Observations in Shirakami, June 5-7, 97.

With the ECO-club we visited to the magnificient beech forest of Shirakami Sanchi on the border of Aomori-ken and Akita-ken. The forest stretched out over a mountainous area not far from the west coast of northern Honshu. See the homepages of Natural land agency of the goverment of Japan and Aomori-ken on the World Natural Heritage site Shirakami. The visit was brief and wonderful, and the group of people pleasant and knowledgable, but it was hard to concentrate on birdwatching. The beech forest is very impressive: draped over mountains and with an almost tropical soundscape of insects and frogs. I did not see the Black woodpecker, just some indirect signs of it. In one fast streaming river in the middle of the forest I was delighted to see a pair of Harlequin ducks. Kudo Fubomichi-san and especially Kitano Hideo-sensei helped me at times identifying birdcalls. Gray thrush and Siberian blue robin were new species for me on this trip. House martins could be seen in the villages along the coast, and also, together with the White-throated needle-tailed swifts high in the sky above the mountains tops.
  1. Temminck's cormorant Phalacrocorax filamentosus [Umi-u]
  2. Spot-billed duck Anas poecilorhyncha [Karu-gamo]
  3. Harlequin duck Histronicus histronicus [Shinori-gamo]
  4. Slaty-backed gull Larus schitisagus [Ou-seguro-kamome]
  5. Black-tailed gull Larus crassirostris [Umineko]
  6. Glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus [Shirokamome]
  7. Gray heron Ardea cinerea [Ao-sagi]
  8. Common sandpiper Tringa hypoleucos [Iso-shigi]
  9. Golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos [Inu-washi]
  10. Black kite Milvus migrans [Tobi]
  11. Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus [Haya-busa]
  12. Brown hawk owl Ninox scutula [Aoba zuku]
  13. Bamboo partridge Bambusicola thoracica [Kojukei]
  14. Common pheasant Phasianus colchicus [Kiji]
  15. Copper pheasant Yama-dori [Phasianus soemmerringii]
  16. Rufous turtle dove Streptopelia orientalis [Kiji-bato]
  17. Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus [Kakkoo]
  18. Oriental cuckoo Cuculus saturatus [Tsutsudori]
  19. Little cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus [Hototogisu]
  20. Horsfield's hawk-cuckoo Cuculus fugax [Juu-ichi]
  21. White-throated needle-tailed swift Chaetura caudata [Hario-amatsubame]
  22. Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major [Akagera]
  23. Black woodpecker Dryocopus martius [Kumagera] We did not see or hear the bird, but according to Kudo-san there were severla breeding pairs, last season. The kingsize woodpecker holes in some trees suggested the recent presence of Black woodpeckers.
  24. Skylark Alauda arvensis [Hibari]
  25. House martin Delichon urbica [Iwa-tsubame]
  26. Barn swallow Hirundo rustica [Tsubame]
  27. White wagtail Motacilla alba [Haku-sekirei]
  28. Japanese wagtail Motacilla grandis [Seguro-sekirei]
  29. Brown-eared bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis [Hiyodori]
  30. Bull-headed shrike Lanius bucephalus [Mozu]
  31. Brown shrike Lanius cristatus lucionensis [Aka-mozu]
  32. Brown dipper Cinclus pallasii [Kawagarasu]
  33. Japanese robin Erithacus akahige [Komadori]
  34. Siberian blue robin Erithacus cyane [Koruri]
  35. Siberian bluechat Tarsiger cyanurus [Ruri-bitaki]
  36. Blue rockthrush Monticola solitarius [Iso-hyodori]
  37. Gray thrush Turdus cardis [Kuro-tsugumi]
  38. Bush warbler Cettia diphone [Uguisu]
  39. Fan-tailed warbler Cisticola juncidis [Sekka]
  40. Great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus [Ou-yoshikiri]
  41. Short-tailed bush warbler Cettia squameiceps [Yabusame]
  42. Crowned willow warbler Phylloscopus occipitalis [Sendai-mushikui]
  43. Arctic warbler Phylloscopus borealis [Meboso mushikui]
  44. Narcissus flycatcher Ficedula narcissina [Ki-bitaki]
  45. Blue and white flycatcher Cyanptila cyanomelana [Ou-ruri]
  46. Great tit Parus major [Shijuu-kara]
  47. Willow tit Parus montanus [Ko-gara]
  48. Coal tit Parus ater [Hi-gara]
  49. Nuthatch Sitta europaea [Gojuu-kara]
  50. Siberian meadow bunting Emberiza cioides [Hoojiro]
  51. Oriental greenfinch Carduelis sinica [Kawarahiwa]
  52. Hawfinch Coccothraustes coccothraustes [Shime]
  53. Tree sparrow Passer montanus [Suzume]
  54. Gray starling Sturnus cineraceus [Mukudori]
  55. Jay Garrulus glandarius brandtii [Kakesu]
  56. Carrion crow Corvus corone [Hashiboso-garasu]
  57. Jungle crow Corvus macrorhynchos [Hashibuto-garasu]
Almost at the bottom of some valley in a now small almost tickling stream of water we found the smelly skeleton of:
  1. Japanese Serow Capricornis crispus [Kamoshika] It must hav been washed down during the big melting of the snow.
Back to previous page Last modified: June 12, 1997. ferjan@etl.go.jp