Fog, birds, whales and fog...oh, and Albatross

I spent 5 fabulous days aboard a ferry which runs from Nagoya to Tomokomai in Hokkaido for a spot of R&R and what I hoped would be world-class seawatching. I was not to be disappointed. Neil and I set off on Friday night from Nagoya with 36 hours and 1000km of the Pacific ahead of us. We couldn't wait. A bath, a bite to eat and a beer set us up for a good night's sleep. It was weird going into the public bath on the boat, sitting in the bath with the water sloshing around was a strange feeling but funny all the same. We arose at 4am and were out on deck for 4.30, just before the sun rose. The 3 mornings we had on board were foggy and foggy. It was so thick we couldn't see past our noses. That was boring, frustrating but exhilarating all the same. The joys of seawatching, as a wise man once said to me. When the fog cleared we were sometimes greeted by thousands of birds or none at all. It was an up and down, if you pardon the pun, kind of trip. We stopped off in Sendai (see above) on the Saturday evening and headed back out again en route for Tomokomai, on the south coast of Hokkaido. Black-tailed gulls greeted us in Sendai, taking bread directly from my hands as I stood on deck, waiting for the boat to leave again, allowing us to see Sendai through the eye of a gull (see below).

The Sunday morning found us staring into fog but when the fog cleared, it was like entering nirvana. The first bird of the day was an Arctic Skua, follwed quickly by hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters. Then, as I was checking the port side, I heard "...ross" being shouted by Neil from the starboard side. I ran around to see him frantically pointing and shouting the word I dreamed of hearing..."Albatross!!!!". I couldn't believe it. I saw this majestic bird, with an 8 foot wingspan, effortlessly glide over the waves, banking with the skill of a bird with one with the ocean. What was more amazing was that this was just not an ordinary albatross (not that there is one), it was a Short-tailed Albatross. A lifer for both Neil and I and one of the rarest Albatross's in the world. There are only 2000 of these magnificent birds in the world. Amazing. Then, as we were celebrating and recounting the bird, I spotted a pair of Black-footed Albatross off the stern!! Incredible, 2 species of Albatross. I couldn't believe it. The day only got better with South Polar Skua, Flesh-footed and Short-tailed Shearwaters, Maderian Petrel, probably Swinhoe's Petrel, probably Ancient Murrelet and 20-30 more Black-footed Albatross. An amazing 4 hours before we landed in Tomokomai. The remainder of the day was filled by a walk in a forest and the purchasing of food-stuffs for the return leg. So, after 7 hours ashore, we boarded the boat again and headed back for the 36 hours and 1000km of the Pacific.
Monday was a write off with no birds and thick fog but it was relaxing and quite boring. Although we were tired from getting up at 4am every morning, the sea air was fantastic and the mood was good. Monday evening's sunset (above) was made all the better with sightings of many cetaceans, most notably an acrobatic Baird's Beaked Whale which performed two quite magnificant leaps clean of the water and twisting in mid-air. It was a fitting end to a quite uneventful day, the performing whale obliterating all memories of the birdless day. The follwing morning we were greeted with a magnificent sunrise, with Mount Fuji in the background (below), making it a surreal moment. I was suddenly reminded I was in Japan, and not on a ferry off the south coast of Ireland. It was beautiful. The morning, we were happy to be on deck at 4am to be greeted by no fog and hundreds and thousands of Streaked Shearwaters. The final journey into Nagoya harbour was quite good, with the Shearwaters and Red-necked Phalaropes in their thousands, a surprise flock of Grey Phalarope, and scattered pods of Finless Porpoise with young, swimming quickly away from the boat as we cruised into the harbour. About a thousand Little Terns had Common Terns (black bills) mixed in with them greeted us as we were pulling into port. All in all a fantastic trip, great to be out of the sweatshop and to breath clean air. I miss the sea, the smell and the movement. It was good to be there again. Great to be out of the city.


Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been feasting on the sight of an Albatross

Carmo's Birds: SOUTH POLAR SKUA; Long-tailed Skua; Pomarine Skua; Arctic Skua; Common Tern; SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS; BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS; MADERIAN PETREL; FLESH-FOOTED SHEAWATER; SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER; Red-necked Phalarope; Streaked Shearwater...Japan List: 273 species (the same as my Irish List!!!)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Anybody...