15/10/10 Overnight thunderstorms had cleared by dawn so awoke to a calm and fine morning. Walked to the harbour but were greeted with the very disappointing news that the ferry had been cancelled due to the swell being forecast to increase to 2m later in the day. Fortunately Kobutomashi, a friend we had met on both our previous visits, was also at the ferry terminal and offered to drive us around for a day’s birding. We first visited the Machino River mouth 13km east of Wajima but there was little to be seen there. We then headed inland checking likely areas for Crested Kingfisher but failed to see any, though did see our only Red-rumped Swallows, Asian House Martins, Long-tailed Tits, Varied Tits and Jay of the trip. The day’s highlights were a male Daurian Redstart and a few Japanese Meadow Buntings. We returned to the coast and checked several beaches and small harbours seeing a selection of Gulls but unfortunately no Waders. Annoyingly the sea remained calm until dark. Spent an enjoyable evening eating pizza
with Kabutomushi.
Adult Black-eared Kite at the Machino RiverSpecies noted:
Cormorant 2
Grey Heron 1
Mallard 50
Osprey 2
Black-eared Kite 50
Black-headed Gull 8
Black-tailed Gull 60
Vega Gull 5
Slaty-backed Gull 2
Rufous Turtle Dove 1
Red-rumped Swallow 20
Asian House Martin 2
Grey Wagtail 1
Black-backed Wagtail 2
Japanese Wagtail 1
Brown-eared Bulbul 8
Daurian Redstart 1 male
Blue Rock Thrush 3
Long-tailed Tit 5
Varied Tit 2
Eastern Great Tit 1
Jay 1
Large-billed Crow 10
White-cheeked Starling 1
Tree Sparrow 2
Oriental Greenfinch 1
Siskin 2W
Meadow Bunting 2
