30th September 2012 Hegura-jima NW1 Light Rain

We awoke to a light NW1 breeze accompanied by light rain - classic conditions! We walked to the Harbour Park, the School Field and the Dragon's Pool before breakfast. Then Tsukasa, the North Cape and back to the Dragon's Pool before returning to the Minshuku. We then walked the Central Track to the SW beach walking the west coast to the helipad and Dragon's Pool where at 4pm heavy rain and a strong wind picked-up associated with an incoming typhoon so we called it a day. A good fall of migrants with Thrushes and Flycatchers seen arriving in off the sea during the late morning and afternoon. Highlights included 4 Mandarin Duck, our only Osprey arrived, a tired Kestrel on wires at the North Cape, finding a Lesser Sandplover on the SW beach, a Woodcock, 4 Oriental Cuckoos, Grey Wagtails at their peak daily number of 10, Black-backed Wagtails at their peak daily number of 25, two Brown Shrikes, an Oriental Great Reed Warbler at the Harbour Park, Arctic Warblers at their peak daily number of 30, our first Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Grey-streaked Flycatchers at their peak daily number of 60. Rare migrants were represented in the form of a yakutensis Willow Warbler, 4 Little Buntings and a Chestnut Bunting.

Japanese Cormorant 1
Great Egret 1
Grey Heron 5
Mandarin Duck 4
Teal 7
Mallard 4
Pintail 2
Shoveler 1
Osprey 1
Black-eared Kite 1
Sparrowhawk 1
Kestrel 1
Peregrine 1
Lesser Sandplover 1 ex.
Woodcock 1
Snipe 1
Common Sandpiper 2
Grey-tailed Tattler 1
Black-tailed Gull 100
Japanese Woodpigeon 1
Rufous Turtle Dove 1
Oriental Cuckoo 4
Grey Wagtail 10
Black-backed Wagtail 25
Brown-eared Bulbul 4
Siberian Stonechat 3
Blue Rock Thrush 6
Pale Thrush 1
Eye-browed Thrush 30
Dusky Thrush 50
Japanese Bush Warbler 1 +h
Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler 1
Oriental Great Reed Warbler 1
Arctic Warbler 30
Pacific Warbler 1
Willow Warbler 1 yakutensis ex.
Blue-and-white Flycatcher 1
Grey-streaked Flycatcher 60
Brown Flycatcher 6
Brown Shrike 2
Large-billed Crow 2
Brambling 80
Oriental Greenfinch 30
Siskin 16
Hawfinch 1
Masked Bunting 30
Little Bunting 4
Chestnut Bunting 1



Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler at Tsukasa Fields

Male Eurasian Kestrel at the North Cape

First-winter Brown Shrike at the earth field along the west shore

Grey-streaked Flycatchers at the earth field along the west shore

Lesser Sand Plover on the SW beach

Osprey over the SW beach

Willow Warbler of the form P.t. yakutensis along the SW beach

Juvenile Grey-tailed Tattler on the SW beach

Great White Egret over the SW beach