Recent trip to Japan

Hi List, A while back I asked for information about birding while holidaying in Japan & quite a few listers kindly & very helpfully replied. Unfortunately it was a “family” holiday with my sons more focussed on games arcades, vending machines and oddly dressed people, so any birding had to take second place to a tourist itinerary, so I set my expectations low! However, we had a wonderful trip; Japan turned out to be a fascinating destination & I still managed to see 46 birds with 31 or 32 being lifers [still trying to sort out the correct classification for a few birds. Not sure if Vega Gull is widely accepted for example.] We started in Tokyo, day trip to Kamakura/Hase, overnight trip to Nagano, 2 nights at Miyanoshita in the glorious Fujiya Hotel, then 6 nights in Kyoto [from where we travelled to Hiroshima, Nara and Arashiyama]. The JR Rail pass made travel easy [if at times very crowded!] & the fabulous convenience stores and vending machines will be missed. We will have to go back one day with a more birding friendly itinerary. Jenny Stiles Japanese Birds seen 25 Oct – 7 Nov 2014 *= Lifer Mute Swan Cygnus olor Imperial Palace Moat, Tokyo [IMP] Gadwall Anas strepera IMP, Tokyo *Eurasian Wigeon Anas Penelope IMP, Tokyo, Lake Ashi, Hiroshima Castle Mallard Anas platyrhychos Nijo Castle Moat, various ponds and lakes *Eastern Spot-billed Duck Anas zonorhyncha Uneo Park, IMP, Tokyo & others *Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata Uneo Park, IMP, Tokyo Northern Pintail Anas acuta Uneo Park, IMP, Tokyo *Eurasian Teal Anas crecca Nara *Common Pochard Aythya farina IMP, Lake Ashi, Hiroshima Castle Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula Uneo Park, IMP, Hiroshima Castle *Greater Scaup Aythya marila Lake Ashi *Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficolis IMP, Hiroshima Castle, Lake Ashi Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo IMP, Arashiyama *Grey Heron Ardea cinerea Nagano, Hakone-Yumoto, Lake Ashi Great Egret Ardea Alba Uneo Park, Hakone-Yumoto Little Egret Egretta garzetta Uneo Park, Nara Osprey Pandion haliatus Hiroshima Black Kite Milvus milgrans(lineatus) Hase, Hiroshima *Eastern Buzzard Buteo Japonicus Hakone Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus Uneo Park, IMP Eurasian Coot Fulica atra Uneo Park, INP, Lake Ashi Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibus Tokyo Bay *Black-tailed Gull Larus crassiorostris Tokyo Bay *Vega Gull/Herring Gull Larus vegae Hase & Tokyo Bay Rock Dove Columba livia everywhere *Oriental Turtle-dove Streoptopelia orientalis Tokyo, Hakone, Kyoto *Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis IMP, Hakone-Yumoto *Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker Dendrocopos kizuki Nara *Eurasian Jay Garrulus glandarius Jigokudani *Carrion Crow Corvus corone Common *Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos Common *Varied Tit Poecile varius Meji Shrine, Lake Ashi, Nara *Japanese Tit Parus minor Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara *Long Tailed Tit Aegithalos caudatus Nara, Arashiyama *Eurasian Wren Troglodytes troglodytes Jigokudani *Brown-eared Bulbul Ixos amaurotis everywhere! *Japanese White-eye Zosterops japonicas Miyanoshita, Nara, Kyoto *Grey-streaked Flycatcher Muscicapa griseisticta Hakone Sculpture Park *Daurian Redstart Phoenicurus auroreus Miyanoshita, Hiroshima *White-cheeked Starling Sturnus cineraceus Kyoto region, Nara *Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea Meji Shrine, Tokyo & Nijo Castle, Kyoto *White Wagtail Motacilla alba IMP, Hiroshima Castle, Uneo Park *Japanese Wagtail Motacilla grandis Nagano, Nijo Castle, Nara *Brambling Fringilla montifringilla Kyoto *Oriental Greenfinch Carduelis sinica Hakone, Kyoto *Eurasian Tree Sparrow Passer montanus Very common