Ochishi and Kiritappu in Early Summer

In early summer, seabirds in breeding plumage and sea animals can be seen on the Ochishi cruise and at Cape Kiritappu, and beautiful flowers and grasses can also be found in the marshlands along the way.

Ochiishi Cruise and Surrounding Waters

From Cape Nosappu to Cape Erimo, part of the cold Oyashio (Kuril) Current flows along the coast, especially from Nemuro to Cape Kiritappu, which is the area with the lowest sea water temperature in Japan. As a result, tufted puffins, red-faced cormorants, and other seabirds that are difficult to see outside of this area breed here. The uninhabited islands of Yururi Island and Moyururi Island in Ochiishi are especially important breeding grounds for seabirds, and both landing on the islands and fishing in the surrounding area are prohibited. Currently, seabird observation by permitted fishing boats is operated in some areas.

To visit the waters of Yururi Island and Moyururi Island, you must take a Ochiishi cruise operated by the fishing association. The cruise takes about 2.5 hours on a local fishing boat and involves observing birds in the surrounding waters. Since this is a fishing boat, the cruise can be quite bumpy and subject to waves depending on the weather, so please make preparations to deal with seasickness, assure your belongings are adequately waterproofed, and bring warm clothes.

The following is a list of seabirds and marine animals that can be seen.

Rhinoceros Auklet
Spectacled Guillemot
Pigeon Guillemot
Tufted Puffin
Japanese Murrelet
Pacific Loon
Red-faced Cormorant
Pelagic Cormorant
White-tailed Sea Eagle
Harbor Seal
Sea Otter

 

Cape Kiritappu and the Surrounding Wetlands

Cape Kiritappu is a breeding ground for sea otters and many seabirds can be seen here. If you are lucky, you may see tufted puffins and harbor seals. Since this area is accessible by car, it can be an alternative destination in case the Ochiishi cruise is cancelled due to bad weather or lack of passengers.

In the Cape Kiritappu wetlands near Cape Kiritappu, large colonies of daylily, hare’s-tail cottongrass, and other grasses and flowers can be seen, as well as many birds that prefer the grasslands. In addition, along the road to Ochiishi, there are several small wetlands and grasslands suitable for flower and bird watching. Here you can also expect to see red-crowned cranes with their chicks.

Below are some of the birds and flowers that can be seen in the wetlands. Please refer to the seabirds at Cape Kiritappu, as they are similar to those on the Ochiishi cruise mentioned above.

Kiritappu Wetland(Hokkaido Daylilies)
Kushiro Jacobs Ladder
Black Lily
Siberian Rubythroat
Amur Stonechat
Long-tailed Rosefinch
Reed_Bunting
Latham’s Snipe
Red-crowned Crane
Ezo Sika Deer

 

Photo & text : Hiromichi HAYASHI

Observation : Ochiishi & Kiritappu, Nemuro, Hokkaido

*Contact  us, Saiyu Travel for more information about wildlife and bird watching in Hokkaido. We can make various arrangements for your trip. We operate a guesthouse, Shiretoko Serai, in Rausu, Shiretoko and Teuri Island. both are perfect location for wildlife lover.

*Youtube : Wildlife of Japan

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Mt. Fuji in the Summer! Observing Subalpine birds at Okuniwa and the White-bellied green-pigeon on the Oiso Coast

Reported by YOSHINARI TOSHITAKE for a tour conducted from August 21 – 23.

Day 1

Meeting at the Shinjuku bus terminal and took a bus to the 5th station of Mt. Fuji, which is approximately 2,300 meters above sea level.

When we arrived at Okuniwaso as planned, we immediately started observing birds and taking photos. The back garden is short and has a well-developed walking path, so one of the attractions is that you can stroll around freely.

The waterhole

At the waterhole, we saw Eurasian bullfinch, Red-flanked bluetail, Coal tit, Goldcrest, Japanese leaf warbler. The birds are less than 10 meters away, so we could get good pictures. The little birds came out here and there, so I over heard the group talking about how they were satisfied with the afternoon.

Eurasian Bullfinch Photography by HO
Goldcrest       Photography by HO

Okuniwaso is a mountain hut, so there are no baths or showers (the temperature is cool so no sweating, but it gets really chilly in the mornings and evenings.) Dinner is served early (when it was still light!) at 4:30pm, but the food was luxurious for being at a mountain hut.

Plentiful Dinner at the Mountain Hut

It was still light even after dinner, so the owner of Okuniwaso showed us the walking path. Unfortunately, the clouds in the western sky were too thick to color Mt. Fuji red in the sunset, but we were able to see the peak of Mt. Fuji up close. And at night, we could see the stars in the sky, between the clouds. Smartphones these days are so advanced, it’s was easy to take pictures of the starry sky. Both of the following images were taken with an iPhone.

The starry sky with Mt Fuji
The Night Sky

Day 2

It was clear skies at dawn, so we were able to have a great view of the sunrise over the ridge with Mt. Fuji.

Daybreak

Just like yesterday, the birds came out frequently for us on this day, as well. A male ed-flanked bluetail that hadn’t come out yesterday also showed up, but perhaps it was in fact, that there were three different males. The male ed-flanked bluetail is truly beautiful.

Male Red-flanked bluetail Photography by HO
Japanese leaf warbler (left) Red-flanked bluetail (right)
From the left : Coal tit, Eurasian bullfinch and Japanese leaf warbler

We enjoyed ourselves at Okuniwaso in the morning hours, and after lunch, headed towards Oiso in preparation for observing green pigeons the next day.

Day 3

Unfortunately, today’s weather forecast is cloudy and rainy. Despite the bad weather, we left the hotel with the hopes that it will improve, while it was still dark, and arrived at Oiso and Terugasaki Beach. It was raining a little when we arrived, but the rain gradually subsided and fortunately, it became sunny. White-bellied green pigeons were flying in, but they were quite wary and would not come down to the rocks. Also, it seemed to be raining quite a bit on the mountain in the direction from which they flew in. However, they gradually started descending to the rocks, and we were able to observe them drinking seawater.

Green Pigeons flying in
Pigeons drinking some seawater
Pigeons getting caught in a wave

When the green pigeons that had been drinking seawater, took off all at once, a young peregrine falcon appeared. I didn’t see any attacks on the green pigeons, but it seems like the falcon had been hiding somewhere close by.

Juvenile Peregrine Falcon

I was a bit worried about the rain forecast for our last day, but considering that last year it was sunny and quite hot, it ended up being a good day, which was a relief. During the tour, we had an interesting combination of subalpine birds at an altitude of 2,300 m and the White-bellied green pigeons on the coast, and we could see a wide variety of birds this year.

(Total of 27 Bird Species)

 

Report by:  YOSHINARI TOSHITAKE

Observation:  August 21-23, 2023, Mt. Fuji 5th station, Oiso Coast

*Contact  us, Saiyu Travel for more information about wildlife and bird watching in Okinawa & Amami Oshima. We can make various arrangements for your trip.

*Youtube : Wildlife of Japan

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