Snow blizzards and Steller's eagles

Hello all, well the gloom of Monday has lifted to the exhalted heights of Wednesday, and as I write this in the candlelight (I'm going for the Dickensian mood here), I am warm inside and delighted at having witnessed the majesty of a true marvel and the wonder of a wild winters day.

Neil called me on Monday night and asked would I mind if we went to Biwa-ko on Tuesday morning instead of Amagaskai. There was a ring-necked duck there he wanted to connect with and missed on Monday. It was like asking a carbohydrate addict would they mind going to an all-you-can-eat pasta joint instead of an all-you-can-eat salad bar. There was only going to be one answer.

So, at 5.15am I hopped on the train and three trains later arrived at Kyotanabe at 6.30am and off we went. The forecast was good but the cloudy and threatening sky did not bode well. We birded up the "coastline" of the lake for the first couple hours of daylight, stopping here and there and enduring the bitter cold. It was 3-4 degrees C out of the wind, but in the wind it was below freezing. Bitterly cold isn't close to describing it. Walnuts...if not even chickpeas. That is how cold it was. Anyway, first port of call, to check out a couple of thousand pochard. First spectacular birds were picked out, a Baer's Pochard (globally endagered now) and a Red-crested Pochard. Two very rare birds for Japan in our first scope of the duck flocks. Next port of call produced Daurian Jackdaws, Long-billed Plovers and the Hooded Crane, remaining since our previous visit.

Then, we arrived at the spot where the Ring-necked duck (an American species, annual in Ireland but scarce in Japan) was previously seen. As we pulled in to the side of the road I noticed a photographer, and his 2-ton tripod and camera set-up, running and looking panicked. I looked at Neil, panicked. I jumped out of the car and looked up...there it was, Mr. Steller's Eagle flying toward me, it's immense wing-span, white shoulders, white-wedged tail and the largest hooked bill I've ever seen. The bird moved it's head, looked down and disappeared into the hills above us. I just looked at Neil with the biggest smile on my face since I came here, looked back up and jumped in the air. I wished that Ciaran could have been there with me as I've shared most of my birding moments back home with him. He would have loved this. I shook Neil's hand and didn't stop smiling all day. I had seen one of the species that I had wanted to see in Japan. The bird came and went so quickly and I just wanted to take it all in, that I didn't have time for a photo. I didn't really care. I had just seen Steller's Eagle. Majestic. For those of you out there who don't know what one of these magnificent birds look like, check out the following link...amazing aren't they

Picture of a Steller's Eagle

We waited for a while to see if the bird would reappear but it didn't. As the snow started to come in we decided to move back up the lakeside and see what else was on show. As we rounded the hill, I wanted to check a flock of Black-necked grebe that I had spotted from the car. As Neil was checking the ducks, I just scanned the hillside with the naked eye and caught a glimpse of a white patch in a tree. I put the bins up and there it was...the eagle perched in a spruce tree, feeding on a duck. Incredible. I put the scope on it and it filled the lens. What a bird. Words truly cannot describe the feeling I had watching this majestic creature feed, preen and generally look like the coolest bird on the planet. And it is certainly up there with them. As the snow came in even harder, we decided to move on. Goodbye Mr. Steller, for now at least.

The remainder of the day was spent running from the car to areas to bird and running back to the car to warm up again. It was goddamn cold. As we were looking through a flock of Bewick (Tundra) Swans in the fields, mixed in with Greater Whitefront and Bean geese, we picked up a Whistling swan, the American race of Bewick. Magic. By now, the snow had reached blizzard conditions, it was diffiicult to stay out in it and the swans started hunkering down to shelter. It was the harshest snow I've ever seen. Hokkaido is going to be an amazing experience. I'll need Everest-style thermals for that trip.

As we left the swans and geese, and finished watching Olive-backed pipits, I noticed a bird fly past and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Battling against the blizzard conditions was a lone Swallow flying around, looking for food. I just looked at Neil and he just laughed. It wasn't the first time he has seen a Swallow at this time of year in these conditions. This bird should have been battling against a sand storm in the Sahara, not a blizzard in below-freezing conditions in Japan. A crazy and bizarre sight.

At this stage the weather got too bad to bird so we decided to head back south and see if the weather would improve. Once we cleared the mountains the snow had stopped and the ground was dry. However, light was fading fast so we just headed back for home. Other hightlights of the trip included 150+ Smew, Black-necked Grebe, Japanese Grosbeak (10-20, from the car, stopped at traffic lights!!), Common Sandpiper, Hooded Crane and Long-billed Plover.

I am sure I have bored most of you by now so I shall sign off. I hope the photos are ok, it was damn cold out there trying to take these. The best shot of the Japanese Grosbeak is posted above, we were stuck at traffic lights afer all. Paparazzi birder!! It was one of the best days birding so far with a massive 79 species, the highest one-day total I've had in Japan. Simply put, an incredible birding experience watching eagles through the snow...

Carmo's diet: today i've mostly been doing my laundary

Carmo's birds: LONG-BILLED PLOVER, STELLER'S SEA EAGLE (adult), DAURIAN JACKDAW, BAER'S POCHARD (male), RED-CRESTED POCHARD, Rook, Red-breasted Merganser*, Japanese Grosbeak, Black kite, Buzzard, Goshawk, Eurasian Spoonbill, Great White Egret, Dusky thrush, Pale thrush, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Meadow bunting, Yellow-throated bunting and Redflanked Bluetail.