May 9-26, 2026 with Phil Gregory & Jun Matsui
This was our fifth iteration of the tour. it ran smoothly and we did well in overall pretty nice weather, bar a short storm at Shiga Kogen that caught us out, some intermittent rain on Okinawa and some fog in Nemuro. We began around Tokyo, going out to a site for the rare Marsh Grassbird with Ochre-rumped (Japanese Reed) Bunting as a bonus, and a trip to Funabashi which got us some very nice shorebirds including Grey-tailed Tattler, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eurasian Whimbrel, Dunlin and Sanderling and an unexpected Little Ringed Plover.
En route to the mountains at Shiga-Kogen near Nagano was a Japanese Sparrowhawk at a park at Gion. We got great views of both the male and the female, being harassed by the only Azure-winged magpies of the trip.
Shiga-Kogen was a good area with the trees just beginning to leaf out and some snow lying around. We had to work hard for some of the birds but an gorgeous anthracite black male Siberian Thrush showed very well, Brown-headed Thrush, Japanese Yellow Bunting, Grey Bunting, Eastern Crowned, Sakhalin and Japanese Leaf Warblers were among the highlights here, and Northern Hawk-Cuckoo called briefly but irritatingly stayed unseen. A stop near Karuizawa en route to Tokyo gave beautiful Green Pheasant, Chestnut-eared Bunting and a fortuitous Japanese Woodpecker that began calling from the adjacent forest.
Next came a fantastic overnight boat trip to Miyakejima in the Izu Islands, where it was for once quite calm and sunny, unusual here. Izu Thrush, Izu Robin and Ijima's Leaf Warbler showed well, and Styan's (Pleske's) Grasshopper Warbler was great. The endangered Owston's Tit gave good views, and a nice bonus was thousands of Streaked Shearwaters from the boat on the way back, plus a surprise of Japanese Murrelets, and a Pomarine Skua and Black-footed Albatross for those diehards who stayed on deck.
May 16 The Ryukyu Islands (Nansei Shoto) were next, starting on Amami where we heard Ruddy Kingfisher calling, saw Ryukyu Robin and both heard and saw Whistling (Ryukyu) Green Pigeon with its atmospheric and beautiful flute-like song on the first afternoon. Ryukyu Minivet showed nicely next day as well as a drumming and very distinctive White-backed (Amami or Owston's) Woodpecker.
May 16 The first night we had our first attempt at seeing Ryukyu Scops Owl, which showed very well with 2 sightings, and two Lidth's Jays were even roosting on wires by the road, but lighting was poor and we had much better looks next day. A super Ryukyu Giant Rat was up on the wire over the road too, but there was no sign of the endemic rabbit or woodcock tonight.
May 17 Next night we did see Amami Black Rabbit very well, now doing much better thanks to the successful mongoose busters eradication program. A male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher was a good sighting en route to the night foray on Mt Yushan. We heard the rare Amami Thrush at dusk on the Black Rabbit foray, and a major highlight was finding an Amami Woodcock with 3 fledglings, and two more later on a field by the road.
Okinawa was rewarding but hard work on a depauperate subtropical island, but we got good views of Okinawa Rail, with the group having 2 bathing in pond right by the hotel, multiple excellent encounters with Okinawa Woodpecker and far more than usual Okinawa Robin. Night forays gave Northern Boobook, and a big bonus of Japanese (Pryer's) Scops Owl that was giving an odd quiet call near the hotel and gave good looks on the second night, a hard species to find.
May 20 The forests at Yanbaru NP gave nice views of Okinawa Woodpecker, a nesting Black Paradise Flycatcher and finally a good look at Ruddy Kingfisher after hearing and glimpsing them several times previously . Heading down to Naha we stopped for a Javanese Pond Heron and got good scope views of it perched as well as in flight, a vagrant in Japan and a J-tick for both Jun and I.
May 21 Finally it was time for wonderful Hokkaido, where birding on the amazing boardwalk at a marsh near Kushiro gave us White-backed Woodpecker, Sakhalin Leaf and Eastern Crowned Leaf Warbler, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Nuthatch and the delightful white-headed nominate race of Long-tailed Tit, Amur Stonechat plus on both visits Long-tailed Rosefinch (Siberian). Eurasian Wryneck was a star, in the same area as last year, and a surprise Japanese Thrush was a good bonus. Russet Sparrow finally appeared and I enjoyed some members of a Japanese walking group the Wryneck in my scope.
May 22 Red-crowned Crane showed well en route to Rausu, and we came over the beautiful high-altitude Shiretoko Pass in lovely weather for once, often it is closed and we can't get up here. We visited the minshuku at Washi no Yado where Blakiston's Fish Owl comes to feed from a fish-stocked pond in the stream outside, and we were lucky this night with an outstanding show from a pair for some 90 minutes here, they caught fish several times and were interacting with ear tufts raised, white throat puffed out and the deep triple hoot being given. One of the great birds, just so huge, and we were back at the hotel by 830 pm.
May 23 Next morning, we were luckily able to make the Bear Boat Cruise in a 30' fiberglass dinghy, keeping close to the shore of the gorgeous geologically complex Shiretoko Peninsula and going right out to the tip. The scenery alone was worth it and my Pelagic Misery Index only rated it as a 3 as it was cold and a tad bumpy but nothing too bad. The rewards were brief looks at a mother and cub Brown Bear foraging on the beach before heading up over the ridge. Birds included Harlequin Ducks, Black-headed and Black-tailed Gulls and Japanese Cormorants.
Notsuke on the way back to Nemuro gave a big flock of Red-breasted Merganser, many flocks of very vocal Ruddy Turnstone flying over heading northwards as well as feeding on the tidal flats, and summer dress Red-necked Stints were nice. Passerines were few but Eurasian (Japanese) Skylark showed well, and Sika Deer were all over.
May 24 at Meiji Park in lovely weather was rewarding with great looks at Long-tailed Rosefinch, Brown-headed Thrush singing and what proved to be an Oriental Cuckoo when it finally gave the diagnostic call! A visit to the boardwalk at Shunkunetai gave a terrific male Black Woodpecker that flew in and showed well, with drumming heard later. The visitor Centre was worth a look for the shoppers, and we saw female Great-spotted and male White-backed Woodpecker here too for a 3-woodpecker day. Cape Nosappu in good weather gave Black-tailed Gull, a summer plumage Red-necked Grebe, Pacific Loon (Diver) flying past plus a splendid Sea Otter loafing in the lee of a breakwater close to shore and being stalked by several photographers. Alcids were rewarding if distant, we saw Spectacled Guillemot, a couple of Pigeon (Kurile or Snow's ) Guillemot, flocks of orange-billed Rhinoceros Auklets going by and some distant flying murres that were either Common or Thick-billed.
May 25 Displaying Latham's Snipe by Cape Ochiishi were a treat, calling very well with an amazing complex raspy song despite the foggy weather, another shorebird for Janice too, we shall convert her yet..... Ochiishi was in foggy conditions again this year, for the 2-hour boat trip round two nearby islands, in cold but dry conditions with a complex choppy sea, Pelagic Misery Index a moderate scale 4. The bumpy sea made viewing hard but thankfully the fog lifted later, and the alcids were rewarding, including multiple summer plumage Spectacled Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet seen nicely, Ancient Murrelet and a big surprise with stunning Crested Auklet at close range, seeing the stubby orange bill, white eye, white face streak and small forehead crest, our local guide was very excited by this one as it's rare in summer; Red-faced Cormorant sat on a rock stack was also discernible, in breeding dress with double spiky crest, a very rare bird now with just a handful or pairs here. A Red-necked Phalarope on the sea as we came out of the harbor was a bonus too, a new Japan bird for Phil. Harbor Seal looked enormous hauled out on rock, they seem far larger than the ones in the UK,, and we had another sighting of Sea Otter too.
This year we were slightly too early for both Middendorff’s and Sakhalin Grasshopper Warblers and Siberian Rubythroat apart from one Neil saw; it was a late spring, but a visit to Furen Asemato footpath in lovely riparian, reed and woodland habitat gave Sakhalin and Eastern Crowned warblers singing. Red-crowned Cranes showed nicely on the way back to Kushiro, including in flight, and we were unlucky not to get Japanese Wagtail at Otowa Bridge though a Common Cuckoo flew over calling and was new for several folks, a good pick-up as we had great looks at a silent cuckoo by the footpath earlier, this and Oriental are almost impossible to tell if not calling.
Mammals
Japanese Macaque (Macaca fuscata) Strangely scarce, we saw just two up at Shiga Kogen, one of which walked right past us. Last year there were dozens here.
Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) Wonderful views of this endearing creature on Mt Yushan, a tubby good-size black rabbit with quite short ears, we saw 8 on our night drive there. The mongoose busters program should really help this species.
Ryukyu Long-tailed Giant Rat (Diplothrix legata) Endemic to The Ryukyus, a large rat with along parti-coloured tail, the outer half being white. The one we saw on the wire at Amami Nature Forest had a black band partway along the white section. A monotypic genus too.
Ryukyu Spiny Rat (Tokudaia osimensis) Endemic to Amami, and curious because it has no Y chromosomes. We saw a few scurrying across the track on Mt Yushan
Ryukyu Flying-fox (Pteropus dasymallus) Classified as Vulnerable, we saw one in daylight by the hotel at Ada, flying straight down the road and landing nearby.
Brown Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Quite common at the lower levels on Mt Yushan. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Seen a few times on Hokkaido, quite pale orangey coloured and often very scraggy looking as there is a nasty endemic disease here.
Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) A mother and cub seen on the bear cruise at the tip of Shiretoko.
Siberian Weasel (Mustela sibirica) A couple of folks saw this at Akakokko on Miyake, introduced and needs to be eliminated!
Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris) Wonderful view of a huge one loafing in the lee of a breakwater at cape Nosappu, and another on the Ochiishi boat trip.
Small Indian Mongoose (Urva auropunctata) One rank over the track at the Javan Pond Heron site, a noxious introduced predator that is being heavily controlled at Yanbaru.
Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) Two huge beasts hauled out on a rock on the Ochiishi boat trip.
Sika Deer (Cervus nippon) Very common on Hokkaido and becoming a pest as there is now serious overgrazing.
Birds of the trip were of course the wonderful Blakiston's Fish Owl, Red-crowned Crane and Okinawa Rail with also-rans being Long-tailed Rosefinch, Owston's Tit, Specdtacled Guillemot, Daurian Redstart, Wryneck, Narcissus Flycatcher, Ruddy Kingfisher and Ryukyu Scops Owl, a diverse assortment and reflecting how many lovely birtds we saw.
This basically concluded our fifth Field Guides spring trip to Japan, with the revised itinerary working out well. The various nature centres had some good shopping opportunities and many T-shirts were purchased, whilst the Mont-Bell store near Shiretoko was a hit too for outdoor gear. My thanks to the group for some good spotting, and to Ruth at Field Guides and Sue, Rowan and Jun at Sicklebill Safaris who handled the logistics. Particular thanks to my local co-leader Jun Matsui, who handled driving, packing bags and interpreting meals and menus very nicely as well as helping with the bird guiding. JAL were a terrific airline, with fast and efficient check-in using me as the helpless tourist so we could do a group check, no baggage hassles, punctual flights and marvelous politeness so sadly missing elsewhere these days. Why not join us for 2027? Jun and I are already planning and I am already looking forward to it in one of my favorite countries, in the twilight of my birding career.
Butterflies
The weather was not too helpful in some areas, we saw the following and thanks to Donna for photographing so many to aid identification: Cabbage White, Japanese (Small) Copper, Short-tailed Blue, Plains Cupid, Small Branded Swift, Common Fivering, Japanese Common Grass Yellow, Japanese Old World Swallowtail, Chinese Windmill, Common Sailer, Japanese Beak, Dead-leaf Butterfly
Odonata (Dragonflies) Crimson Marsh Glider, Greater Blue Skimmer
Herps- Red-eared Slider (introduced), Sword-tail Newt, eggs of Black Salamander at Shiga Kogen, Asian House Gecko
You can see my complete trip report on eBird at this link: https://ebird.org/tripreport/525356
Sicklebill (Phil Gregory) Tokyo May 2026