Tsunoshima is in Yamaguchi prefecture, on
the island of Honshu and is the most western point of Honshu. It is well known
for its beautiful seashore and all I can do is confirm this. It surely is a special
place. Even on a cold and windy day.
Anything beyond Kyushu seems remote, but
it actually took only 2.5 hrs to drive there.
Leaving at 4am we got there just at
daybreak. We headed straight for the south-west cape and hung around the area
of the lighthouse, hoping to see Sparrowhawks taking off on their migrating
journey, they didn’t fly in this much wind. Later in the morning some local
birders arrived, telling us about a small group of Bean Geese in a paddock .
They too made use of the wind and were flying from one end to the other, but
finally landed nearby.
ヒシクイ, Tundra Bean Goose
Looks like a family.
Tundra or Taiga Bean Geese? I can’t tell
On the way we happened upon this small
vege pad where Bullfinches were feeding. Not much red, but that's the time of the year I guess. I wonder, do they have an English name?
ベニバラウソ, Bullfinch
Nice shots, Marijke! Just one thing.....I think the bullfinches are all female P. p. rosacea, rather than cassinii.....cassinii have all grey backs whereas these birds have only grey napes and the rest of the back is pinkish grey which indicates rosacea. In Japan it is possible to get three of the subspecies - griseiventris (males: grey back, red cheeks, grey chest & belly), rosacea (males: red cheeks with variable red on breast & belly and grey nape with pinkish-grey back), and cassini (males: red cheeks, breast & belly and gray back - also cassinii are much bigger than the others). But in our area P.p. rosacea is most likely - the other subspecies are more likely in northern Honshu and Hokkaido.
ReplyDeleteThank you John, I had my doubts about them. It's good to have you checking my identifications!
Delete