The ferry arrived at Miyake-Jima just before 5am and once ashore we were met by the hotel owner who helped us get to the rental car place a few minutes drive up the island. Along the way I saw my first Izu Thrush as it stood on the road in front of us! By 5.30am we were off in the rental and heading to the first site.... just 5 minutes away. A narrow lane took us a few hundred metres up the hill and I parked in a lay-by and hopped out. Straight away I could hear Izu Robin and Ijima's Leaf Warbler close by, but the surrounding forest was rather dense and I couldn't see much. Just then an Izu Robin hopped out on the road in front of me for a short while and fed totally oblivious to me before flying back into the forest. A cracking Izu Thrush then came out onto the road - what an absolute stunner but was there for less than a minute before flying off. Both the robin and thrush are very special and can only be found on these Izu I islands. Suddenly an Ijima's Leaf Warbler sang close by and I managed to find it in a small bush at head height and as I watched it I noticed some movement directly above it. Focussing my bins on the movement, I was delighted to see an Owston's Tit feeding quietly. Wow! Again the warbler is a very special bird and is basically only ever seen on its breeding grounds in the Izu and Tokara Islands of Japan and the tit is only found in the Izu Islands. That was 4 very good lifers in less than 10 minutes, but not only lifers but four of the main targets on this island! Needless to say I was ecstatic with that little lot..!
My next target was Pleske's Grasshopper Warbler so I pulled up the location on Google Maps and headed to a coastal area about 20 minutes away. As I was parking up I heard the gropper singing, got out and there it was perched on a low bush right by the road. Not in the extensive grassland but in an area of tiny low bushes. OMG!! I managed to phonescope it singing from another songpost a bit further up the road and then got some photos when it did finally fly into the grassland where it belonged.
This wasn't what I was expecting at all and my preconception of a typical skulking gropper that i'd have to wait hours for was totally incorrect! This bird used to be called Styan's Grasshopper Warbler and breeds on several of these small Japanese islands, as well as in South Korea and far eastern Russia.
Pleske's Grasshopper Warbler
A little scan across the calm sea revealed a shed load of shearwaters, approximately 400+, and they were Streaked Shearwaters when I scoped them. There were some annoying little flies here and my hands got mullered, so after seeing a Meadow Bunting I drove to another forested road as I still had one last target.
Ijima's Leaf Warbler
Walking along a leafy track, there were plenty more Ijima's Leaf warblers singing and with better light now I could get a few photos. More Izu Robins & Izu Thrushes sang from the understorey and suddenly a weird low rumbling call came from the canopy way above me. After a little searching I managed to spot my first Japanese Woodpigeon - and 6th lifer in just over an hour and a half! And what a beast it was. Another really good bird that only breeds mainly on Japanese islands, with some also in South Korea and apparently Taiwan too.
Japanese Woodpigeon
So I was done here and it was only 7am. What to do now? Check-in wasn't until 3pm at our hotel and her in Japan shops don't tend to open until 9am and restaurants/cafes don't until 11am or 11.30am. Well, I needed photos of these really great birds so headed to a different forested road to try my luck. Well, I saw all these birds again but none out in the open apart from the warbler. I really wanted a photo of the robin but failed at that miserably, but I enjoyed watching them all the same.
Izu Robin
So for the next few hours I drove around checking out a few spots seeing all the same birds, along with a few more Meadow Buntings, a Slaty-backed Gull, and frustratingly only heard a Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker. After lunch at a little cafe we drove up to the hotel and checked in early. and then slept for the rest of the day!! Dinner was a typical Japanese meal with sushi that I couldn't eat, so feasted on raisin bread and grapes in my room!
Overnight the weather changed, well deteriorated to heavy rain that didn't abate all through the next day. I mean it was torrential and made birding impossible. It rained and rained and rained and then we had gale force winds. Jeez! We were worried the ferry wouldn't run today so headed to the small airport to see about flights, but they were all cancelled too so had to hope the ferry was on. It was a nervous few hours wait until the little ferry terminal opened. Quite a few people were arriving but we couldn't get much info, only that it was touch and go for the ferry to be able to dock. Fortunately, the ferry driver was amazing and despite the gale force winds, waves crashing over the wall and huge swell the ship docked and we ran onboard. Getting soaked along the way but we were on. Phew!
First views of Streaked Shearwaters
The sailing was around 6.5 hours and i was excited to see what was out there. Well, i estimated 4,000+ Streaked Shearwaters. It was incredible and there wasn't a minute without these shearwaters on view.
Leach's Petrel
I also picked up a Leach's Storm-Petrel, several Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and a couple pterodromas that were just too far away through the mist and sea spray to identify. Bugger!
Still need to get a better photo of Streaked Shearwater
And after docking at 8pm we walked a few hundred metres away to the very posh Intercontinental Grand Hotel for a very comfortable nights sleep.
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