A Kantori visit to Urabandai in Fukushima-ken

June 19-20, 1999

Ten real members of the virtual birding club Kantori made a real trip to Urabandai in Fukushima ken. Roughly speaking this area is situated some 75 km west of Fukushima city and some 19 km east of Kitakata. Bandaisan is a huge vulcano which erupted for the last time in 1888. The rugged remainders of the walls of the vulcano are still dominating the landscape, as long as the clouds permit this. In the neighborhood there is a variety of lakes of smaller and larger size. We mainly watched birds along the western coast of large Lake Hibarako, but also had a brief look at Lake Nakasenuma and a complex of small ponds with colored water, Goshiki-numa.

Birding was successful with about 65 species. All cuckoos and swifts, lots of thrushes and flycatchers, calling Rudy Kingfishers and even a Latham's snipe. Unexpected high point of the trip was the close up view that Ikenaga-san and Katayama-san got of a Black Bear. The rest of the group on the narrow trail behind them could only hear and see the moving of the bear through the breast high vegetation.

The weather turned out allright for birding: not very promising, the rainy season had really started on the days before the trip, but somehow we managed to evade the heavy rains. It was cool about 12 Celsius, hardly any wind, heavely overcast, with sometime a drizzle. Still good birding conditions: especially the clouds at ground level forced the various Swift species to fly very low: the idea was even that approaching low clouds pushed a whole bunch of low flying swifts towards us.

Izumita Tomoko-san had nicely taken care of the local arrangements, and we could stay in a friendly loghut style minshuku somewhere south of the main lake. Katayama-san and Kase-san helped with the transportation of the Ibaraki and Tokyo members of the group. The pictures below are taken with the nice electronic camera (without flash!) of Kase-san. The whole group consisted of Higo-san, Ikenaga-san, Izumita-san, the two Kase-sans, Katayama-san, Johan Linden, Tachikawa-san, Terada-san and Fer-Jan de Vries.

Observed bird species

  1. Little Grebe Podiceps ruficollis [Kaitsuburi]
  2. Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo [Kawa-u]
  3. Mallard Anas Platyrhynchos [Ma-gamo] several males; one female with young
  4. Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha [Karu-gamo]
  5. Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax [Goi-sagi]
  6. Gray Heron Ardea cinerea [Ao-sagi] Common
  7. Latham's Snipe Gallinago hardwickii [Ooji-shigi] 1 ex.
  8. Black Kite Milvus lineatus [Tobi] Several
  9. Common Buzzard Buteo buteo [Nosuri] 2 ex
  10. Northern Goshawk Accipter gentilis [Oo-taka] 2 ex
  11. European Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus [Hai-taka] 1 ex
  12. Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus [Kiji] Calling
    Copper Pheasant Yama-dori [Phasianus soemmerringii] Drumming, but not seen. But Kiji seems to be able to drum as well...
  13. Rufous Turtle Dove Streptopelia orientalis [Kiji-bato] Some
  14. Rock Pigeon Columba livia [Do-bato] Some
  15. Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus [Kakkoo] Abundance of the Cuckoos: Ju-ichi < Tsutsudori < Kakkou < Hototogisu
  16. Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus [Tsutsudori] Few
  17. Little Cuckoo Cuculus poliocephalus [Hototogisu] Common
  18. Horsfield's Hawk Cuckoo Cuculus fugax [Juu-ichi] Very few.
  19. White-throated Needle-tailed Swift Chaetura caudata [Hario-amatsubame] Several.
  20. House Swift Apus affinis [Hime-amatsubame] 2 ex.
  21. White-rumped Swift Apus pacificus [Amatsubame] Common
  22. Ruddy Kingfisher Halcyon coromanda [Akashoobin] 2-3 ex calling
  23. Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis [Kawa-semi] 1 ex
  24. Japanese Green Woodpecker Dendrocopos awokera [Aogera] several
  25. Great spotted Woodpecker Dendrocopos major [Akagera] common, one tree with calling young
  26. Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos kizuki [Ko-gera] several
  27. Asian House Martin Delichon dasypus [Iwa-tsubame] several between the forrested hills
  28. Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica [Tsubame] only in the villages.
  29. Gray Wagtail Motacilla cinerea [Ki-sekirei] few
  30. Black-backed Wagtail Motacilla lugens [Haku-sekirei] few
  31. Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis [Seguro-sekirei] few
  32. Brown-eared Bulbul Hypsipetes amaurotis [Hiyodori] common
  33. Bull-headed Shrike Lanius bucephalus [Mozu] several
  34. Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus lucionensis [Aka-mozu] 1 ex
  35. Brown Dipper Cinclus pallasii [Kawagarasu]
  36. Winter Wren Troglodytes troglodytes [Misosazai]
  37. Japanese Robin Erithacus akahige [Komadori]
  38. Siberian Blue Robin Erithacus cyane [Koruri]
  39. Siberian Thrush Turdus sibiricus [Mamijiro]
  40. White's Ground Thrush Turdus dauma [Tora-tsugumi]
  41. Brown Thrush Turdus chrysolaus [Akahara]
  42. Gray Thrush Turdus cardis [Kuro-tsugumi]
  43. Bush Warbler Cettia diphone [Uguisu]
  44. Short-tailed Bush Warbler Cettia squameiceps [Yabusame]
  45. Goldcrest Regulus regulus [Kikuitadaki]
  46. Great Reed Warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus [Oo-yoshikiri] 1 ex
  47. Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina [Ki-bitaki] at various places
  48. Blue-and-White Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana [Oo-ruri] several, one family with one orange brown young
  49. Great Tit Parus major [Shijuu-kara] at various places
  50. Willow Tit Parus montanus [Ko-gara] at various places
  51. Coal Tit Parus ater [Hi-gara] at various places
  52. Varied Tit Parus varius [Yama-kara] 1 ex
  53. Long-tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus [Enaga] one small group
  54. Nuthatch Sitta europaea [Gojuu-kara] several at various places
  55. Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonica [Mejiro] several at various places
  56. Siberian Meadow Bunting Emberiza cioides [Hoojiro] several at various places
  57. Black-faced Bunting Emberiza spodocephala [Aoji] several at various places; more common then Hoojiro
  58. Oriental Greenfinch Carduelis sinica [Kawarahiwa] several
  59. Japanese Grosbeak Eophona personata [Ikaru] 2 ex
  60. Tree Sparrow Passer montanus [Suzume] several
  61. Russet Sparrow Passer rutilans [Nyuunai-uzume] several at various places
  62. Gray Starling Sturnus cineraceus [Mukudori] several
  63. Red-cheeked Starling Sturnus phillippensis [Ko-mukudori] several at various places
  64. Jay Garrulus glandarius brandtii [Kakesu] few
  65. Carrion Crow Corvus corone [Hashiboso-garasu] several at various places
  66. Jungle Crow Corvus macrorhynchos [Hashibuto-garasu] common

    Other observations

    Mammals

    Amphibians

    Furthermore we found a marsh where many trees carried white foamy lumps containing the eggs of the Green Frog (Aogaeru), and we found a black salamander with an orange belly. Lots of different toad and frogsounds could be heard: I believe I could hear:

    Plants

    Beautiful were also some flowers, the first one may have been rather special:

    Moths

    Attracted and wounded by a streetlight:
    Birds in Japan and Asia
    Last modified: Jun 20, 1999.