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Japan: spring on the southern islands Tuesday 12 April to Tuesday 26 April 2011 with Mark Brazil as leader £to be announced Maximum group size: 6 participants and 1 leader.
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The aim of this tour is to enjoy a relaxed time in Japan’s southern islands, seeking out the various endemic birds and enjoying other aspects of natural history and Japanese culture and food. The tour has been designed and will be led by Mark Brazil, who made Japan his home many years ago and who has written numerous books on Japan's birds and wildlife. The southern islands of the 2000 mile-long chain of the Japanese archipelago are home to fascinating birds and we'll be looking for the many endemic species and sub-species to be found there. We begin on the sub-tropical islands of Okinawa and Amani-Oshima to look for Okinawa Rail, Pryer’s Woodpecker, Lidth’s Jay and Amani Woodcock, as well as a variety of more widespread Japanese species and also some of the many migrant birds that pass through Japan at this time. Time will also be spent on the Izu Islands and in the forests of Kyushu searching for more special birds and endemics while taking to the sea, we’ll look for a variety of pelagic species including Laysan, Black-footed and the rare Short-tailed Albatross. Day 1: The tour begins with an overnight flight to Tokyo. Day 2: On arriving in Tokyo, well connect with an onward flight to the sub-tropical island of Okinawa. Here we begin our Japanese birding with some of the commoner and most widespread species of these southern islands, such as Oriental Turtle Dove, Brown-eared Bulbul, Pacific Swallow and Japanese White-eye. We’ll also spend time looking for some of the typical Asian waders that pass through the estuaries and shores of these islands, such as Grey-tailed Tattler and Red-necked Stint. If we are lucky we may bump into a Black-faced Spoonbill or a Great Knot. Night Naha, Okinawa Day 3: We continue our explorations of southern Okinawa looking for resident and migratory shorebirds which could include Pacific Reef Egret and Pacific Golden Plover, migrant passerines such as Eye-browed Thrush and further residents such as Chinese Bulbul, the red-bellied race of Blue Rock Thrush (possibly a full species), Varied Tit, Zitting Cisticola and White-rumped and Scaly-breasted Munias. Night in Naha, Okinawa Day 4: Today we travel up the island, birdwatching as we go. Standard roadside birds include Brown-eared and Chinese Bulbuls, Blue Rock Thrush and Pacific Swallow, but at wet fields we’ll encounter Eastern Cattle, Intermediate and Great White egrets and various migratory waders, some familiar such as Green and Wood sandpipers, some less so such as Marsh Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, and perhaps Long-toed Stint. Our destination is the northern third of Okinawa where the majority of the native forest survives and hence where most of the endemic birds can be found. There we’ll have our first opportunity to look for raptors including Grey-faced Buzzard, and Chinese and Japanese Sparrowhawks, and for forest species such as Ryukyu Green Pigeon, Ryukyu Minivet, Ryukyu Robin and Japanese Bush Warbler. However much time will be devoted to seeing two of Japan’s rarest birds, the iconic the Okinawa Rail and Pryer’s Woodpecker. The rails are active at night and we’ll spend part of the evening driving forest roads in search of them and where we may perhaps be lucky and bump into an Amami Woodcock. Night in Yambaru Days 5-6: We have two full days in Yambaru to seek out the various endemics, mixing our time in the higher forests in the early morning and late afternoon, with visits to the coast and agricultural areas for lowlands species we may have missed so far. Other species we will be looking for include Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Large-billed Crow, Pale Thrush and Varied Tit. At night, as well as looking for the Okinawa Rail, we hope to see Brown-hawk Owl, Elegant Scops Owl and Collared Scops Owl. Night in Yambaru Day 7: We’ll spend the morning travelling south on Okinawa, birding as we go. We’ll stop again at Kijyoka and Kin for waders and passerines, and at wetlands in Naha. We’ll look for Ruddy-breasted Crake and White-breasted Waterhen at areas of wet fields, with perhaps Common, Swinhoe’s or Pin-tailed Snipe, and Lesser Sand Plover at river mouths. The common wagtail here is the Black-backed race of White Wagtail, and we may also find Brown Shrike. Later we’ll take a flight to the island of Amami O-shima. Night in Naze. Days 8-9: In forest somewhat similar to that of Okinawa we are now looking for species more easily seen on Amami, including a different race of Ryukyu Robin, the gorgeous Lidth’s Jay, and, if we are lucky, newly arrived summer visitors such as Ruddy Kingfisher and Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. The local Owston’s race of White-backed Woodpecker here is likely to become an endemic species. There are more Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers and other common woodland species to look for, along with Black Woodpigeon and Ryukyu Green Pigeon. In the evening and early morning we search for the elusive nocturnal Amami Woodcock and for the crepuscular Amami Thrush, and may perhaps catch sight of an endemic Amami Black Rabbit. We’ll also spend some time on the coast where we may encounter Brown Booby and Temminck’s Cormorant, and Roseate and Black-naped terns. Night in Amami-oshima Day 10: After a final morning birding on Amami, we fly to Kagoshima, and transfer to Kirishima. Night in Kirishima. Day 11: The forests of the Kirishima volcanoes and the shady caldera lakes of southern Kyushu provide varied habitats where we can look for resident, regional endemic forest species such as the White-bellied Green Pigeon, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Ryukyu Minivet, and Eastern Great Tit. We also have a chance of finding Copper Pheasant and perhaps early summer migrants including Asian Stubtail, Eastern Crowned Warbler, Japanese Robin, Narcissus Flycatcher and Blue-and-white Flycatcher. At Mi-ike, we’ll look for species including Eurasian Jay, White’s Thrush and Japanese Grosbeak, as well as any late lingering waterfowl and are likely to encounter such as Eastern Spot-billed Duck. Night Kirishima Day 12: After birdwatching the laurel forests of Kirishima and Miike, we travel to the east coast of Kyushu, watching on the way for Black-eared Kite, Japanese Green Pheasant, Bull-headed Shrike and Meadow and Chestnut-eared buntings in agricultural areas, and Black-crowned Night Heron, Striated Heron, House Swift, Asian House Martin and Japanese Wagtail at riversides. Once at the coast we look for one particular seabird – the rare and local Japanese Murrelet. Seawatching from headlands and scanning bays and harbours is our best bet for this elusive species, and will also allow us to see our first Black-tailed and Vega Gulls and migrant Common Gulls of the Kamchatkan race. We have further chances of Pacific Reef Egret here and may find a late wintering Temminck’s Cormorant or migratory waders along the coast. Night Miyazaki Day 13: After a second look along the coast this morning for Japanese Murrelet, we travel to Miyazaki Airport for a late afternoon flight to Haneda Tokyo. After dinner at Haneda, we transfer to the ferry terminal for the ferry to Hachijo-jima. Night on ferry to Hachijo-jima Day 14: The early morning hours will be spent watching for seabirds. Here Streaked Shearwater is the most abundant species, but we may also see migrant Short-tailed and Sooty Shearwatwers, while the chances of albatrosses at this time of year are very good, Laysan is the most common, but Black-footed is also likely and we may even be lucky and encounter the rare Short-tailed Albatross. We arrive on the island in the mid-morning and spend the rest of the day and early evening seeking out the endemic breeding birds of the Izu Islands, in particular the Izu Thrush, Ijima’s Warbler, and Japanese Robin. The local Varied Tit here is most likely a full species -Owston’s Varied Tit, and is well worth seeing. Night on Hachijo-jima Day 15: After a morning birdwatching on the island, we catch the ferry back to Tokyo, watching for more seabirds on the way. Black-tailed Gulls and Streaked Shearwaters will be the common species, but we’ll also be looking out for Flesh-footed Shearwater, Tristram’s and Swinhoe’s storm petrels, South Polar, Pomarine, Arctic and Long-tailed skuas and Red-necked and Grey Phalaropes. We may even be lucky and encounter further Japanese Murrelets. After arriving in Tokyo we transfer to Narita. Night in Narita. Day 16: We connect with an overnight flight to London, where the tour ends later the same day.
E-mail or phone +44 (0)1767 262522 for availability.
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