September 2-15, 2025
Hokkaido - Honshu - Kyushu - Okinawa - Amami
During a two-week customised tour for a single client, we recorded 161 species. In Hokkaido, we encountered very few summer migrants, and with the boat cruise cancelled, we saw almost no seabirds. Nevertheless, we did encounter birds characteristic of Hokkaido, such as the Blakiston's Fish-owl, White-tailed Eagle, and Red-crowned Crane.
On Honshū, we focused on waiting at specific points around Mount Fuji where small birds come to drink water. Alongside encountering anticipated species like the Red-flanked Bluetail, Narcissus Flycatcher, and Blue-and-white Flycatcher, which remained in their breeding grounds after finishing breeding, I was also fortunate to see birds that are very difficult to encounter at this season, such as the Asian Stubtail and Japanese Paradise Flycatcher.
In Kyushu, despite the unfortunate weather, we enjoyed the large-scale shorebird migration. Notably, the Far Eastern Curlew and Great Knot can only be seen in flocks on the mudflats of northern Kyushu in Japan. We observed Broad-billed Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper, and Curlew Sandpiper – birds rare outside East Asia – and were extremely fortunate to encounter the globally very rare Nordmann's Greenshank. We also saw Oriental Storks in the vast hinterland.
Okinawa still felt like midsummer in its heat, yet compared to Hokkaido or the Mount Fuji area, forest birds remained active. We even encountered singing Okinawa Robins. Okinawa-specific species like the Okinawa Rail, Okinawa Woodpecker, and Ryukyu Scops-owl were successfully observed, though unfortunately, the Black-naped Tern and Roseate Tern, which we had hoped to see, failed to appear.
What proved unexpectedly enjoyable in Okinawa were the migratory shorebirds. In particular, I observed inland species such as the Long-toed Stint, Temminck's Stint, and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. I also managed to find the Pintail Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe, which are extremely difficult to identify. Among these, the Pintail Snipe was particularly memorable, observed motionless just 7-8 metres from the car.
Despite staying only one night on Amami Ōshima, we successfully observed the Ruddy Kingfisher, Japanese Wood Pigeon, Ryukyu Green Pigeon, Amami Woodpecker, Lidth's Jay, and Ryukyu Robin. During night birding, we were able to observe the Amami Woodcock at close range.
Although it was a tour during a season not particularly suited to birdwatching, we had some unexpected encounters, and the guests seemed quite satisfied.