HOKKAIDO DAY 2

Even though I'd returned to the hotel after the owl experience at a really good time last night, I still had a lie in this morning before waltzing down to breakfast at a sterling 8am. The kitchen staff had done us proud with a great dinner last night and this morning's breakfast didn't disappoint either - NO FISH AT ALL!! Result! A short while later we were on the road up to Shiretoko Pass, another site for Japanese Accentor if needed (which I didn't), but I was more interested in Grey Bunting. I spent quite a while either side of the pass without hearing one at all, but seeing several Masked Buntings, and not a lot else apart from a Coal Tit, an Eurasian Nuthatch, hearing a few Japanese Bush Warblers and an incessantly calling Oriental Cuckoo - and that was it. The habitat was superb and i'd imagine at first light would be choc full of birds and a lot less annoying traffic too! 

Masked Bunting - split from Black-faced Bunting

On the return journey I stopped when I heard an odd call and sure enough it proved to be a Grey Bunting singing, but it was in such a dense area of dwarf bamboo that I couldn't see it. And it didn't respond to my payback either. And on top of that it never sang again after the first few times I heard it. Bugger! So I drove back down to Rausu and tried to get on a boat trip, but everything was full (serves me right), then we decided to head south to Kiritappu, as that's where my last chance of a lifer was. 

It's only a 2 hour drive and the road pretty much follows the coast and passes through some really nice habitat. After an hour I stopped beside a lagoon where a few Greater Scaups were present. A bit of scanning of the area produced a pair of Amur Stonechats beside a track on the other side of the road. On further investigation I found a Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, several Masked Buntings and after a little wait, a cracking Siberian Rubythroat popped up and began singing. 

Siberian Rubythroat

I watched it for a while and managed to get some decent photos. It's a fabulous bird and one you just cannot get enough of or ever tire of seeing and it was thoroughly enjoyable to spend some time with it. Just then, something began singing out in the vast grassland and it took my brain a little while to recognise the song as a Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler. This would prove to be a reasonably common bird in this part of Hokkaido and I had several decent views of two individuals that were attracted to my iPod. I also saw a Black-browed Reed Warbler, Japanese Wagtail, and had a close Japanese Bush Warbler. Not a bad little haul eh?

By 5pm we had reached Furen Lodge, quite a famous place to stay amongst birders and is in a prime location on the edge of Lake Furen and the adjacent Shunkunitai Nature Reserve. As we approached the lodge, 4 Red-crowned Cranes flew behind the lodge, so once we had introduced ourselves to the lodge owner I hot-footed it up to the nearby bridge and relocated the crane family feeding in a marsh. I spent a good hour watching them feeding, firstly through the scope and then I crept closer and closer until I dared not get any closer. A large bush was between myself and the marsh they were feeding in, so I sat on the floor and fired off loads of photos. 

Red-crowned Crane

I even managed to ignore the singing Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler right next to me! Eventually they made their way down to the beach and continued to feed along the tide line before I crept back to my car and drove back to the lodge, with the light fading fast. But not before getting my closest views of Japanese Wagtail....

Japanese Wagtail