Birding with the Ryugasaki Birdwatching Club
Ukishima - Hasaki 9 am - 4 pm, June 14, 1998
Invited by Terada-san and Asuka-san we joined a pleasant birding event of the Ryugasaki Birdwatching Club. In the morning we visited the reedland of Ukishima along the coast of Kasumigaura. A little south-west of Ukishima Asuka-san showed us a possible breeding site of the Oriental Pratincole: two birds were flying over the sandy field. We had lunch next to a heronry in Azuma-machi, where Cattle, Little, Intermediate and Great Egret, as well as Grey Heron and Black Crowned Heron were breeding.
And in the afternoon we had a look around the harbor of Hasaki, just north of Choushi, the fishing port at the mouth of the Tonegawa river, which separates the prefectures of Chiba and Ibaraki.
Highlights: superb views of Japanese Reedbunting, Japanese Marsh Warbler, Fan-tailed warbler, Great reed warbler (red mouth), Black-browed Reed Warbler (yellow/orange mouth) and Red-necked Phalarope.
Participants: ASUKA Haruhiko-san, Neil Fergusson, Fer-Jan de Vries, ASUKA Haruhiko,
NARITA-san and TERADA Kazumi-san. In Ukishima a number of members of the Ryugasaki Birdwatching Club were present, including Kantori member KASE Yoshiko.
Weather: Rather rainy at moments, but somehow we were lucky that the worst moments were during lunch and on the way to and from Choushi. Not cold. 20 degrees celsius or so.
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Spot-billed duck
Anas poecilorhyncha
[Karu-gamo] Ukishima
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Black-tailed Gull
Larus crassirostris
[Umineko] Hasaki: several.
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Glaucous Gull
Larus hyperboreus
[Shiro-kamome] Hasaki: 3 ex.
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Short-tailed Shearwater
Puffinus tenuirostris
[Hashiboso-mizunagidori] Hasaki
- Common Tern
Sterna hirundo
[Ajisashi] Hasaki
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Little Tern
Sterna albifrons
[Ko-ajisashi] Hasaki
- Chinese Little Bittern
Ixobrychus sinensis
[Yoshi-goi] Ukishima: 2 ex
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Black-crowned night-heron
Nycticorax nycticorax
[Goi-sagi] Ukishima:
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Cattle egret
Bubulcus ibis
[Ama-sagi] Ukishima
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Little egret
Egretta garzetta
[Ko-sagi] Ukishima
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Intermediate egret
Egretta intermedia
[Chuu-sagi] Ukishima
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Gray heron
Ardea cinerea
[Ao-sagi] Ukishima
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Little ringed plover
Charadrius dubius
[Kochidori] Hasaki: 1 ex.
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Snowy plover
Charadrius alexandrinus
[Shiro-chidori] Hasaki: 3 ex.
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Northern Phalarope
Phalaropus lobatus
[Akaeri-hireashi-shigi] Hasaki: 1 female in summer plugage. Turning around and around and around in a 5 cm deep rain water puddle on the beach. Pecking behind her tail in the water, while circling and circling. Every now and then she would stand up and show a few cm of leg... Not shy at all. We could approach as close as 5 meters. She seemed to be in good health and able to fly.
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Indian Pratincole
Glareola maldivarum
[Tsubame-chidori]
2 ex possible breeding on dry sandy field 1 km sw of Ukishima.
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Rufous turtle dove
Streptopelia orientalis
[Kiji-bato] Ukishima: 2 ex
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Rock Pigeon
Columbia livia
[Do-bato] Hasaki
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Skylark
Alauda arvensis
[Hibari] Ukishima
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Barn swallow
Hirundo rustica
[Tsubame] Ukishima
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White wagtail
Motacilla alba
[Haku-sekirei] Hasaki
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Brown-eared bulbul
Hypsipetes amaurotis
[Hiyodori] Ukishima
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Bull-headed Shrike
Lanius bucephalus
[Mozu] Shin-tone: 2 ex.
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Bush warbler
Cettia diphone
[Uguisu] Hasaki
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Japanese marsh warbler
Megalurus pryeri
[Ou-sekka] Ukishima: at least 10.
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Fan-tailed warbler
Cisticola juncidis
[Sekka] Ukishima: at least 10.
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Great reed warbler
Acrocephalus arundinaceus
[Ou-yoshikiri] Ukishima: at least 10.
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Black-browed Reed Warbler
Acrocephalus bistrigiceps
[Ko-yoshikiri] Ukishima: at least 4.
- Japanese reed bunting
Emberiza yessoensis
[Ko-jurin] Ukishima: at least 6.
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Tree sparrow
Passer montanus
[Suzume] Ukishima
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Gray starling
Sturnus cineraceus
[Mukudori] Ukishima
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Carrion Crow
Corvus corone
[Hashiboso-garasu] Ukishima
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Last modified: June 20, 1998.