Japan

A work trip meant I was in Japan for the end of June. Luckily, Libby was able to fly out to join me and we took a week off to explore Tokyo and then the northern island of Hokkaido. Tokyo was an incredible experience with neon lights and sound everywhere. The food was amazing, especially the seafood, although I have to say that raw fish for breakfast is something I will struggle to adapt to! What struck me most was just how respectful the Japanese are and it's not just to foreigners, it's to their fellow Japanese too. Many businesses in Europe could learn a thing of two from their Japanese counterparts about customer service. With all the bowing, I imagine you would have a tough time living in Japan if you had a bad back!

We visited the sacred temple at Asakusa, where the air was filled with incense and the myriad stalls were selling all manner of typically Japanese wares, including pottery, plastic food (yes, really) and lots of cute toys. After wandering the streets for several hours we met up with a friend who has been living in Tokyo for the last 10 months. He took us to a fantastic traditional Japanese restaurant where you must exchange your shoes for slippers and sit on cushions on the floor.. We were served several rice and noodle dishes, including fish, chicken and tofu, all washed down with some Asahi beer. Fantastic.

We then travelled north to Hokkaido for a week, hiring a car at Kushiro Airport. We drove north to the Akan National Park where volcanic activity is still commonplace and we treated ourselves to a fantastic hot spa. The traditional Japanese spa was a little unnerving for me at first but I soon overcame my apprehensions and thoroughly enjoyed it. The spas are usually split into male and female baths and one must wash thoroughly before entering the water. This involves sitting on a stool, completely naked, next to fellow bathers while showering with soap and water before immersing oneself into the hot water. The idea is that this keeps the hot water clean and pure. For the self-conscious, a small towel (actually more like a flanel) is provided to cover your private bits while walking around. Of course in the pool itself you must be naked and the flanel must not enter the water - the usual practice is to place it on your head. Once fully soaked in the bath you are provided with a gown and slippers which many people wear to dinner. I have to say the first time felt quite odd to go to dinner in what felt like my jim-jams and slippers...!

After our volcanic experience in Akan we drove north to the Shiretoko National Park. This is a pristine wilderness consisting of a heavily forested peninsula that juts out into the Sea of Okhotsk, just south of Russia's Sakhalin Island. It is said to home the largest concentration of brown bears in the world and is also famous for Sea Eagles and Japanese Cranes. We saw several of the latter by the roadside during the drive north and, of course, one of our aims was to see Brown Bear.

On our first morning we stopped at a small cafe for a coffee and sitting on the next table was a Japanese wildlife photographer who specialised in brown bears. I asked him what our chances were of seeing brown bear and he said "50/50" as we were there for several days. He drew us a map and pinpointed the best spots to see Brown Bears, saying that early evening or early morning were the best times. At our first attempt we were delighted to be treated to a ten minute encounter with a very young bear, probably only 1-2 years old as it made its way along the roadside, turning over stones to look for ants. We were captivated as it walked slowly past our car, only two to three metres away. A really awesome experience. As I did not have my camera with me you will have to make do with the poor quality video (shot sideways with my mobile phone). Can you tell what it is??

Spectacularly, on the morning we decided to hike up Mount Rausu (complete with hip-bell to warn bears of our presence), we came across a second bear, this one much bigger, complete with a radio collar and ear-tags. This one was in the middle of the road before climbing a tree to reach the berries in the upper branches. It seemed precariously balanced as it stretched to reach the outer branches and, at one point, I felt certain it would fall. But, of course, it didn't and expertly climbed down, back first, and wandered off into the forest. It was slightly unnerving to be walking along trails as we ascended Mount Rausu shortly afterwards, especially as we saw several trees with claw-marks on their trunks, but bear encounters are uncommon - generally bears are very shy creatures and will move out of sight if they sense humans approaching. The walk treated us to stunning views of the peninsula and the surrounding waters. A truly magical place.

At one of our guest houses as we were waiting on the balcony before dinner, a local fisherman stopped his van and threw out a load of by-catch onto the beach right below our balcony. Normally, I wouldn't have appreciated that very much but the smell immediately attracted a host of Slaty-backed Gulls that fought over the bits of fish. And it got better when, just as I was getting bored with the Slaty-backs, not one but two White-tailed Eagles swooped down to take the leftovers, literally feet away from our balcony... dwarfing the not to be sniffed at Slaty-backs. They made several passes before settling on nearby rocks to gorge themselves. A stunning backdrop of the setting sun over the Sea of Okhotsk made the perfect pre-dinner entertainment!

PS I can't believe how posh Libby sounds on this video...!!

Barn door and a crake

This weekend I hooked up with a couple of Danish birders to go to see (or, more accurately, to hear) the LITTLE CRAKE that has been present for a few days in Langeland, one of Denmark's "southern isles". It's a gorgeous island with some great beaches, fantastic rolling green countryside, beautiful meadows and traditional farms (we bought some local strawberries to munch on the way and I have to say they were gorgeous). It's not surprising that so many Danes have "summer houses" there. On the way to Langeland, we stopped off at a small wetland on the west of Sjaelland, called Lejsø, where we found two BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPERS. It was at Lejsø that I also saw my first Danish ICTERINE WARBLER (they are reasonably common here in the right habitat). The LITTLE CRAKE gave itself up pretty easily by calling within 30 second of us arriving (amazingly there were no other birders on site when we arrived!). Unfortunately seeing it was never going to happen - there are no hides, the site is private and the vegetation is very high. So we contented ourselves with several more bursts of its "song" before heading home.

To cap a good weekend, I saw my first WHITE-TAILED EAGLE (also known as a flying barn door due to its huge size and broad wings) at my local patch - Kongelunden. Brucey bonus on the way home was a female RED-BACKED SHRIKE hunting from bushes near Sydvestpynten. Danish total now on 197 (and still no Grey Partridge).

Sock Puppets...

...don't you just love them?? Check out this video of a classic Nirvana tune...

Gilbjerg Hoved

A trip to Gilbjerg Hoved, the most northerly point of Sjaelland (see here for a map), for visible migration produced two new birds for me in Denmark - a SHORT-EARED OWL (finally!) and a BLACK KITE. An elusive WRYNECK led the supporting cast along with 3 RING OUZELS, a male COMMON REDSTART, over 100 TREE PIPITS, 35 SPARROWHAWKS, 3 MARSH HARRIERS, 100s of CHAFFINCHES, BRAMBLINGS and SISKINS, and a handful of LESSER WHITETHROATS.

I was told by local birders that the day was "slow" and that I shouldn't judge the site on that day's performance.. !?!

Black Lark (Ode to Sean Offord)

During our trip to Morocco we visited a site called Merja Zerga (see previous post) to look for Marsh Owls. It was at this time that I received a text message from a friend saying that a BLACK LARK had been found at my old local patch of Winterton-on-Sea in Norfolk! Now Black Lark is a VERY rare bird in Britain with only two previous records. It was found by local birder, Sean Offord (who apparently had to pick himself up off the dunes after realising what he had found) at about 1600 on Saturday, allowing many local Norfolk birders to see it before dusk. It apparently gave very good views and even song-flighted on two brief occasions during the evening. The bird was an adult male in full spring finery, with all-black body plumage contrasting with the heavy, ivory-coloured bill and the neat white flecking on its mantle and upper scapulars (you can see pictures here - look at the entry for 20 April). There was quite a crowd present at dawn on Sunday morning (much to the surprise of the beach car park attendant!). However, the bird didn't stay long and at around 0700 on Sunday morning it waddled behind a tuft of marram grass on the dunes and, despite not being seen to fly, was never seen again much to the disappointment of the hordes of birders who decided to prioritise breakfast over getting on site at dawn!

To illustrate the excitement caused by this bird, there were apparently birders from Belgium and Spain present on the Sunday morning, who had travelled overnight especially to see this bird! Madness....

Sean's Black Lark represents the third record for Britain, following a male at Spurn Point (East Yorks) on 27th April 1984 and a well twitched male at South Stack RSPB (Anglesey) from 1st-8th June 2003. Black Lark is a largely resident species of the grassy steppes of Central Asia from the Lower Volga region of SE Russia to NE Kazakhstan. Outside the breeding season, nomadic flocks wander widely, occasionally roaming west to the Ukraine.

Sean will now have to complete a description of the bird for the British Birds Rarities Committee and, no doubt, write various articles and conduct interviews about its discovery. Fame at last...

Morocco

Photos (top to bottom): The sand dunes at Erg Chebbi; Yellow Wagtail (of the subspecies Iberiae or Cinereocapilla); Thick-billed Lark; Desert Sparrow; and White-crowned Black Wheatear

Mid-April saw me, with a couple of birding friends from England, travel to Morocco for a few days to catch up with some species that are very difficult to see in Europe. The trip started with a flight to Marrakech and took in the Atlas Mountains to see species such as Crimson-winged Finch, Alpine Chough and Moussier's Redstart, then east to the desert of Merzouga (via the famous Tagdilt Track) and then west to the Atlantic coast of Agadir (for Bald Ibis, gulls and waders) and then north to Merja Zerga for Marsh Owl. My impressions of north Africa had always been tainted by a brief holiday to Tunisia about 10 years ago where we stayed in a soul-less hotel, were constantly hassled by locals and then got food poisoning. So I was a little apprehensive about going back to the region. But I have to say that this trip has completely changed my opinion of north Africa. What a country. The people were, with the exception of the EMP (Evil Marsh People) at Merja Zerga, extremely friendly and hospitable, the food was excellent (tagines, I love 'em) and the scenery dramatic (from the beautiful Atlas mountains to the orange sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, the coastal cliffs of Tamri and the semi-desert plateaus around the centre. Simply stunning. And of course, extremely cheap (one of the places we stayed in cost us GBP 4 each for the night!).

Overall we saw 214 species of bird including some very sought-after species such as Thick-billed Lark (what a character!), Desert Sparrow, Hoopoe Lark, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Desert Warbler, Fulvous Babbler, Tristram's Warbler, Black-crowned Tchagra plus Lanner, Barbary Falcon and "Pharaoh" Eagle Owl. Top class birding.

The poverty is difficult to handle with many people clearly living on next to nothing. No matter where we stopped along the way, in the middle of the desert, in the mountains or on the plains, inevitably within about 2-3 minutes we would be approached by someone who seemed to appear out of thin air. One guy we spoke to lived in a cave and caught birds with home-made traps for food. Many of these people were simply lonely and very keen to chat rather than looking for any handouts but this was different at Merja Zerga. This marsh is the site where, until recently, the last known Slender-billed Curlews wintered (now presumed extinct). Now it is still very popular with birdwatchers due to its obliging Marsh Owls. So the locals are used to lots of birdwatchers turning up in the area. This shows as, as soon as you arrive on site, masses of children and adolescents turn up claiming to be able to show you the owls (for a fee, of course). We lost count of how many "official wardens" we bumped into, most wearing nothing on their feet and claiming to be the authority who must be paid before we were allowed to look for birds. We had to give one guy the last of our digestive biscuits to go away, taking his yappy dogs with him!

The traffic police were also a constant presence - seemingly two guys on every junction. We were stopped once for speeding and told to pay a fine of 400 Dirhams (about GBP 23) which could be reduced to 200 Dirhams if we didn't want any "paperwork". What a scam.

I couldn't complete this entry without a note on the famous Tagdilt Track. This is, as it says on the tin, a track (definitely not a road) that takes you to Tagdilt from Boumalne du Dades (in the mid-east of the country). It is a high plateau of semi-desert between the High Atlas mountains and a slightly lower range of mountains to the south. It is one of THE best places known to man to see all manner of LARKS. It also doubles up as the local refuse tip (with plastic bags galore) and a loitering area for the local stray dogs, all of which makes for a unique birding experience. But what a place - we saw Thick-billed, Desert, Bar-tailed, Temminck's, Hoope and Short-toed Larks plus Red-rumped Wheatear, Desert Wheatear, Lanner, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Cream-coloured Courser not to mention numerous Black Kites, Montagu's Harriers and Booted Eagles. The one lark we missed, which is very scarce at Tagdilt, is the Dupont's Lark. This bird is one of the trickiest species to see in Europe and North Africa - it sings at night and, according to the bird log at the Auberge Soleil Bleu (the closest accommodation to the Tagdilt Track) they "run faster than Linford Christie and hide better than Lord Lucan". Hmm...

Definitely a place to revisit!

Rouzels and Crests

This week has seen an increasing trickle of migrants with many Long-eared Owls being seen at coastal sites plus several Firecrests, White Storks and a good movement of Buzzards, including a few Rough-leggeds. Bird of the week in Denmark must go to the 3rd calendar year Bonelli's Eagle seen on 11th at the mega Spring migration site of Skagen in northern Jutland. Photos can be seen here. A visit to one of my local patches - Nordhavn - on 10th provided me with my first Danish Ring Ouzel (a cracking male which you can just about make out in the flight shot above if you squint and use lots of imagination). There were also good numbers of Goldcrests present, probably on their way to Sweden or Finland.. These tiny and hardy birds always thrill me and I am constantly amazed that such a small bundle of feathers can travel so far and survives the harsh winters... I liked the photo above looking straight at me - I wonder what he was thinking?

Spring

1 April was a fantastic Spring day here in Copenhagen - a clear blue sky, light south-easterly winds and the warmest temperatures of the year so far. Needless to say the birds thought so, too, and Cranes were again sighted in their hundreds migrating north to breeding grounds in Sweden. Any easterly element in the wind direction at this time of year pushes these flocks west over Copenhagen on the island of Sjaelland - a magnificent sight. The summer's first Wheatears were spotted today on southerly and westerly headlands and several FIRECRESTs were found, including the individual in the photo above at one of my local patches, Nordhavn/Stubben. I managed to sneak away for a couple of hours this afternoon to get a look at this fantastic tiny bird and, with the gorgeous afternoon light I was able to take my best ever photograph of a Firecrest. The supporting cast was made up of 2 Long-eared Owls and a probable tristis Chiffchaff. This bird was very obviously pale with black legs and a black bill. It was very vocal, its call very similar to a Bullfinch with a slight downward inflection. Unfortunately it was too mobile and skittish for me to get a photograph. I have only ever seen one before, at a sewage works in Warwickshire many winters ago. Hopefully this is the start of a bumper Spring! Firecrest is species 185 for me in Denmark.