Hello Kantorians,

Another successful month .. but someone please turn off the heat and humidity! Forty-year-old temperature records were broken on several days, with highs reaching 32C or more.

The Juni-Ko area, in the southwest corner of Aomori Ken, consists of very good forest, and holds a few nesting birds which we hadn't found elsewhere in Aomori, such as Jungle Nightjar, Oriental Scops Owl and Gray Thrush. It's a four-hour drive for us, but it's mostly a pleasant run through rural areas. Besides, we're from California, and four hours' driving is nothing.

Another July highlight was finding proof that Japanese Yellow Buntings nested at Shiriya. On the fifth, I watched a pair feeding a fledgling, and to my delight managed to get some good photos of one of the adults. These birds were still present and singing at the end of the month. In the same location, a pair of Brown Shrikes, which we'd scarcely seen before in Japan, appeared to be nest-building. Three weeks later, they were still at the same location, but were being quite furtive. This nearly-endemic race of Brown Shrike (superciliosus) has the possibility of being split some day.

Late in the month, there was an influx of migrating shorebirds (all adults). The size of this movement was modest, but considerably exceeded last year's movement of adult shorebirds, both in sheer numbers and in variety of species. Most of these birds were in fairly heavy molt, but a few individuals thought it was still May. The rarest shorebird was a Little Stint on the 24th, but a Curlew Sandpiper on the 26th was also scarce, and both were firsts for me for Aomori.

One surprising lowlight: not a single egret of any kind!

Symbols: "->" after a date means "onwards"; "->" before a date means "until".


Here's the list for July 1999:


Little Grebe				Kaitsuburi		Podiceps ruficollis
Great Crested Grebe			Kanmuri-kaitsuburi	Podiceps cristatus
Laysan Albatross (7/5(1) Shiriyazaki)	Ko-ahodori		Diomedea immutabilis
Northern Fulmar (7/16(1))		Furuma-kamome		Fulmarus glacialis
Streaked Shearwater			O-Mizunagidori		Calonectris leucomelas
Short-t Shearwater			Hashiboso-mizunagidori	Puffinus tenuirostris
Great Cormorant				Kawa-u			Phalacrocorax carbo
Temminck's Cormorant			Umi-u			Phalacrocorax filamentosus
Pelagic Cormorant (7/5(1) Shiriya)	Hime-u			Phalacrocorax pelagicus
Chinese Little Bittern (1H Hotokenuma)	Yoshi-goi		Ixobrychus sinensis
Black-cr. Night Heron			Goi-sagi		Nycticorax nycticorax
Gray Heron				Ao-sagi			Ardea cinerea
Whooper Swan (2 disabled Shimoda Park)	O-hakucho		Cygnus olor
Bewick's Swan (1 disabled Shimoda Park)	Ko-hakucho		Cygnus bewicki
Mandarin Duck				Oshidori		Aix galericulata		
Spot-billed Duck			Karu-gamo		Anas poecilorhyncha
Eurasian Wigeon (1 Shimoda Park)	Hidori-gamo		Anas penelope
Pochard (1 disabled Shimoda Park)	Hoshi-hajiro		Aythya ferina
Tufted Duck (10+)			Kinkuro-hajiro		Aythya fuligula		
Greater Scaup (25+)			Suzu-gamo		Aythya marila
Harlequin (7/5(1) Yagen Valley)		Shinori-gamo		Histrionicus histrionicus
Honey Buzzard (7/17(1) near Towada-Ko)	Hachikuma		Pernis apivorus
Black Kite				Tobi			Milvus migrans
Eurasian Sparrow Hawk (7/17(1))		Hai-taka		Accipiter nisus
Northern Goshawk (7/18(1) Hotokenuma)	O-taka			Accipiter gentilis
Common Buzzard				Nosuri			Buteo buteo
Asian Marsh Harrier (2 Hotokenuma)	Chuhi			Circus spilonotus
Peregrine Falcon			Hayabusa		Falco peregrinus
Eurasian Kestrel (7/16 Misawa, 7/25 Shiriya) Chogen-bo		Falco tinnunculus
Green Pheasant				Kiji			Phasianus colchicus
Water Rail (Hotokenuma)			Kuina			Rallus aquaticus
Eurasian Coot				O-ban			Fulica atra
Little Ringed Plover (Misawa fishing port) Ko-chidori		Charadrius dubius
Kentish Plover (Misawa Fishing Port)	Shiro-chidori		Charadrius alexandrinus
Mongolian Plover (15+)			Medai-chidori		Charadrius mongolus
Ruddy Turnstone (7/31(1))		Kyojo-shigi		Arenaria interpres
Red-necked Stint (7/5(1),7/23->(65+))	Tonen			Calidris ruficollis
Little Stint (7/24(1) Misawa Fishing Port) Yoroppa-tonen	Calidris minuta
Dunlin (7/24-26(1))			Hama-shigi		Calidris alpina
Curlew Sandpiper (7/26(1)Misawa Fish port) Saruhama-shigi	Calidris ferruginea
Sanderling (7/25(1),7/26(1))		Miyubi-shigi		Crocethia alba
Gray-tailed Tattler (7/15(1)->)		Kiashi-shigi		Tringa brevipes
Common Sandpiper (7/26(1))		Iso-shigi		Tringa hypoleucos
Bar-tailed Godwit (7/31(4))		O-sorihashi-shigi	Limosa lapponica
Far Eastern Curlew (7/25(1),7/27(2))	Horoku-shigi		Numenius madagascariensis
Latham's Snipe (7/15(1) Misawa)		Oji-shigi		Gallinago hardwickii
Slaty-backed Gull			O-seguro-kamome		Larus schistisagus
Black-tailed Gull			Umineko			Larus crassirostris
Spectacled Guillemot (20 Shiriya)	Keimafuri		Cepphus carbo
Rhinoceros Auklet (7/5 Shiriyazaki)	Utou			Cerorhinca monocerata
Rufous Turtle Dove			Kiji-bato		Streptopelia orientalis
Japanese Green Pigeon (100+ near Fukaura) Ao-bato		Sphenurus sieboldii
Common Cuckoo				Kakko			Cuculus canorus
Oriental Cuckoo (7/10(1H) Juni-Ko)	Tsutsudori		Cuculus saturatus
Little Cuckoo				Hototogisu		Cuculus poliocephalus
Jungle Nightjar (7/10(4) Juni-Ko)	Yotaka			Caprimulgus indicus
Oriental Scops Owl (7/10(2) Juni-Ko)	Konoha-zuku		Otus scops (?)
White-throated Needle-t. Swift		Hario-amatsubame	Chaetura caudacuta
Pacific Swift (7/11(50))		Amatsubame		Apus pacificus
Common Kingfisher			Kawasemi		Alcedo atthis
Ruddy Kingfisher (7/5(1H) Yagen Valley)	Aka-shobin		Halcyon coromanda
Greater Pied Kingfisher (7/5(1) Yagen V.) Yamasemi		Ceryle lugubris
Great Spotted Woodpecker		Aka-gera		Dendrocopus major
White-backed Woodpecker (Tsuta, Juni-Ko) O-aka-gera		Dendrocopus leucotos
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker		Ko-gera			Dendrocopos kizuki
Skylark	Hibari	Alauda arvensis
Bank Swallow (7/24->)			Shodo-tsubame		Riparia riparia
Barn Swallow				Tsubame			Hirundo rustica
Asiatic House Martin			Iwa-tsubame		Delichon ??
Gray Wagtail				Ki-sekirei		Motacilla cinerea
Black-backed Wagtail			Haku-sekirei		Motacilla lugens
Japanese Wagtail			Seguro-sekirei		Motacilla grandis
Olive Tree Pipit			Binzui			Anthus hodgsoni
Brown-eared Bulbul			Hiyodori		Hypsipetes amaurotis
Bull-headed Shrike			Mozu			Lanius bucephalus
Brown Shrike (7/5->(2) Shiriya)		Aka-mozu		Lanius cristatus superciliosus
Brown Dipper				Kawagurasu		Cinclus pallasi
Wren					Misosazai		Troglodytes troglodytes
Blue Rock Thrush			Isohiyodori		Monticola solitarius
White's Ground Thrush (Tsuta, Juni-Ko)	Tora-tsugumi		Z. Dauma
Gray Thrush (7/11(1) Juni-Ko)		Kuro-tsugumi		Turdus cardis
Brown Thrush				Akahara			Turdus chrysolaus
Short-tailed Bush Warbler		Yabusame		Cettia squameiceps
Bush Warbler				Uguisu			Cettia diphone
Japanese Marsh Warbler			O-sekka			Megalurus pryeri
Black-browed Reed Warbler		Ko-yoshiki		Acrocephalus bistrigiceps
Great Reed Warbler			O-yoshikiri		Acrocephalus arundinaceus
Eastern Crowned Warbler			Sendai-mushikui		Phylloscopus occipitalis
Narcissus Flycatcher			Ki-bitaki		Ficedula narcissina
Blue & White Flycatcher (Yagen, Juni-Ko) O-ruri			Cyanoptila cyanomelana
Long-tailed Tit				Enaga			Aegithalos caudatus
Willow Tit				Ko-gara			Parus montanus
Coal Tit				Hi-gara			Parus ater
Varied Tit				Yama-gara		Parus varius
Great Tit				Shiju-kara		Parus major
Nuthatch				Goju-kara		Sitta europaea
Japanese White-Eye			Mejiro			Zosterops japonica
Meadow Bunting				Hojiro			Emberiza cioides
Japanese Reed Bunting (Hotokenuma)	Ko-jurin		Emberiza yessoensis
Gray-headed Bunting (Hotokenuma)	Hoaka			Emberiza fucata
Jap. Yellow Bunting (7/5,17,25(4) Shiriya) Nojiko		Emberiza sulfurata
Black-faced Bunting			Aoji			Emberiza spodocephala
Gray Bunting (10+ Towada-Ko and vicinity) Kuroji		Emberiza variabilis
Reed Bunting (Hotokenuma)		O-jurin			Emberiza schoeniclus
Oriental Greenfinch			Kawara-hira		Carduelis sinica
Japanese Grosbeak			Ikaru			Eophona personata
Hawfinch				Shime			Coccothraustes coccothraustes
Eurasian Tree Sparrow			Suzume			Passer montanus
Red-cheeked Myna			Ko-mukudori		Sturnus philippensis
Gray Starling				Mukudori		Sturnus cineraceus
Jay					Kakesu			Garrulus glandarius
Azure-winged Magpie			Onaga			Cyanopica cyana
Carrion Crow				Hashiboso-garasu	Corvus corone
Jungle Crow				Hashibuto-garasu	Corvus macrorhynchos

Good birding, Mike