Hokkaido 24 Feb 2018 (Day 2)

Our first birding day in Hokkaido 2018 started, we drove from Kushiro city to nearby Kushiro Shitsugen National Park before sunrise, to see any Ural Owl but we failed. During the way we encountered some common birds but too dark to photo, even though they were my lifers like Common Goldeneye, Steller's Sea Eagle etc.

a snowy road

first photo by camera of this trip - a Sika Deer

In nearby Lake Shirarutoro シラルトロ湖 and Lake Toro 塘路湖, some other ducks were seen.

two male Goosander

I have seen plenty Goosander in East Asia but seldom get decent photos or flight shots

3 Smew - I have seen them in Hong Kong quite a few times but never an adult male

size comparison 

And more and more birds, but they were not my lifer as I came to Hokkaido with my family before (not a birding trip).

Marsh Tit - the default tit species in Hokkaido. Their sister species Willow Tit is not found in Hokkaido but other parts of Japan. So making identification more straight forward here

White-tailed Eagle, I saw them during a bus trip last time, no photo of course..

Then we got back our luggage from Hotel Area One Kushiro and started our journey to Nemuro Peninsular, where we going to stay. We stopped at some harbor or cliff to check any ducks and seabirds and found that the Akkeshi District was quite productive.

we had close view of gulls and ducks here

the bridge

adult Glaucous-winged Gull - note the pale primary and saddle when compare to Slaty-backed Gull, also darker iris than adult Slaty-backed

the same Glaucous-winged having lunch, oyster?

a fly-by Slaty-backed Gull, showing the diagnostic wing pattern

Dunlin - the first wader in this trip

ducks were tame and allowed us to make close observation, 3 sleeping Northern Pintail here

Northern Pintail

adult Whooper Swan, fantastic view

an immature Whooper Swan

the family group

much better view than the Sai Kung Pier bird

A strange-looking duck was found by Guillermo soon then. I was able to take some photos and we concluded this could be a pure female American Wigeon. I saw the HK bird in 2016, although that was accepted by the record committee as American Wigeon, I think that bird was not pure enough to make a proper tick. So, this female wigeon is my unexpected lifer.

female American Wigeon

this should be an adult female, which showing striking black-and-white upperwing pattern which is much more distinctive than female Eurasian Wigeon

sadly this photo is a bit out-of-focus, but it did show the most important feature - the pure white axillaries!

We continued our way and more and more birds...

Black Scoter, a lifer, very common here but always far

Arctic Loon, not my lifer. Can you see the bird in photo?

Harlequin Duck, just like the Black Scoter

not a bird, but Sea Otter Enhydra lutris, I realized this is an Endangered species when I am back to HK

Whooper Swan again

Red-crowned Crane, the second encounter of this trip and first photo

cloudy day with cranes

closer Black Scoter

Mew Gull kamtchatkensis - the default Mew Gull subspecies (species) 

Pelagic Cormorant, another lifer of day 2

male Common Goldeneye, not allowing me to take a standard photo

Red-breasted Merganser, very common here. In Hong Kong, it is used to be a winter visitors but undergoes rapid declining, I only saw once before (a female)

snack, cheaper and taste better than in HK

and a Red Fox sitting in front of lady toilet, must be a male fox

And we continued our harbor time...

Long-tailed Duck - my favorite duck here

Slaty-backed Gull, a second winter, showing bicolored bill and paler iris than first year

Slaty-backed Gull, molting to third summer plumage (?), paler iris, darker saddle and started showing adult like wing pattern, also greenish yellow bill, which indicate an older individual than previous bird

Slaty-backed Gull, the commonest species here, this one is nearly in summer plumage

another Slaty-backed, but still showing some winter plumage head pattern

Glaucous Gull - a large gull species with pale primary

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull, the second commonest gull in Hokkaido

Glaucous Gull

and Glaucous Gull, even not my lifer

Glaucous Gull again

Glaucous Gull, this one is finishing prealternate molt

After that, we also do some seawatching but too windy and cold to me, birds were distant too, though I saw a Thick-billed Murre, in scope view without photo.

Before heading to Furen Lodge, we made a stop in a bridge near the Lodge after dark for the Blakiston's Fish Owl (or Eagle Owl), and we heard a pair calling only tonight.

And finally, we arrived at the Furen Lodge, a famous Inn for birders visiting Hokkaido, marked the end of day 2.

here is the map to the lodge

so many birding companies have been here before!