Instead of doing the bookkeeping of the Tobishima records, I went to the Amicoast of Kasumigaura. Very fruitful
but puzzling at the end.
Comments most welcome. I am rather puzzled by the last two items.
Painted Snipe: 1 calling female South of Ottonuma, 3 along Ami
coast. (1 calling from electric wire...)
American Wigeon. Male. Ami-coast, on the lake, a little east of 41.50
km sign
Rufous-necked stint: 1 ex in emptied sand basin, 2 ex on the Snowy
plover sandbank.
Motacilla alba ocularis, 1 ex in emptied sand basin.
Northern phalarope, female in summer plumage. Ami-coast near 37.5
km sign, in paddy with water next to the Snowy plover sandbank.
Little tern. Ami-coast near 37.5 km sign, on the Snowy plover
sandbank.
Here come some the weird = not well understood sightings...
Greater short toed lark (!?). Ami-coast near 37.5 km sign, on the
Snowy plover sandbank.
Small skylark without crest, but low flat head.. Overall impression
greyish brown. Fine even pattern on the back. On the breast thin dark
stripes. Quickly running over sand, taking cover behind tufts of grass.
Possibly two birds. While I was trying to study it carefully, I
got distracted by the following:
Snow bunting (???). Ami-coast
near 37.5 km sign, on the Snowy plover
sandbank.
Hard to describe: Very pale brown bird, slightly more robust than tree
sparrow. With a striking even lighter big round head and possibly light rump. Especially from
behind. Seemed to have some dark patches near bill. Rather skittish,
hopping and flying from place to place along the edge of the
sandheap. The setting sun, made the light conditions deteriorate fast:
when the bird flew away, I could not relocated it. It was fouraging
along the NW corner of the sandheap.
By the Snowy plover sandbank I mean those ricepaddies near kilometer
sign 30 where they dumped mud from the lake on, and which now is the
breeding place of all these Plovers...
Weather: Pleasantly fresh afternoon, due to overcast sky and (not too strong) eastern wind.
Little GrebePodiceps ruficollis
[Kaitsuburi]
Ami-coast: >3
Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
[Kawa-u]
Ami-coast: >5
Mallard Anas Platyrhynchos
[Ma-gamo]
Ami-coast: > 8
Spot-billed Duck Anas poecilorhyncha
[Karu-gamo]
Onogawa
Ami-coast: > 25
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata
[Hashibiro-gamo]
Ami-coast: > 30
Green-winged Teal Anas crecca crecca
[Ko-gamo]
Ami-coast: > 2300
Falcated Teal Anas falcata
[Yoshi-gamo]
Ami-coast: > 35
Gadwall Anas strepera
[Okayoshi-gamo]
Ami-coast: 1
Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
[Hidori-gamo]
Ottonuma 1 ex
Ami-coast: > 225
American Wigeon Anas americana
[Amrika-hidori]
Ami-coast: 1 male. Near 41.50 km point.
Black-headed GullLarus ridibundus
[Yuri-kamome]
Ami-coast: 8 winterplumage 1 with beginning summer plumage