11th October 2012 Hegura-jima S3

Awoke to a southerly wing that switched to NW by late afternoon. There was an early morning arrival of Thrushes glimpsing a White's Thrush and seeing two Brown Thrushes and two Japanese Grey Thrushes. We then flushed a Gray's Grasshopper Warbler twice from low vegetation near the lighthouse - brilliant! The rest of the day proved qiueter with few other new migrants in evidence although we found four Vega Gulls accompanied by an adult Mongolian Gull on the harbour wall that proved new for the trip. It was noticeably colder in the evening as a cold front arrived having crossed the Sea of Japan.

Streaked Shearwater 5
Japanese Cormorant 3
Grey Heron 10
Teal 3
Mallard 1
Spot-billed Duck 1
Black-eared Kite 1
Peregrine 1
Coot 1
Snipe 1
Common Sandpiper 1
Grey-tailed Tattler 2
Black-tailed Gull 150
Vega Gull 4
Mongolian Gull 1 adult
Slaty-backed Gull 3
Rufous Turtle Dove 2
Pacific Swift 1
Wryneck 1
Great Spotted Woodpecker 1
Skylark 4
Swallow 1
Olive-backed Pipit 6
Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit 1
Grey Wagtail 2
Black-backed Wagtail 20
Brown-eared Bulbul 6
Daurian Redstart 5
Stejneger's Stonechat 6
Blue Rock Thrush 6
White's Thrush 1
Japanese Grey Thrush 1 male, 2 females
Brown Thrush 2 males
Pale Thrush 10
Eye-browed Thrush 3
Dusky Thrush 70
Naumann's Thrush 1
Japanese Bush Warbler 5
Gray's Grasshopper Warbler 1 ex.
Arctic Warbler 6
Pacific Warbler 1
Goldcrest 10
Blue-and-white Flycatcher 1
Narcissus Flycatcher 1
Varied Tit 1
Japanese White-eye 10
Large-billed Crow 2
Brambling 100
Oriental Greenfinch 50
Siskin 70
Japanese Grosbeak 4
Hawfinch 8
Masked Bunting 12
Grey Bunting 4
Black-faced Bunting 2
Pine Bunting 2
Elegant Bunting 1 male
Tristram's Bunting 1
Rustic Bunting 10
Little Bunting 2
Reed Bunting 1

First-winter Eye-browed Thrush at the Drinking Pool

 

Vega Gulls on the harbour wall

 

Vega Gull and adult Mongolian Gull on the harbour wall

Adult Mongolian Gull on the Harbour wall

Stejneger's Stonechat at Tsukasa

Stejneger's Stonechat at the earth field

Japanese Blue at the Drinking Pool

Narcissus Flycatcher at the Drinking Pool

Oriental Greenfinch at the Statue