From October 7 to 11, I guided Dr. Paul Wirtz of the Netherlands on a birding tour of parts of Kyushu. After picking Paul up from Fukuoka Airport, we headed for my home in Shimabara, arriving after dark. The birdwatching had already started, however, with a quick trip to a Black-crowned Night Heron roost near my house before a yakitori dinner. The next morning we birded Mt Unzen, where we had great views of Siberian, Japanese & Eyebrowed Thrush, as well as a female Copper Pheasant and several more common species, before taking the ferry from Shimabara to Kumamoto, seabird watching along the way. We then drove to our base hotel at Kirishima Hot Spring spa resort town. The next morning saw us driving to Mi-ike lake. The weather was very rainy, so we first headed to a small river near the lake where we had a drink and saw some wagtails. We then went back to Mi-ike and birded the lake before hiking the dedicated birdwatching trail. The rain was quite heavy, but our efforts were rewarded by spotting a variety of sought-after species such as a male Copper Pheasant (subspecies ijimae), Japanese Woodpecker and Mandarin Duck. Unfortunately, the trail was rife with leeches, which I hadn’t expected this late in the year. Both of us got feasted on a fair bit! We then travelled back to Kirishima Shrine, where we saw a few more new species, and then headed back to the hotel. The next morning was bright and sunny, and we travelled to Ebino-kogen plateau. Unfortunately, though the weather was great, there were not that many birds being active. We saw some new species, but not as many as expected. So we cut Ebino short and went to a back-up birdwatching site at Takachiho Stock Farm, where we were lucky to see Japanese Pheasant, Bull-headed Shrike and other species. We then returned to the river near Mi-ike lake to explore its banks more closely, which was very rewarding. The final day we headed to Kanemi-dake, a famous location for Grey-faced Buzzard migration. The spot really lived up to its reputation, with dozens of birds observed! We then tried a few other locations near Kanemi-dake and turned up a few more new species. Finally, we drove back to Kumamoto port and spent a hour searching the mudflats, finding several species of waders. In total we were able to see and identify 77 species of birds, with a few others heard. We also saw Sika Deer, Japanese Hare, Racoon Dog and Yellow Martin (although the latter two were DOR). Several species of reptiles and amphibians were also observed.

Full Bird Species List (77) (in basic order of when first observed)

Black-crowned Night Heron

Ural Owl

Red-billed Leiothrix

Oriental Turtle Dove

Narcissus Flycatcher

Grey-streaked Flycatcher

Winter Wren

Japanese Thrush

Siberian Thrush

Eyebrowed Thrush

Varied Tit

Eastern Great Tit

Long-tailed Tit

Brown-eared Bulbul

Japanese White-eye

Meadow Bunting

Large-billed Crow

Japanese Bush Warbler

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Copper Pheasant (female soemmerringii; male ijimae)

Brambling

Gadwall

Grey Heron

Little Egret

Great White Egret

Pacific Reef Egret

Blue Rock Thrush

Common Sandpiper

White-cheeked Starling

Black-eared Kite

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

Rock Dove

Brown Booby

Streaked Shearwater

Black-tailed Gull

Swinhoe’s Storm-petrel

Carrion Crow

Barn Swallow

Grey Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Japanese Wagtail

White Wagtail

Asian Brown Flycatcher

Ashy Minivet

Japanese Woodpecker

Asian Spot-billed Duck

Mallard

Common Kingfisher

Great Cormorant

Mandarin Duck

Japanese Grosbeak

Blue-and-White Flycatcher

Ryukyu Minivet

Eurasian Jay

Coal Tit

Siberian Rubythroat

Dusky Thrush

Japanese Pheasant

Bull-headed Shrike

Oriental Greenfinch

Latham’s Snipe

Green Sandpiper

Zitting Cisticola

Grey-faced Buzzard

Long-billed Plover

Brown Shrike

Siberian Stonechat

Common Coot

Japanese Sparrowhawk

Cattle Egret

Grey Plover

Pacific Golden Plover

Common Greenshank

Terek Sandpiper

Lesser Sand Plover

Black-faced Bunting

Dark-sided Flycatcher

This weekend I had the pleasure of guiding Pam & Jeff Gunn of the United States around my part of Japan. The guiding was a mixture of general touring and bird watching. We dedicated yesterday morning to seeing some of the birds of Mount Unzen. Unfortunately, neither pheasant species made an appearance (due to a combination of less than ideal weather conditions and presence of a relatively large number of other birders), although many other sought-after species were viewed. Below is the species list, including a couple of herps:

BIRDS (16)

HERPTEFAUNA (2)

We also saw various other species around the Shimabara area during their stay, including Black-eared Kite, Black-crowned Night Heron, Grey Heron, Little Egret and Great Egret.