Another weekend in spring, and another day spent on Chuja-do. I really tried to visit Chuja-do more this spring, and it ended up being pretty good but perhaps not as efficient as visits to Mara-do would have been. That said it's hard to beat a total of 4 hours of pelagic birding each trip thanks to the lovely slow boat that allows passengers on deck. Plenty of Japanese Murrelets, loads of Streaked Shearwaters, and even a surprise Tereks Sandpiper flying by.
The island itself was not terribly exciting due to the weather. The constant rain really dampened the birding mood and conditions, despite the island being overall very birdy. A mystery snipe confused me for a while in a school grass field. Japanese Sparrowhawks swooped and various cuckoos sang among the hills. Buntings, flycatchers, pipits, egrets, herons, and plenty more were around. But the rain just made it so unpleasant. The ride back on the boat was good, with the usual Streaked Shearwaters, Japanese Murrelets, a Red-necked Phalarope, and a surprise Swinhoe's Storm Petrel I found when examining the photos a couple months later.
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| Streaked Shearwater |
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| Japanese Murrelet |
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| Japanese Murrelet |
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| Terek's Sandpiper |
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| Richard's Pipit - really wet |
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| Richard's Pipit |
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| Mystery Snipe |
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| Mystery Snipe |
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| Japanese Sparrowhawk |
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| Oriental Magpie - an unusual bird to find on Chuja |
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| Eurasian Hobby |
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| Oriental Turtle Dove |
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| Little Heron (still getting used to that name) |
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| Yellow-browed Bunting |
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| Japanese Murrelet |
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| Swinhoe's Storm-petrel - unless it is a different type of petrel? |
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