January 13th 2012.
Pine Bunting and Rough Legged Buzzard to the east of Hakodate 3 years ago today.
Rarely leaving south Hokkaido, I don't get many additions to my Japanese list these days. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 I only managed 4 new ones a year. On this day however I managed 2 within a hour or so of each other. Not great pics I know. I've seen more of each species and taken better photos subsequently but sometimes you can't beat your first time............
it's a bit like the buses, none come and then you have several!! great shots.
ReplyDeleteNo buses have been for quite a while now Margaret! This was 3 years ago and I've only had 10 new birds for my Japan list since.
DeleteHow big is the Japanese list?
ReplyDeleteI think I'm on a very modest 277 for Japan and almost 270 for Hokkaido, although about 250 of those are from an area about the size of Lancashire. I rarely leave my little corner of Hokkaido these days.
DeleteNot sure how many birds are on the Japan list but the country is bigger than Britain and has offshore islands and subtropical areas so it's probably more? I may be wrong though. Britain has a lot more birders actively looking for rarities than Japan does, probably a lot goes unnoticed here.