Tue Jan 5 22:38:13 JST 1999

Hello Kantorians,

Since it was too far for us to join some of you birding at new year on Jan 2, we decided to at least drive in your direction for a quick weekend at Izunuma, Miyagi-Ken. It was our first visit there, even though it's an easy 4-hour drive for us. We arrived afternoon Jan 1, had all day Jan 2, and left mid-day Jan 3. We stayed at the Motoyoshi-Ya Ryokan across from the JR station at Nitta, which was quite comfortable with good food. It is ideally located for birders.

We had reasonably good weather there. Nights were cold enough to freeze much of the lakes, the areas occupied by waterfowl being about the only parts which didn't freeze. In the day, it warmed up enough to thaw most of the ice. There was intermittent snow and sun, similar to the weather we've been having up here in Aomori-Ken, though a few degrees warmer and not as windy.

We spent some time scanning the throngs of Greater White-fronted Geese (Ma-gan), hoping to see the Lesser WF Goose (Karigane) seen by Ikenaga-San, Fer-Jan-San, et al, several weeks earlier, but had no luck with that. Indeed, we were unsuccessful in finding all but a tiny fraction of the birds at their daytime feeding areas in the paddy fields. There were no Bean Geese (Hishikui) at Izunuma or Uchinuma at all, as far as we could see. We did see a few hundred Bean Geese (race middendorfi) several kilometers to the south. These were birds which apparently roosted at Kejonuma. .

We did have success finding other birds, though. The highlight for us were two groups of Baikal Teal (Tomoe-gamo), totalling 11 individuals. These were in the south-central part of Izunuma, associating on and off with Mallards. Tetsuo Shimada, a researcher at the visitors' center on the north side of the lake, told us that in October and November there had been between 100 and 200 present, a quite large number for Japan.

The other surprise bird was a Eurasion (Great) Bittern (Sankano-goi) which we flushed while walking along a dike near where the Baikal Teal were. It was not in a reedbed, but just some scrub at the water's edge. It flew a great distance, bypassing seemingly suitable reedbeds.

The goose flyout for which the site is famous was spectacular, but very short in duration. Small groups began lifting off at about 6:45 AM, just before sunrise. Within just a few minutes, virtually the entire flock lifted, milled around a bit, and flew mostly to the east - southeast. There was a nice full moon up which provided a picturesque backdrop for the skeins of birds. By 7 AM, there were no geese left on the lake.

Also noteworthy were two beautiful adult White-tailed Eagles circling over Uchinuma.



Here's the bird list:

Eurasian Bittern (1)			Sankano-goi		Botaurus stellaris
Great Egret (10+)			Dai-saga		Egretta alba
Gray Heron (10)				Ao-sagi			Ardea cinerea
White-fronted Goose (0000's)		Ma-gan			Anser albifrons
Bean Goose (00's)			Hishikui		Anser fabalis middendorfi
Whooper Swan (200)			O-hakucho		Cygnus olor
Bewick's Swan (1)			Ko-hakucho		Cygnus bewicki
Mallard (1000+)				Ma-gamo			Anas platyrhynchos
Spot-billed Duck (00's)			Karu-gamo		Anas poecilorhyncha
Common Teal (100)	                Ko-gamo			Anas crecca
Baikal Teal (11)			Tomoe-gamo		Anas formosa
Falcated Duck (5)			Yoshi-gamo          	Anas falcata
Eurasian Wigeon (10)	            	Hidori-gamo		Anas penelope
Northern Pintail (10000+)		Onaga-gamo		Anas acuta
Northern Shoveler (2)		        Hashibiro-gamo		Anas clypeata
Pochard (00's)				Hoshi-hajiro		Aythya ferina
Tufted Duck (00's)			Kinkuro-hajiro          Aythya fuligula		
Greater Scaup (~10)			Suzu-gamo               Aythya marila
Common Goldeneye (10)			Hojiro-gamo		Bucephala clangula
Smew (100+)				Miko-aisa		Mergus albellus
Common Merganser (200+)			Kawa-aisa		Mergus merganser
Black Kite (50+)			Tobi			Milvus migrans
White-tailed Eagle (2)			Ojiro-washi		Haliaeetus albicilla
Eurasian Sparrow Hawk (2)     		Hai-taka		Accipiter nisus
Common Buzzard (10)			Nosuri                  Buteo buteo
Asian Marsh Harrier (4)			Chuhi			Circus spilonotus
Peregrine Falcon (3)	          	Hayabusa		Falco peregrinus
Green Pheasant (1)			Kiji			Phasianus colchicusJapanese 
Eurasian Coot (00's)			O-ban			Fulica atra
Common Black-headed Gull (10+)		Yuri-kamome		Larus ridibundus
Rufous Turtle Dove (20+)		Kiji-bato		Streptopelia orientalis
Great Spotted Woodpecker (~3)		Aka-gera		Dendrocopus major
Skylark (20)				Hibari			Alauda arvensis
Black-backed Wagtail (10)		Haku-sekirei		Motacilla lugens
Japanese Wagtail (5)			Seguro-sekirei		Motacilla grandis
Water Pipit (2+)			Tahibari		Anthus spinoletta
Brown-eared Bulbul (40)			Hiyodori		Hypsipetes amaurotis
Bull-headed Shrike (10)			Mozu			Lanius bucephalus
Wren (1)				Misosazai		Troglodytes troglodytes
Daurian Redstart (3)			Jo-bitaki		Phoenicurus auroreus
Dusky Thrush (50)			Tsugumi			Turdus naumanni
Bush Warbler (8)			Uguisu			Cettia diphone
Goldcrest (8)				Kikuitadaki		Regulus regulus
Long-tailed Tit (25+)			Enaga			Aegithalos caudatus
Great Tit (10)				Shiju-kara		Parus major
Meadow Bunting (15+)			Hojiro			Emberiza cioides
Rustic Bunting (25+)			Kashiradaka		Emberiza rustica
Black-faced Bunting (1)			Aoji			Emberiza spodocephala
Reed Bunting (5+)			O-jurin			Emberiza schoeniclus
Oriental Greenfinch (40+)		Kawara-hira		Carduelis sinica
Long-tailed Rose Finch (5)		Beni-mashiko		Uragus sibiricus
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (00's)		Suzume			Passer montanus
Gray Starling (00's)			Mukudori		Sturnus cineraceus
Carrion Crow				Hashiboso-garasu	Corvus corone
Jungle Crow				Hashibuto-garasu	Corbus macrorhynchos


Good birding, Mike