3rd October 2012 Hegura-jima NW3 partly cloudy

We awoke to a NW3 wind with some cloud. The wind strengthened throughout the day to a N6 by dusk. We made our usual early morning walk to the Dragon's Pool via the Central Track and back via the School Field that showed there were still good numbers of Thrushes on the island and our first Whicte-cheeked Starling. A walk to the south end produced a fine adult male Naumann's Thrush at the piles of rocks. As the wind increased birding became more difficult but several Olive-backed Pipits were seen arriving and an interesting Bunting was frustratingly only glimpsed near the Doctor's surgery. Tsukasa was windy but we found a Yellow-breasted Bunting at the School Field and an adult male Little Bunting was occasionally singing nearby. Reward came late in the day when we found a Tristram's Bunting near the Statue resolving the Bunting we had glimpsed earlier.

Streaked Shearwater 100
Japanese Cormorant 1
Grey Heron 5
Mandarin Duck 3S
Teal 3
Mallard 2
Pintail 4S
Shoveler 1
Black-eared Kite 1
Peregrine 1
Grey-tailed Tattler 2
Black-tailed Gull 150
Rufous Turtle Dove 5
Oriental Cuckoo 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Skylark 4
Olive-backed Pipit 5
Grey Wagtail 1
Black-backed Wagtail 20
Brown-eared Bulbul 4
Stejneger's Stonechat 2
Blue Rock Thrush 6
Pale Thrush 10
Eye-browed Thrush 30
Dusky Thrush 300
Naumann's Thrush 2
Japanese Bush Warbler 2+h
Middendorff's Grasshopper Warbler 1
Arctic Warbler 10
Pacific Warbler 6
Radde's Warbler h
Goldcrest 10
Grey-streaked Flycatcher 8
Brown Flycatcher 2
Great Tit 1
Japanese White-eye 6
Bull-headed Shrike 2
Large-billed Crow 2
White-cheeked Starling 1
Brambling 40
Oriental Greenfinch 20
Siskin 200
Hawfinch 25
Masked Bunting 15
Lapland Bunting 2
Black-faced Bunting 2
Pine Bunting 4
Chestnut-eared Bunting 1
Tristram's Bunting 1
Rustic Bunting 4
Little Bunting 15
Chestnut Bunting 1
Yellow-breasted Bunting 1

Adult male Naumann's Thrush at the Rock Piles

First-winter female Naumann's Thrush at the southwest beach

Grey-tailed Tattler on the southwest beach

Adult male Little Bunting at the Statue

Drab in comparison with first-winter Little Buntings

First-winter Little Bunting at the Statue

First-winter Eye-browed Thrush at the School Field

Tristram's Bunting at the Statue

surely a contender to be the next species of Bunting to reach Britain ...