Birdwatching in Yambaru, Okinawa Day 2 (April 18, 2010)

As I was able to see all three target species yesterday, I decided to spend most of my time to look for Okinawa Rail in the morning and photograph Ryukyu Robin afterward.

I woke up at 5:00 AM as yesterday and drove northword from Nago City.  Ryukyu Robin and Light-vented Bulbul sometimes crossed the road.  Although I was carefully watching roadside, I did not have good luck to see any rail.  Once I found a pair of rail, it was White-breasted Waterhen, which is common in Okinawa.

A Okinawa Rail was found in the forest edge in northern Kunigami Village.  Luckily, it did not run into the bush and kept feeding roadside.  The stripe body with red beak is so distinctive and more hundsome than my thought.

After the encounter, I drove into a forest trail.  Although I was able to hear some Okinawa Rail's call, there was no more luck to see the rare rail. 

Okinawa Woodpecker was sometimes seen along the trail though it was normally very shy and kept in the lower dense vegetation.

In the hill station of the forest, I heard a Japanese Paradise Flycatcher and Narcissus Flycatcher were singing.  Although I waited for a while, they kept in the dense bush.

As I needed to go back to the Naha International Airport by 3:30 PM, I needed to leave Kunigami Village around 11:00 AM..  I decided to drop off Hiji Waterfall once again.

When I arrived in the waterfall, there were already some tourists.  Although I did not expect good encounter of Ryukyu Robin and Okinawa Woodpecker, I saw the two species once again.

Ryukyu Robin is generally tame bird and often comes closer to people.  I was so happy to take some nice pictures of the robin in the end of my trip.

Birds seen during the two days are as below.

1. Grey-faced Buzzard 2. Little Eagret 3. Great Egret 4. Cattle Egret 5. Okinawa Rail 6. White-breasted Waterhen 7. Oriental Turtle Dove 8. Whistling Green Pigeon 9. Okinawa Woodpecker 10. Japanese Pygmy Woodpekcer 11. Light-vented Bulbul 12. Brown-eared Bulbul 13. Ryukyu Minivet 14. Pacific Swallow 15. Barn Swallow 16. Ryukyu Robin 17. Blue Rockthrush 18. Pale Thrush 19. Brown-headed Thrush 20. Japanese Bush Warbler 21. Zitting Cisticola 22. Narcissus Flycatcher 23. Japanese Paradise Flycatcher 24. Varied Tit 25. Great Tit 26. Japanese White-eye 27. Eurasian Tree Sparrow28. Nutmeg Mannikin 29. Large-billed Crow

Birdwatching in Yambaru, Okinawa Day 1 (April 17, 2010)

I hadn't been able to go birding due to too much work for a while.

As I had a mission in Naha, Okinawa on 16 April and free days in the weekend, I decided to go to Yambaru, where I had never been before.

I hired a car in Naha in the Friday evening and left Naha around 5:30 AM in the morning.  Driving to Nago City was confortable without heavy traffic.  After Nago City, I followed route 58 toward Kunigami Village.  Accordingly my friend, northern tip of Okinawa island is a good point to see 3 target species.

Before going to the northern end, I dropped off at Hiji Waterfall (Hiji-no-Otaki).  Immediately after getting off the car at the car park, I heard several calls of Ryukyu Robins.  Yes, the Robin was found at the camp site! 

In the camp site, I was also very lucky to see  a male Okinawa Woodpecker.  The woodpecker reminds me Maroon Woodpecker or Orange-backed Woodpecker of Southeast Asia.

Hiji Waterfall is a famous site for Ryukyu Robin.  I saw at least 10 individuals (both male and female) within 2 hours.

During day time, although I visited northern Kunigami Village, I did not have a chance to see anything noteworthy. 

In Cape Hedo, I enjoyed watching several Blue Rock Thrushes.  The rock thrush is very common in Okinawa and is found even in downtown. 

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker is common in forest in the village while Great and Varied Tits are frequently seen. 

In the late afternoon, I spent my time for looking for Okinawa Rail in northern parts of the village.  Around 5:30 p.m., I finally found an individual of rail nearby the road. 

Ryuku Robin (male)