HOKKAIDO - THE END

For my last day on Hokkaido  i went in search of Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler and after checking suitable habitats on Google Earth and looking at eBird reports I had a few sites I thought worth checking. Sure enough I found a cooperative bird and heard another in a different area, so I understood the habitat requirements..... it likes tall grass, possibly wet areas adjacent to woodlands and even in the forest itself as long as the vegetation is tall and makes seeing it near impossible. Anyway, hearing it is no problem. Seeing it is another matter and it requires a great deal of patience. The bird I saw took maybe 45 minutes to actually get a tickable view of. I could see the grass and small bushes moving as it came in to playback, but it certainly didn't want to be seen easily. Yet I managed numerous brief views, with the last one a belter as it perched for maybe 3 seconds in a tiny bush amidst the tall grass. 

The track i'd drove along went into nice woodland and bordered a marsh, where several Middendorff's Grasshopper Warblers proved to be quite obliging. 

Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler

Japanese Bush Warbler

There was also White-bellied Green-Pigeon, Japanese Bush Warbler feeding young, Eurasian Wren, another Masked Bunting and a pair of Amur Stonechats. nearby, another Red-crowned Crane patrolled the shoreline. I was particularly pleased with the views of this Latham's Snipe perched on a telegraph pole beside the road....

Latham's Snipe

So we headed over to the harbour. Once again I couldn't get on to a boat trip and felt pretty stupid I had failed to book in advance. The nearby bay held 8 Stejneger's Scoters, 2 Black Scoter and a pair of White-tailed Eagles. 

So I decided to drive an hour up to Cape Nosappu and did some seawatching. Thee was plenty going on with numerous Rhinoceros Auklets flying by, and I also picked up Tufted Puffin too. Result! A few Black-tailed Gulls were around, along with Japanese & Pelagic Cormorants, Japanese Wagtail and some commoner species.

The drive back to Furen Lodge was fruitful as we had our closest Red-crowned Crane in a field close to the road.

Red-crowned Crane

And what a stunning bird. But there was still a few hours of daylight left, so I swung by another area. And this was a great move as this long track we drove along took us through woodland and out onto some marshes, and provided a really good list of species. There were several Middendorff's Grasshopper Warblers singing away, Siberian Long-tailed Rosefinch, Amur Stonechats, Latham's Snipe, a few Black-browed Reed Warblers, and more common species. It was a really good site. 

Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler

And that was my birding finished in Hokkaido and Japan. The next day we drove to Kushiro and flew back to Tokyo and overnighted in a nice hotel. We'd had our flight with BA cancelled again and had to buy new tickets with Etihad to get back to the UK, so we're not Ba's greatest fans! 

Anyway, i'm writing this last Japan post sat in Dubai waiting for my flight to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. And another adventure awaits.