san had spotted it in a group of White-fronted geese.
Bean goose Anser fabalis serrirostris [Hishikui] A One group of 200 ex fouraging not on the ricefields but in a marshland/reedbed. However some 25000 unidentified geese came back the roost on the lake. One was banded with a pale red halsband with black numbers 140 : B
Bean goose Anser fabalis middendorffii [Ou-hishikui] B
Mallard Anas Platyrhynchos [Ma-gamo] A > 5 : B
Spot-billed duck Anas poecilorhyncha [Karu-gamo] A > 10 : B
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata [Hashibiro-gamo] A > 10 : B
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca crecca [Ko-gamo] A > 3 : B
Falcated Teal Anas falcata [Yoshi-gamo] B
Gadwall Anas strepera [Okayoshi-gamo] B
Northern Pintail Anas acuta [Onaga-gamo] A > 1000 at the swan feeding site. : B >2000
Pochard Aythya ferina [Hoshi-hajiro] A > 5 : B
Common goldeneye Bucephala clangula [Hojiro-gamo] A > 2 : B
Tufted duck Aythya fuligula [Kinkuro-hajiro] A > 20 : B
Smew Mergus albellus [Miko-aisa] A > 3 : B > 30
Common merganser Mergus merganser [Kawa-aisa] A > 2 : B > 10
Gull sp. Larus schitisagus or argentatus< [Ou-seguro-kamome or Seguro-kamome] B
Great egret Egretta alba [Dai-sagi] A > 30 : B
Gray heron Ardea cinerea [Ao-sagi] A > 5 : B
Coot Fulica atra [Ou-ban] B > 3
Common Gallinule Gallinula chloropus [Ban] B 1 ex
White-tailed sea-eagle Haliaeetus albicilla [Ojiro-washi] : B 1 full grown adult!
Black kite Milvus migrans [Tobi] A > 10 : B
Common buzzard Buteo buteo [Nosuri] A 1 ex : B
Eastern Marsh harrier Circus aeruginous [Chuuhi] A > 5 ex : B
Northern goshawk Accipter gentilis [Ou-taka] B 2 ex. (male and juv female)
Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus [Haya-busa] B
Common pheasant Phasianus colchicus [Kiji] A > 5 : B
Rufous turtle dove Streptopelia orientalis [Kiji-bato] A > 5 : B
Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis [Kawa-semi] A 3 ex : B
Skylark Alauda arvensis [Hibari] A 1 ex
White wagtail Motacilla alba [Haku-sekirei] B
Japanese wagtail Motacilla grandis [Seguro-sekirei] A 2 ex : B
Brown-eared bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis [Hiyodori] B
Bull-headed shrike Lanius bucephalus [Mozu] B
Bush warbler Cettia diphone [Uguisu] B
Siberian meadow bunting Emberiza cioides [Hoojiro] A > 5
Oriental greenfinch Carduelis sinica [Kawarahiwa] A One group of 150 ex. : B
Tree sparrow Passer montanus [Suzume] A > 10 : B
Gray starling Sturnus cineraceus [Mukudori] A > 100 : B
Azure winged magpie Cyanopica cyana [Onaga] B
Rook Corvus frugilegus [Miyama-garasu] A > 50 : B
Carrion crow Corvus corone [Hashiboso-garasu] A > 20 : B
Jungle crow Corvus macrorhynchos [Hashibuto-garasu] A > 5 : B

Japanese Hare Lepus brachyurus [No-usagi] B Roadkill

Back to main page Birds in Japan and Asia Last modified: December 1, 1997. Fer-Jan de Vries, ferjan@etl.go.jp