JAPAN!
February 4 - 15, 2024
Cranes, Eagles, Owls,
& Snow Monkeys

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To visit Japan in winter is a unique and wonderful experience. Tens of thousands of Cranes of at least 5 species can be seen dancing and displaying on the snowy fields or flying into roost against the backdrop of glorious sunsets. As well as the highlight of seeing these cranes, we will also get to see the awesome Steller’s Sea-Eagles and hordes of seabirds, and winter ducks on Hokkaido.  Our stay at Rausu will give us opportunities to see the highly sought after Blakiston’s Fish-Owl right from our bedroom windows. We will take the famous Bullet Train to see the ever popular and famous Snow Monkeys (Japanese Macaques) of Jigokudani as they entertain us in their hot thermal pools. Among the many special birds here we will look for Japanese Accentor, Baikal Teal, the very difficult Copper Pheasant, plus a short boat trip to see Japanese Murrelet near their breeding grounds. This trip will be filled with stunning scenery, and many photographic opportunities, which will include several very special birds.

It’s with great delight that once again we have used the expert knowledge of our friends at Birdquest to set up this amazing itinerary which will focus on seeing an amazing variety of winter specialties. Their years of experience in running numerous successful tours to this country will see us in good hands and our guide Dave Farrow (Birdquest) has led many tours, including our 2017 tour to this fascinating country.

 

Japan is a very expensive country to visit and we are very happy that our tour costs represent great value, especially as they include all of the internal flights.

 
Join us on a Sunrise Birding tour to experience the winter wonders of Japan!

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ITINERARY

Day 1 • Arrive Tokyo, Japan
Please plan on an arrival day of the 4th Feb to Haneda International Airport, Tokyo.( Airport code: HND). Note that this is purely an arrival day and no activities are planned. The official start of the tour will be meeting at the lobby of the Royal Park Hotel which is adjacent to Haneda Airport. Time will be advised once we have our train tickets reserved. Note the tour starts with breakfast (tomorrow) on Feb 05th.
Night Royal Park Hotel, Haneda Airport International.

 

Day 2 • Bullet train to Karuizawa
We will meet up in the lobby of the Royal Park Hotel (time to be advised) and then transfer by shuttle to the train station. We will then take the famous Bullet Train to the City of Karuizawa approx 1hr. On arrival we will transfer to our minibuses and make a few birding stops along the way to Yudanaka which is close the famous Snow Monkey reserve. We should get to see our first birds which could include Rustic, Meadow and Black-faced Buntings, Dusky Thrush, White-cheeked Starling, Varied Tit, Brown-eared Bulbul, Gray-capped Greenfinch, Oriental Crow, Japanese Wagtail, Bull-headed Shrike, Oriental Turtle Dove, and with luck maybe Green Pheasant or Azure-winged Magpie. Night Yudanaka.

Day 3 • Jigokudani Snow Monkeys / Karuizawa
Today we head to Jigokudani the world-renowned place to see Japans famous Snow Monkeys. More correctly named they are Japanese Macaques and we will be able to enjoy these very photogenic creatures lounging around up to their chests in the hot natural pools. It’s obviously a bit of a tourist attraction but well worth a visit and a very unique mammal experience, as family groups sit around the pools, or if its cold in the hot pools, diving underwater and playing and offering wonderful photo opportunities. There will be a few birds around such as Eurasian Treecreeper, Goldcrest, Eurasian Jay and possibly Alpine Accentor. After our encounter with the wonderful Snow Monkeys we may have time to check a small lake for ducks which could include Chinese Spot-billed Duck, Gadwall, Common Pochard, Goosander and sometimes the gorgeous looking Smew or Baikal Teal. We could also see Little Grebe, Eurasian Coot, Great Cormorant and the Black-backed race of White Wagtail (M.f lugens). We will then return to Karuizawa for an overnight stay. Night Karuizawa.
 
Day 4 • Karuizawa
Today we will seek out all of the special birds of this beautiful and fascinating area. Our hotel has a bird feeder and hopefully visitors will include Japanese Tit, Willow Tit, Coal Tit, Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Gray-capped Greenfinch, Brambling, Hawfinch and sometimes Japanese Accentor and in invasion years even Japanese Grosbeak. Nearby we will check woodland trails that pass fast tumbling streams where we will concentrate our efforts to try and locate one of Japans most difficult birds the elusive Copper Pheasant. We will need some luck as this species is still hunted and as such very wary and not easily seen. If we do not find it here we will slowly drive the mountain roads to try and locate one. Here we also have chances to see the strange goat like mammal called the Japanese Serow. There will be plenty of other bird species to keep us busy with Japanese Green Woodpecker, Long-tailed and with luck the erratic Pallas’s Rosefinches, Japanese Pygmy and Japanese Green Woodpeckers, Japanese Grosbeak, Red-flanked Bluetail, Brown Dipper, Hawfinch, Pale and Dusky Thrushes, Varied Tit, Brambling, Gray-bellied Bullfinch and Chinese Hwamei. A nearby lake and surrounding fields will produce a few different species and we could soon pick up buntings such as the superb Elegant, Rustic and Meadow Buntings, Black-backed and Japanese Wagtails, Daurian Redstart, White-cheeked Starling and some commoner ducks. With luck we could also find Japanese Accentor or Solitary Snipe. Night Karuizawa.

 

Day 5 • Karuizawa / Haneda / Hyuga
Today will mostly be a travel day. After some early morning birding around Karuizawa to try and see anything we may have missed we will then take the Bullet train back to Haneda, where we catch a flight to Kagoshima, and from there we will drive to Hyuga. Depending on our flight times we may or may not get chances to make short stops along the way. Night Hyuga.
 
Day 6  • Hyuga / Arasaki
This morning we will go in search of one of Japans more difficult birds the globally threatened and endangered Japanese Murrelet. We have several small harbors we can check as well as viewpoints along the rugged coast, and because we are near its largest known breeding colony which is on a offshore island and because this is a good time of year to find them, our chances are high. Depending on the weather we may also take a boat trip a short distance out to try and get closer views of this sought after species. We can also expect to see Black-tailed Gulls and possible Japanese Cormorant, Pacific Reef Heron, Black-faced Spoonbill and Blue Rock Thrush of the red-bellied philippensis subspecies. Hopefully after a successful morning we will make our way toward the crane capitol of Japan and arguably the world, Arasakai. If we have time we may make a few stops along the way to look for select species such as Long-billed Plover, Crested Kingfisher and if we have any news of Scaly-sided Mergansers we will of course detour to try and see this enigmatic bird. Night Arasaki.

 

Day 7  • Arasaki
The big attraction of Arasaki is its huge winter gathering of cranes which can peak with numbers in excess of over 10,000 birds. We shall be woken by the bugling calls of huge flocks of Hooded Cranes right outside our perfectly situated Guesthouse, and enjoy our first views through the windows of our rooms or from the breakfast table. Because we are staying in the heart of the reserve we will be able to witness huge gatherings of cranes that include mostly Hooded, followed by the elegant White-naped and then a few Common and Sandhill Cranes. This is truly one of the world’s great birding spectacles with sights and sounds never to be forgotten. These birds come to feed on the maize and fish put out for them by the reserve warden and this provides great opportunities to get close up photos of Japans famous dancing cranes. The odd rarity sometimes occurs and we may be lucky to find a Demoiselle or even Siberian Crane. The Arasakai area also holds a huge diversity of habitats and as such it offers one of the richest places for winter birding in Japan. Amongst rice fields, rivers, mudflats, canals, reed beds, scrub, and woodland we will search for a wealth of wildfowl that could include the very smart Mandarin Duck and sometimes Baikal Teal, plus species like Chinese Penduline Tit, Russet Sparrow, Buff-bellied and Olive-backed Pipit, Black-faced Bunting (of the yellow-bellied form, personata), Chestnut-eared and Common Reed Buntings, Bull-headed Shrike, Daurian Jackdaw, White-cheeked Starling, Dusky and Pale Thrushes, Eastern Buzzard (split from Common), Eastern Marsh Harrier, Asian House Martin, Brown-cheeked Rail, Ruddy-breasted Crake, Red-throated Pipit, and if we are lucky Japanese Quail. Night Arasaki.

 

Day 8  • Arasaki
We have another full day in this wonderful area, so depending on what we have already seen and what we want to see we will mix our time between here and a visit to the west coast. Along the rivers and estuary we will search for the delightful Saunder’s Gull, plus other gulls species such as Vega Gulls, Black-tailed Gulls and a few taimyrensis Heuglin’s Gulls. Brown Boobies could be seen circling offshore, while rocky outcrops could hold a few Japanese Cormorants. We will search amongst the common shorebirds and herons to see if we can get looks at Black-faced Spoonbill, and then a search amongst the many waterfowl will hopefully reveal a few Baikal Teal. Reed-beds could produce small groups of Chinese Penduline Tits and we could try again for Brown-cheeked Rail and Ruddy-breasted Crake if we missed them yesterday. A stony river could give us a chance to see Long-billed Plover and with luck the Crested Kingfisher as well as Black-backed and Japanese Wagtails. All in all we will have a busy two days based right in the middle of one of the worlds greatest Crane spectacles. Night Arasaki
     
Days 9 - 10  • Arasaki / Kagoshima / Kushiro
This morning we will leave behind the sight and sounds of the thousands of cranes of Arasakai and set off towards our next destination. This and the following day will be quite a bit of traveling as we first drive to Kagoshima and then take a flight to Kushiro arriving in the afternoon. From here we may go looking for Ural Owl if there are any recent sightings in the area, and then make our way to Kushiro hopefully in time for our first look at the stunning Red-crowned Cranes. The next morning we will have more time to enjoy these fabulous cranes as they fly in from their roosting sites along the misty rivers to be fed by local farmers. We have great opportunities to witness these iconic birds in flight and hopefully dancing in the early morning light. Get your cameras ready! Later we will set off on our drive to Rausu with impromptu stops along the way to look for birds such as Pallas’s Rosefinch, Bohemian and Japanese Waxwings if any have been reported. We should also see Marsh Tit, Japanese Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Hawfinch, Black-faced Bunting and the white bellied race of Eurasian Nuthatch asiatica. Whooper Swans should be encountered along the way and then as we head toward the east coast we will start to encounter our first White-tailed Eagles, Goosander and wintering ducks, grebes and an assortment of gulls. We will continue along the coast to arrive at our guest house around dusk, just in time to start our vigil from our rooms or the restaurant for the most magnificent of all the worlds owls the huge Blakiston’s Fish Owl. We have two nights to try and see this almost mythical owl, and we have good chances as a pair regularly come to feed in a small pond in the stream that runs just in front of the guest house. The pool is floodlit at night and no one is allowed outside the building so as to not disturb the birds while they are fishing. We cannot predict what time the birds will show which is why we stay here allowing us to be warm and relaxed while awaiting this special event. Night Rausu.

 

Day 11  • Rausu
Hopefully the owls put in an early appearance early and didn’t keep us waiting all night. They can make several visits to the pond during the night which gives us several chances, but it is of course wildlife so there is a chance they will not turn up at all. After breakfast and hopefully a celebration of the magnificent Blakiston’s Fish Owl we will head out for a trip we have organized on a boat that will take us just a short distance out of harbor to the nearby ice pack. Here we will be treated to once in a lifetime close-up views of the huge and beautiful Steller’s Sea Eagles that congregate at this time of year. Up to 1,000 eagles fly south from their breeding grounds to spend the winter in this area and a boat trip offers the most incredible views you could ever imagine of these awesome creatures. By feeding them a few tidbits the eagles often come within a few meters offering incredible views and photographic opportunities. If we are lucky it may even be possible to spot a Largha Seal as they sometimes come out and sit on the ice flow. If the weather or ice conditions are not favorable then don’t worry we can still get incredible views of the eagles along the rocky coast and perched in dead trees often around one or two of the nearby river mouths. These huge eagles make White-tailed Eagles seem somewhat small by comparison and indeed we should see plenty of both species side by side. In and around the harbors the gulls gather and we will spend some time picking through the Slaty-backed, Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls to see if any other species are present. The stunningly beautiful Harlequin Duck is often found inside the harbors and can also provide fabulous photo opportunities. On the streams we can look for Brown Dippers and hopefully we will encounter Sika Deer or a Red Fox before heading back and warming up in our cozy guest house ready for another night of owl watching. Night Rausu.

 

Day 12 • Rausu / Kiritappu
Our last day will see us looking for Brown Dipper outside of our guest house before departing and heading toward the south coast and Kiritappu. We will again pass several rivers where perched Steller’s and White-tailed Eagles will vie for our attention and then the further south we go the more opportunities for short stops present themselves. On several headlands we will scan the sea for alcids such as Ancient Murrelet, Spectacled Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Thick-billed Murre and Crested Auklet, Pacific Loon and Red-necked Grebe. Depending on how much snow cover and ice there is around we may also see Whooper Swans and possibly even Short-eared Owl, Rough-legged Hawk or a Merlin. Back along the coast sea ducks could include flocks of Long-tailed Ducks, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneyes, and both Stejneger’s and Black Scoters. Red-throated Loons, Red-faced and Pelagic Cormorants can sometimes be found and then as we get to Cape Kiritappu we have our best chances to find wintering flocks of Asian Rosy Finches. There will be few small birds around but Snow Bunting and Redpoll often occur and if it’s a good year maybe Japanese Waxwing. Finally we will head back to Kushiro and take an evening flight back to Haneda, Tokyo where this tour will conclude after dinner in an airport restaurant. Please see arrival/departure information below.

 

Photos: Steller’s Sea Eagle in flight, Japanese Murrelet and Asian Rosy Finch by Pete Morris (Birdquest), All other photos by Steve Bird.