I had had a great trip to Cairns and Cape York Bird Week, increasing my life list my 39 and seeing some beautiful birds. I haven’t counted the group’s total, and doubt that I will have time to do a trip report at the moment. Klaus’s ability to hear and locate birds was amazing, and the group were good to be with. Thanks again to those who recommended it.
Unexpectedly, my husband has organised at the last minute to go to the Ice Festival in Sapporo, so we leave in less than a fortnight. Part of the tour is to see the Red-crowned Cranes, and I’m hoping to squeeze in some other birding when we visit gardens etc., so I’m wondering if anyone can suggest a light field guide for the area, or an app as Geoff will have his phone.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Sonja ===============================
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Hi Philip:
Yes, that’s a good book, as is Mark Brazil’s “A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Japan” but these only describe birding locations, and as such are not good for identifying species. Also, they are a bit out-of-date, so the taxonomy is not current. Great for exploring locations on your own, however!
Cheers,
John
Hi Sonja:
Actually, I am living in Japan at the moment (on Kyushu island) and will actually be up in Hokkaido at the beginning of February guiding some visiting birders from the US. If you let me know your itinerary, I can suggest some places you might try and what to look out for.
Cheers,
John
Regarding the sites mentioned in the books (A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Japan and A Birder’s Guide to Japan), yes, most of them are still “there” although certain sites have undergone drastic environmental changes which have diluted their importance as birding areas. However, they are still usually the best sites in their particular area at their best times of year, as alternative locations have also suffered environmental degradation, often to a greater degree.
So if you are planning a trip to Japan, the locations in those books are a great place to start your planning and well worth visiting.
I agree with the comments on Mark Brazil’s and Tadao Shimba’s field guides.
In addition to Jane Washburn Robinson’s site guide mentioned by Philip, there is also Mark Brazil’s site guide:
A Birdwatcher’s Guide to Japan by Mark Brazil (Apr 1988)
A Birder’s Guide to Japan by Jane Washburn Robinson (Apr 1988)
Cheers,
Nikolas
Hi Sonja:
The best field guide is Mark Brazil’s “Birds of East Asia”, although it is not so light. Another good one is “A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Japan and North-east Asia” by Tadao Shimba.
There is an app for birds of Japan, which you can download from iTunes but it doesn’t cover all birds recorded in Japan.
Cheers,
John
Sonja, there’s an iphone app called Japanese Birds – has photos of most birds, brief info, calls and songs, but not maps, just prefectures and islands are given. For real books, I have Mark Brazil’s Birds of East Asia (will be road-tested in Okinawa this June) plus ‘A photographic guide to the birds of Japan and north-east Asia’ by Tadao Shimba is useful plus is smaller and lighter than Brazil’s tome. Temple gardens are good for birds in Japan. Sounds like a great trip – have never been up north. Helen
< ')/////==< ________________________________ Sent: Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 8:37 I had had a great trip to Cairns and Cape York Bird Week, increasing my life list my 39 and seeing some beautiful birds. I haven't counted the group's total, and doubt that I will have time to do a trip report at the moment. Klaus's ability to hear and locate birds was amazing, and the group were good to be with. Thanks again to those who recommended it. Unexpectedly, my husband has organised at the last minute to go to the Ice Festival in Sapporo, so we leave in less than a fortnight. Part of the tour is to see the Red-crowned Cranes, and I'm hoping to squeeze in some other birding when we visit gardens etc., so I'm wondering if anyone can suggest a light field guide for the area, or an app as Geoff will have his phone. Thanks in advance for any help. Sonja =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== ===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
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