27 FEBRUARY – 03 MARCH 2024
By Andrew Walker
We enjoyed exceptional views of Red-crowned Crane while birding in Hokkaido.
Overview
This short, six-day, custom birdwatching tour of Japan started and ended in Tokyo on Honshu Island, but our birding was focused on the islands of Hokkaido to the north and Kyushu to the south. This trip was a shortened version of our set departure Japan bird tour. The tour ran from the 27th of February to the 3rd of March 2024. Our birding targeted as many species of cranes as possible, as these were the most highly desired bird family, though we also saw many other simply breathtaking birds that birding Japan in the winter is so well known for.
The magnificent Steller’s Sea Eagle was a sight to behold while birding in Hokkaido.
We recorded 140 bird species on this Japanese birdwatching tour (one of these was heard only) which included six crane species; Siberian Crane, Red-crowned Crane, White-naped Crane, Hooded Crane, Common Crane, and Sandhill Crane.
We saw lots of waterfowl during our Japan winter birding tour, and one of the best-looking was this simply spectacular Falcated Duck, other gorgeous ducks included Mandarin Duck, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Northern Pintail, Garganey, and Baikal Teal.
Other highlight birds seen during our Japan winter bird tour included Steller’s Sea Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Mountain (Japanese) Hawk-Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, Blakiston’s Fish Owl, Ural Owl, Falcated Duck, Baikal Teal, Mandarin Duck, Harlequin Duck, Stejneger’s Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, Black-faced Spoonbill, Pelagic Cormorant, Japanese Cormorant, Solitary Snipe, Long-billed Plover, Saunders’s Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Vega Gull, Crested Auklet, Least Auklet, Spectacled Auklet, Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Ryukyu Minivet, Pale Thrush, Dusky Thrush, Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, Japanese Bush Warbler, Varied Tit, Chinese Penduline Tit, Bull-headed Shrike, Daurian Jackdaw, Brown Dipper, Japanese Wagtail, White-cheeked Starling, Asian Rosy Finch, Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, Meadow Bunting, Masked Bunting, and Yellow-throated Bunting.
Numerous attractive passerines were enjoyed while birding in Japan and one of those was Varied Tit (above), others included Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, Long-tailed Tit, Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, Hawfinch, and Meadow Bunting.
Detailed Report
Day 1, 27th February 2024. Tokyo to Kushiro and Yoroushi
We all met up with our local guide, Nigel, at Tokyo Haneda Airport for our early morning flight to Kushiro on the northern island of Hokkaido. After our short flight we arrived at a snow-covered and rather windy Kushiro and set about sorting out our optics, vehicle, and thermal layers!
We had been driving for about 20 minutes when the first raptors were seen, with brief views of Steller’s Sea Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, and Eastern Buzzard from the vehicle, though none were really suitable for stopping and admiring. We progressed onwards and soon reached the incredible Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, where we were to spend most of the remainder of the day exploring.
Our main target was waiting to welcome us. As we pulled into the parking lot, we were greeted by the sight of almost one hundred Red-crowned Cranes! The sight and sound of these birds – at a very close distance, temporarily allowed us to forget about the chilling (freezing!) wind howling across the snow-covered fields, as we marveled at their incredible beauty. We watched them feeding and interacting with each other, with males and females in dance courtship and juvenile birds practicing their moves too. Birds were flying in and out the whole time, so we also got to watch these huge birds maneuver so gracefully in the air – a very impressive sight, especially given the increasing wind. It would be accurate to say we got distracted briefly whilst watching the Red-crowned Cranes once though, and that was for a good reason, a Steller’s Sea Eagle. A ginormous adult bird flew low overhead as everyone’s gaze was temporarily lifted to the sky right above us as this magnificent creature put on quite the show.
We couldn’t get enough of our views of the Red-crowned Cranes on Hokkaido!
Once we’d had our fill of this particular field full of Red-crowned Cranes, we went and got some lunch and then moved to a different field, this time with over 120 Red-crowned Cranes in attendance. Hidden in amongst these was a vagrant (for this part of Japan), White-naped Crane. While this bird was often hanging around in amongst the trees at the back of the flock of cranes, we were still able to enjoy some good views of this very pretty bird and certainly whetted our appetite for our trip to the south of the country later in the week, where more sightings were likely.
The wind made finding passerines almost impossible, and our focus was, unsurprisingly, on the cranes. However, we did manage to find a few good passerines, though sightings were often fleeting due to the weather! During the day we found Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, Eurasian (Grey-bellied) Bullfinch, Hawfinch, Common Redpoll, Brown Dipper, caudatus Long-tailed Tit, and Marsh Tit. One further non-passerine highlight of the day was a pair of roosting Ural Owls, that showed very nicely for us.
We arrived at our traditional Japanese accommodation in time for a short rest before a wonderful dinner and a reflection on the incredible birds we’d seen during the day.
This pair of Ural Owls looked at home in a huge tree hollow.
Day 2, 28th February 2024. Yoroushi to Rausu to Nemuro
Those that stayed up late last night failed to see much, apart from a pair of very interesting Sables (uncommon mustelids) and a blizzard, however those that got up early were rewarded by an incredible sighting of the rare and highly desired Blakiston’s Fish Owl. During breakfast we were constantly distracted by birds, which is always fun, and these included Solitary Snipe, Brown Dipper, Crested Kingfisher, Eurasian Wren, and Japanese Wagtail. The bird feeders at our hotel also pulled in several species for us to get great views of, such as Brown-eared Bulbul, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Eurasian Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Long-tailed Tit, and Hawfinch.
After checking out of our accommodation we attempted to make our way northeast, to the coast, however the overnight snow, which was continuing during the day, aided and abetted by the continuing gale force wind, had resulted in several road closures. This meant a fair bit of detouring before we eventually managed to hit the coastal sites where we wanted to bird. We then spent the rest of the day working south along the coast, eventually reaching Nemuro at dusk. The wind didn’t let up at all during the day, but at least the snow sort of stopped, for the most part. The weather conditions made birding very tough, with the windchill during the day making it feel like 1.5oF (-17oC)! We therefore spent most of the day trying to view birds from the vehicle.
Huge areas of the coast were covered in sea ice – which was a spectacular sight, but some of the harbors and larger river mouths still had some areas of unfrozen water and these were providing foraging opportunities for a range of species, such as Pelagic Cormorant, Whooper Swan, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, Black Scoter, Stejneger’s Scoter, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Slaty-backed Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Vega Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Glaucous Gull, Common (Kamchatka) Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. We had some very nice looks at several perched and flying White-tailed Eagles and Steller’s Sea Eagle, as well as several Black Kites. Small passerines were in very limited supply, and we didn’t see too many, though a flock of Asian Rosy Finches were a highlight (both Grey-capped Greenfinch and Common Redpoll were seen all too briefly with rather rapid wind-assisted disappearances!). It was a tough day of birding, but we enjoyed some very good species, all things considered.
Numerous Glaucous-winged Gulls were noted in the harbors we explored.
Day 3, 29th February 2024. Nemuro to Kushiro to Tokyo
We awoke to a bright and sunny (but still rather windy) morning. After a late breakfast we drove to Cape Nosappu, where we spent the morning birding at a couple of sites. As we headed towards our main birding site, a brief stop yielded a roadside Hen Harrier, followed by several flocks of Harlequin Ducks, Northern Pintails, Long-tailed Ducks, and Black Scoters, a single Stejneger’s Scoter, a lone Spectacled Guillemot, and our first Large-billed (Japanese) Crows of the tour.
The harbors allowed great close views of many sea ducks, such as this male Long-tailed Duck.
Once we reached the cape it was clear something special was happening, even from the parking lot! We walked to a welcome sheltered spot out of the wind and started birding. A constant stream of large flocks of Crested Auklets were flying low and close by in a northeasterly direction. We stood in awe watching these tiny alcids that were clearly making a big movement. We estimated around 100,000 birds were involved, though if it was more than that it wouldn’t be a surprise. As we were scanning the flocks, we soon started picking up other species, including Spectacled Guillemot, Least Auklet, Pigeon Guillemot (two subspecies), Common Murre (Common Guillemot), and Thick-billed Murre (Brünnich’s Guillemot). Sea ducks were out in force too, with big flocks of Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, and smaller numbers of Black Scoter noted amongst the other more widespread species we’d seen previously. Also on the water, we noted Pacific Loon (Diver), Black-throated Loon (Diver), Red-throated Loon (Diver), and Pelagic Cormorant. Gulls gave frequent close flybys, and we enjoyed excellent looks at Black-tailed Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Glaucous Gull, Vega Gull, and Common (Kamchatka) Gull. Overhead we noted Steller’s Sea Eagle, White-tailed Eagle, Rough-legged Buzzard, Black Kite, and Common Kestrel. A single Dusky Thrush kept us company at the watchpoint for a while too, our first of the trip.
Just a small portion of the incredible sight of a constant stream of Crested Auklets that we witnessed passing by at Cape Nosappu.
We enjoyed great views of Black-tailed Gulls flying past the headland at Cape Nosappu.
After lunch we commenced our journey back to Kushiro to catch our evening flight back to Tokyo. Along the way we stopped at several harbors, lakes, and rivers, where we had some wonderful sightings of Whooper Swans (hundreds of them), a few elegant Red-crowned Cranes, a relatively close perched Steller’s Sea Eagle, and lots more ducks and gulls. We arrived back at the airport just as the sun set and took our flight back to Tokyo for the night, ending what had been a short but enjoyable winter birding adventure in Hokkaido.
One of the most impressive eagles on the planet, the highly sought after Steller’s Sea Eagle.
Day 4, 1st March 2024. Tokyo to Kumamoto to Izumi
An early start at Haneda Airport in Tokyo had us on a flight south to Kumamoto, on the island of Kyushu. After sorting out our vehicle and a welcome breakfast and caffeine hit, we visited a wonderful little park on the outskirts of Kumamoto (seeing the first Masked Bunting of the tour while sitting at some traffic lights just outside the airport!). Here we had a very relaxed birding session but picked up numerous new species and improved our looks at several we had seen previously. It was also nice to not have to fight to stand up, with no gale force wind to deal with, or freezing conditions. It was actually a rather pleasant morning. Some of the highlights of our parkland birding session included Pale Thrush, Daurian Redstart (gorgeous male at very close range), White-cheeked Starling, Brown-eared Bulbul, Grey-capped Greenfinch, Bull-headed Shrike, Common Reed Bunting, Grey Wagtail, White (Black-backed) Wagtail, Oriental Turtle Dove, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Teal, Falcated Duck, Gadwall, Little Grebe, Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, and prolonged perched views of a stunning Common Kingfisher.
This gorgeous Daurian Redstart gave us incredible close and prolonged views.
We had a picnic lunch on the side of an estuary where we enjoyed seeing three great species, Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunders’s Gull, and Baikal Teal. The area was totally rammed with birds and as the tidal conditions changed, we saw a number of other birds, including Eurasian Spoonbill, Hen Harrier, Common Shelduck, Garganey, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Eastern Spot-billed Duck, Pacific Golden Plover, Common Greenshank, and lots more.
The attractive Baikal Teal was one of several stunning ducks we saw while birding in Japan.
After driving south for an hour or so we reached the “main event” for the day, and wow, what an incredible last hour of light we had. Driving round the Izumi and Arasaki area we saw somewhere in the region of 10,000 Hooded Cranes – 90% of the global population overwinter in this area – and we enjoyed some really close views of many of these. We had far fewer White-naped Cranes, but these beautiful birds stood out against their smaller cousins. A couple of Common Cranes were noted amongst the huge Hooded Crane flocks and one of these gave close views too. However, the star of the show was a single overwintering Siberian Crane. A Critically Endangered (BirdLife International) species, along with the other cranes seen today, that the International Crane Foundation are working hard to conserve. It’s hard to put into words just how incredible the sight of all these cranes was, and the great views we had of them all. A really big lifetime birding highlight for all of us. The supporting cast included Merlin, Common Kestrel, Black Kite, Hen Harrier, Eastern Buzzard, Eurasian Skylark, Buff-bellied (Siberian) Pipit, and Common Starling! It had been a very long day, but one that will live long in our memories.
The sight of somewhere in the region of 10,000 Hooded Cranes was quite special!
Day 5, 2nd March 2024. Birding Kogawa Dam, Akune, Izumi, and Arasaki
After a relaxed breakfast we departed our accommodation for a day trip around the local area. Our first stop occurred when we noted a pair of Asian House Martins flying overhead, which then resulted in us observing Barn Swallow, House Swift, Common Reed Bunting, and best of all, a flock of Chinese Penduline Tits. As we continued towards Kogawa Dam, we stopped at a river and found Japanese Wagtail, Brown Dipper, and Common Kingfisher.
It was another cold day with a biting wind (though thankfully nowhere near as cold as earlier in the week up in Hokkaido!), so it was nice to be in a relatively sheltered area at Kogawa Dam – a really picturesque area. We made our way around the dam, making frequent stops and short walks and scans of nearby areas. In doing so, over the course of the morning we found some exciting species, including Mountain (Japanese) Hawk-Eagle, Varied Tit, Japanese Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Red-flanked Bluetail, Daurian Redstart, Warbling White-eye, Bull-headed Shrike, Masked Bunting, and Yellow-throated Bunting. Unfortunately, Japanese Green Woodpecker was only heard.
By now it was lunchtime, so we grabbed some food from a local store and had a picnic lunch in the car overlooking a river, where we found a single Long-billed Plover, Grey Wagtail, and two more Japanese Wagtails. During the middle of the afternoon, we drove along some coastal roads near Akune, where we found Japanese Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, and Brown Booby on the sea, with a sheltered harbor giving great views of Masked Bunting, Japanese Bush Warbler, and Blue Rock Thrush.
Of course, in the late afternoon the lure of the cranes was too much to ignore, so we again spent a couple of hours up until dusk exploring the same ground as the previous day, where we again found the Siberian Crane, along with White-naped Cranes, Hooded Cranes, Common Crane, and new for our trip, a pair of Sandhill Cranes, our sixth and final crane species of this short tour. We were much in awe of these beautiful birds, with frequent gasps of delight ringing out from around the vehicle! Today the Siberian Crane was much closer than the previous day, and we were treated to prolonged views of this world-rarity going about foraging. Our views of White-naped Cranes were probably the best of the tour too, and all seen in the glorious late afternoon glow of the setting sun. Just magical.
The majestic White-naped Crane looked glorious in the late afternoon sunlight.
We did of course pay due attention to the other birds of the area, and we found Black-faced Spoonbill, Eurasian Spoonbill, Northern Lapwing, Hen Harrier, (Eastern) Rook, Daurian Jackdaw, Bull-headed Shrike, Eurasian Skylark, Buff-bellied (Siberian) Pipit, and a large flock of Russet Sparrows. This ended what had been another great day of birding in Japan.
The Endangered (BirdLife International) Black-faced Spoonbill showed well.
Day 6, 3rd March 2024. Izumi to Kagoshima to Tokyo
The final day of the tour had come around and we decided to make the most of what time we had left by a return visit to Kogawa Dam and surrounds as we had enjoyed our visit there the previous day, and still had plenty of birds to try and see. Along the way we stopped off at a few river viewpoints, where we found one of our main targets for the morning, Crested Kingfisher. While looking for the kingfisher we found almost a dozen Meadow Buntings and had brief views of distant Ryukyu Minivet and Eurasian (Japanese) Jay. An Asian Stubtail was heard calling here but was not seen.
A gorgeous male Red-flanked Bluetail gave us a great showing.
We covered the dam in the opposite direction to the previous morning and our first stop yielded a gorgeous male Red-flanked Bluetail and here we again heard a Japanese Green Woodpecker. The bird was on the opposite side of the reservoir, so we drove directly to this area and within a few moments we were watching a gorgeous Japanese Green Woodpecker at close range. After enjoying prolonged views of the woodpecker, we also had better views of a pair of Ryukyu Minivets and a short while later, a gorgeous pair of Mandarin Ducks and a pair of Crested Kingfishers. Leaving the reservoir area, we found White-bellied Green Pigeon, Varied Tit, Pale Thrush, and Masked Bunting.
We took our lunch in the town of Satsuma, where the river held Japanese Wagtail, Meadow Bunting, and nearby, a Eurasian Goshawk. An additional river stop gave us Daurian Redstart, Japanese Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, White (Black-backed) Wagtail, Eastern Buzzard, and another (our fourth for the day), Crested Kingfisher!
Masked Buntings showed well while we were birding in Kyushu.
Our final birding of the tour was in a pretty, forested area just outside of Kagoshima. We drove an almost-deserted forest road, where we had two brief sightings of the rare Copper Pheasant, first a male bird, and second two female/young birds. Here we also saw White-bellied Green Pigeon, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Eurasian (Japanese) Jay, Varied Tit, Pale Thrush, and Red-flanked Bluetail.
We took the short drive to Kagoshima airport, where we had a final dinner and boarded our flight back to Tokyo, where this short, fun, and highly productive tour ended. A huge thanks must go to Nigel, our local guide for all the driving and local guiding as they were both invaluable to the success of the tour. “Bird of the trip” was the Critically Endangered (BirdLife International) Siberian Crane, with the stunning Mandarin Duck, amazing Crested Auklet spectacle, and the majestic dancing and bugling (in a blizzard) Red-crowned Cranes all getting honorable mentions. There really could easily have been another dozen ‘top birds’, as the quality of what had been seen in under a week was very high indeed!
We enjoyed fantastic, prolonged looks at Siberian Crane, a global rarity and “bird of the trip”!
Bird List – Following IOC (14.1)
Birds ‘heard only’ are marked with (H) after the common name, all other species were seen. The following notation after species names is used to show conservation status following BirdLife International: CR = Critically Endangered, EN = Endangered, VU = Vulnerable.
| Common Name | Scientific Name |
| Ducks, Geese, Swans (Anatidae) | |
| Brant Goose | Branta bernicla |
| Whooper Swan | Cygnus cygnus |
| Common Shelduck | Tadorna tadorna |
| Mandarin Duck | Aix galericulata |
| Baikal Teal | Sibirionetta formosa |
| Garganey | Spatula querquedula |
| Northern Shoveler | Spatula clypeata |
| Gadwall | Mareca strepera |
| Falcated Duck | Mareca falcata |
| Eurasian Wigeon | Mareca penelope |
| Eastern Spot-billed Duck | Anas zonorhyncha |
| Mallard | Anas platyrhynchos |
| Northern Pintail | Anas acuta |
| Eurasian Teal | Anas crecca |
| Common Pochard – VU | Aythya ferina |
| Tufted Duck | Aythya fuligula |
| Greater Scaup | Aythya marila |
| Harlequin Duck | Histrionicus histrionicus |
| Stejneger’s Scoter | Melanitta stejnegeri |
| Black Scoter | Melanitta americana |
| Long-tailed Duck – VU | Clangula hyemalis |
| Common Goldeneye | Bucephala clangula |
| Common Merganser | Mergus merganser |
| Red-breasted Merganser | Mergus serrator |
| Pheasants & Allies (Phasianidae) | |
| Copper Pheasant | Syrmaticus soemmerringii |
| Swifts (Apodidae) | |
| House Swift | Apus nipalensis |
| Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae) | |
| Rock Dove | Columba livia |
| Oriental Turtle Dove | Streptopelia orientalis |
| White-bellied Green Pigeon | Treron sieboldii |
| Rails, Crakes & Coots (Rallidae) | |
| Common Moorhen | Gallinula chloropus |
| Eurasian Coot | Fulica atra |
| Cranes (Gruidae) | |
| Siberian Crane – CR | Leucogeranus leucogeranus |
| Sandhill Crane | Antigone canadensis |
| White-naped Crane – VU | Antigone vipio |
| Red-crowned Crane – VU | Grus japonensis |
| Common Crane | Grus grus |
| Hooded Crane – VU | Grus monacha |
| Grebes (Podicipedidae) | |
| Little Grebe | Tachybaptus ruficollis |
| Great Crested Grebe | Podiceps cristatus |
| Plovers (Charadriidae) | |
| Pacific Golden Plover | Pluvialis fulva |
| Little Ringed Plover | Charadrius dubius |
| Long-billed Plover | Charadrius placidus |
| Northern Lapwing | Vanellus vanellus |
| Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae) | |
| Solitary Snipe | Gallinago solitaria |
| Common Sandpiper | Actitis hypoleucos |
| Common Greenshank | Tringa nebularia |
| Dunlin | Calidris alpina |
| Gulls, Terns, Skimmers (Laridae) | |
| Black-legged Kittiwake – VU | Rissa tridactyla |
| Saunders’s Gull – VU | Saundersilarus saundersi |
| Black-headed Gull | Chroicocephalus ridibundus |
| Black-tailed Gull | Larus crassirostris |
| Common Gull | Larus canus |
| Vega Gull | Larus vegae |
| Glaucous Gull | Larus hyperboreus |
| Glaucous-winged Gull | Larus glaucescens |
| Slaty-backed Gull | Larus schistisagus |
| Auks (Alcidae) | |
| Least Auklet | Aethia pusilla |
| Crested Auklet | Aethia cristatella |
| Spectacled Guillemot | Cepphus carbo |
| Pigeon Guillemot | Cepphus columba |
| Thick-billed Murre | Uria lomvia |
| Common Murre | Uria aalge |
| Loons (Gaviidae) | |
| Red-throated Loon | Gavia stellata |
| Black-throated Loon | Gavia arctica |
| Pacific Loon | Gavia pacifica |
| Gannets, Boobies (Sulidae) | |
| Brown Booby | Sula leucogaster |
| Cormorants, Shags (Phalacrocoracidae) | |
| Pelagic Cormorant | Urile pelagicus |
| Japanese Cormorant | Phalacrocorax capillatus |
| Great Cormorant | Phalacrocorax carbo |
| Ibises, Spoonbills (Threskiornithidae) | |
| Eurasian Spoonbill | Platalea leucorodia |
| Black-faced Spoonbill – EN | Platalea minor |
| Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae) | |
| Little Egret | Egretta garzetta |
| Great Egret | Ardea alba |
| Grey Heron | Ardea cinerea |
| Ospreys (Pandionidae) | |
| Osprey | Pandion haliaetus |
| Kites, Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae) | |
| Mountain Hawk-Eagle | Nisaetus nipalensis |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | Accipiter nisus |
| Eurasian Goshawk | Accipiter gentilis |
| Hen Harrier | Circus cyaneus |
| Black Kite | Milvus migrans |
| Steller’s Sea Eagle – VU | Haliaeetus pelagicus |
| White-tailed Eagle | Haliaeetus albicilla |
| Rough-legged Buzzard | Buteo lagopus |
| Eastern Buzzard | Buteo japonicus |
| Owls (Strigidae) | |
| Blakiston’s Fish Owl | Ketupa blakistoni |
| Ural Owl | Strix uralensis |
| Kingfishers (Alcedinidae) | |
| Common Kingfisher | Alcedo atthis |
| Crested Kingfisher | Megaceryle lugubris |
| Woodpeckers (Picidae) | |
| Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker | Yungipicus kizuki |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | Dendrocopos major |
| Japanese Green Woodpecker | Picus awokera |
| Caracaras, Falcons (Falconidae) | |
| Common Kestrel | Falco tinnunculus |
| Merlin | Falco columbarius |
| Cuckooshrikes (Campephagidae) | |
| Ryukyu Minivet | Pericrocotus tegimae |
| Shrikes (Laniidae) | |
| Bull-headed Shrike | Lanius bucephalus |
| Crows, Jays (Corvidae) | |
| Eurasian Jay | Garrulus glandarius |
| Daurian Jackdaw | Coloeus dauuricus |
| Rook | Corvus frugilegus |
| Carrion Crow | Corvus corone |
| Large-billed Crow | Corvus macrorhynchos |
| Tits, Chickadees (Paridae) | |
| Coal Tit | Periparus ater |
| Varied Tit | Sittiparus varius |
| Marsh Tit | Poecile palustris |
| Willow Tit | Poecile montanus |
| Japanese Tit | Parus minor |
| Penduline Tits (Remizidae) | |
| Chinese Penduline Tit | Remiz consobrinus |
| Larks (Alaudidae) | |
| Eurasian Skylark | Alauda arvensis |
| Bulbuls (Pycnonotidae) | |
| Brown-eared Bulbul | Hypsipetes amaurotis |
| Swallows, Martins (Hirundinidae) | |
| Barn Swallow | Hirundo rustica |
| Asian House Martin | Delichon dasypus |
| Cettia Bush Warblers & Allies (Cettiidae) | |
| Japanese Bush Warbler | Horornis diphone |
| Asian Stubtail (H) | Urosphena squameiceps |
| Bushtits (Aegithalidae) | |
| Long-tailed Tit | Aegithalos caudatus |
| White-eyes (Zosteropidae) | |
| Warbling White-eye | Zosterops japonicus |
| Wrens (Troglodytidae) | |
| Eurasian Wren | Troglodytes troglodytes |
| Nuthatches (Sittidae) | |
| Eurasian Nuthatch | Sitta europaea |
| Starlings, Rhabdornises (Sturnidae) | |
| White-cheeked Starling | Spodiopsar cineraceus |
| Common Starling | Sturnus vulgaris |
| Thrushes (Turdidae) | |
| Pale Thrush | Turdus pallidus |
| Dusky Thrush | Turdus eunomus |
| Chats, Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae) | |
| Red-flanked Bluetail | Tarsiger cyanurus |
| Daurian Redstart | Phoenicurus auroreus |
| Blue Rock Thrush | Monticola solitarius |
| Dippers (Cinclidae) | |
| Brown Dipper | Cinclus pallasii |
| Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae) | |
| Russet Sparrow | Passer cinnamomeus |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | Passer montanus |
| Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae) | |
| Grey Wagtail | Motacilla cinerea |
| White Wagtail | Motacilla alba |
| Japanese Wagtail | Motacilla grandis |
| Buff-bellied Pipit | Anthus rubescens |
| Finches, Euphonias (Fringillidae) | |
| Hawfinch | Coccothraustes coccothraustes |
| Eurasian Bullfinch | Pyrrhula pyrrhula |
| Asian Rosy Finch | Leucosticte arctoa |
| Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch | Carpodacus sibiricus |
| Grey-capped Greenfinch | Chloris sinica |
| Common Redpoll | Acanthis flammea |
| Buntings (Emberizidae) | |
| Meadow Bunting | Emberiza cioides |
| Yellow-throated Bunting | Emberiza elegans |
| Masked Bunting | Emberiza personata |
| Common Reed Bunting | Emberiza schoeniclus |
| Total seen | 139 |
| Total heard only | 1 |
| Total recorded | 140 |
Mammal List
| Common Name | Scientific Name |
| Canids (Canidae) | |
| Red Fox | Vulpes vulpes |
| Deer (Cervidae) | |
| Sika Deer | Cervus nippon |
| Mustelids (Mustelidae) | |
| Sable | Martes zibellina |
| Sea Otter | Enhydra lutris |
| Squirrels (Sciuridae) | |
| Eurasian Red Squirrel | Sciurus vulgaris |
| Earless Seals (Phocidae) | |
| Spotted Seal | Phoca largha |
| Total | 6 |
This is a sample trip report. Please email us ([email protected]) for more trip reports from this destination.
