Hokkaido 26 Feb 2018 (Day 4)

On this day, we started birding before breakfast, for the Asian Rosy Finch we dipped yesterday because the finches were reported near Ochiishi Harbor before and after we arrived yesterday. This day, we realized that we did not go deep enough (so went to the wrong spot) yesterday and we soon found the finches when we got the exact location.

Asian Rosy Finch - one of my passerine targets of this trip

as we were not allowed to enter the Inn with feeder attracting the rosy finches, we needed to find the "wild" one, which is much more difficult to photo

they are far, and very difficult to be focused when feeding in the grassy patch

After the successful twitch, we were back to Furen Lodge for breakfast!

wonderful breakfast again

with crested ibis..

and Brown-eared Bubul..

and you again! with a friend too. One of these Eurasian Nuthatch was ringed and so we could recognized the individual

also the Red-crowned Crane

Then we headed to our second cruise - the Habomai cruise, for alcids again. 

this one is just 5000JPY, which is cheaper

as usual we needed to fill in our personal information (and pay) first

a much calmer sea this day

we could see the Cape Nosappu

Glaucous-winged Gull - note the dark iris and pale upperpart

a group of Harlequin

still my favorite duck of the trip - Long-tailed Duck

a third winter Slaty-backed Gull -  pale iris, adult like upperparts, streaky head and a pale bill with black tip

we saw plenty Red-breasted Merganser here, but always female, this one with a female Black Scoter

Black Scoter, male, sometimes the wings can appear translucent

an Adult Steller's Sea Eagle, with the habitat

first alcid here, very distinctive eyering, a Spectacled maybe (?)

less problematic, Crested Auklet

another Crested Auklet

like previous bird, probably a Spectacled Guillemot

Pelagic Cormorant

this one is clearly a Spectacled

Pigeon Guillemot, but which subspecies? maybe columba

Pigeon Guillemot, but which subspecies? maybe another columba

Spectacled Guillemot, assuming breeding plumage

same bird as above, the upperwing is completely black

not a lifer, a Red-necked Grebe, assuming summer plumage

the "sea sparrow" - Least Auklet

more Least Auklet

and more Least Auklet

a landing Least Auklet

fewer loon in this trip, here is a Pacific Loon

another problem, Take-san believed this is Pigeon Guillemot snowi, assuming summer plumage

same bird, underwing

same bird, upperwing, only limited white here

Pelagic Cormorant, there is still no confirmed record in Hong Kong

Spectacled Guillemot, this one looks like tailless

Pigeon Guillemot, kaiurka?

Spectacled, more extensive rear flanks

well, a Spectacled ?

same bird, extensive rear flanks

Pigeon Guillemot, there are huge variations of this species

Spectacled Guillemot

many Least Auklet in this trip

make a guess..... this is a Spectacled

Pelagic Cormorant

Spectacled? the identification between specatcled and some pigeon is not really so straight forward to me...

Spectacled again?

a winter Spectacled again?

easy one, Crested Auklet

 better Crested Auklet photos than yesterday

a winter plumage Pigeon Guillemot

summer plumage Spectacled Guillemot

Spectacled Guillemot

a flying gull, the pale upperpart may due to strong sunlight. This should be an adult Slaty-backed Gull, note the pale iris and the mirror pattern

after two hours, our boat returned to the harbor while the eagle was still there!

you can see the bleaching effect here, both are adult Slaty-backed Gull

adult Slaty-backed Gull

adult Glaucous-winged Gull with Slaty-backed Gull on the left

a male Common Goldeneye spreading its wing

one of my favorite shot, a male Black Scoter, appeared to be "white-winged' scoter under strong sunlight

After pressing thousands shutter, its time to lunch.

this sushi restaurant is highly recommended, the GPS is 43.326062, 145.574710

favorite 1 - Scallop

favorite 2 - Tuna

favorite 3 - Urchin

favorite 4 - ice cream, from seicomart, one of the largest convenient stores in Hokkaido

After lunch, we moved to Kurumaishi to seawatch again. More alcids, more loon like Red-throated Loon, other birds like Brent, and unexpected Short-eared Owl, we counted at least four there.

digiscoping snowi Pigeon Guillemot

White-tailed Eagle

immature Steller's Sea Eagle

immature White-tailed Eagle

immature Steller's Sea Eagle

I spent some time to take the four Short-eared Owl, and they were always fighting with crows

beautiful upperwing pattern

the "habitat"

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl

one even perched in front of me, for less than 5 seconds

Short-eared Owl

more owl

and more

The final spot this day, Cape Nosappu, allowed us to try again the Red-faced Cormorant, we saw some here again.

view from Cape Nosappu

Pelagic Cormorant

I took every Pelagic Cormorant to see any Red-faced inside

and here, a Red-faced Cormorant with a Pelagic on the left

Pelagic Cormorant

Red-faced Cormorant in non-breeding plumage, told by paler face and thicker bill than Pelagic, also larger in size

Red-faced Cormorant with Pelagic Cormorant

final photo by camera this day - a Spotted Seal

our Day 4 ended with the wonderful dinner in Furen Lodge again, which was also our last night here in this trip