Day 1: Tokyo to Karuizawa

The tour starts with a 10:00am meeting at a Narita Tokyo airport Hotel, from where we travel to the Karuizawa area for a two night stay, and where we’ll begin our Japanese birding in earnest. Nestled on the slopes of the impressive Asamayama volcano, we’ll scour the snow-dusted forests for our first birds, including the remarkable Varied and cute Long-tailed Tits, Oriental Greenfinch and maybe our first endemics in the form of Japanese Green and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers. If we are lucky we might even see some transient species such as Long-tailed Rosefinch, Pale Thrush, or the striking Meadow Bunting. We spend two nights in Karuizawa.

 

Days 2: Karuizawa

The woodlands here support some superb birds, the finest ones being the endemic Copper Pheasant and immaculate Japanese Waxwing. As we search the quiet forest trails and streams looking for these we hope to encounter the mighty Crested Kingfisher, Brown Dipper, Japanese Wagtail, Japanese Grosbeak, and Hawfinch.

 

Day 3: Karuizawa to Nagano

We head to the amazing Snow Monkeys first thing this morning, where we enjoy them in the steam baths with icicles forming on their snow-matted fur. Then we head to Komatsu for a two-night stay.

 

Day 4: Western Honshu Wetlands

Honshu’s western coastline is a waterfowl paradise and we seek out some great rarities here amongst a swathe of common waterfowl. Katano Kamoike is a small sanctuary that holds Baikal Teal, Bewick’s Swan and both Taiga and Tundra Bean Geese. We may also see Falcated Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose and others today.

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Day 5: Honshu to Hokkaido

On this day we fly via Tokyo to the island of Hokkaido, Japan’s Alaska, where we spend the next five days. Huge tracts of taiga-like mountainous wilderness, covered in snow and ice fields make this the most visually stunning part of Japan. While bird species diversity is low in this barren icy seascape, it supports some of the world’s must-see birds including the spectacular, gargantuan Steller’s Sea-Eagle. We spend two nights in Nemuro.

 

Day 6: Nemuro Peninsula

This area provides some of the most exciting and varied winter birding in Japan, with a good diversity of species. This morning we indulge in a pelagic trip off this finger of land where we hope to get great views of alcids like Least Auklet, Spectacled and Pigeon Guillemots and Ancient Murrelet. We’ll go as far as Cape Nosappu where the oceans are sometimes packed with sea ducks and gulls including Common Goldeneye and scoters, and cormorants. Red-throated Loon and Red-necked Grebe are also specialty species in this vicinity.

 

Day 7: Notsuke Peninsula to Rausu

Today we scour the coastline and capes looking for sea ducks and alcids, including Black and White-winged Scoters, Harlequin Duck and Long-tailed Duck, and hopefully some rarer species like Spectacled Guillemot, Ancient Murrelet or Crested Auklet. The day should also yield an amazing gull-fest including the likes of Glaucous and Glaucous-winged gulls. We finish off the day in a forested valley where we will wait eagerly near a fishpond for one of the ultimate birds of the tour – the massive Blakiston’s Fish-Owl. We spend two nights in Rausu.

 

Day 8: Rausu sea trip

Today’s boat trip is phenomenal. We head out between the ice rafts into a massive ice-sea. While gulls abound, we’ll mostly be on the lookout for eagles. We’ll notice the size difference between the already impressive White-tailed and simply gigantic Steller’s Sea-Eagles. These chocolate-and-white leviathans are crowded on the ice at times, and when our boatman starts throwing out fish scraps, they wheel in and gorge themselves within a few meters of the boat, offering unbelievable photographic opportunities. This evening we will try again for the temperamental Blakiston’s Fish-Owl if last night’s vigil proved luckless.

 

Day 9: Rausu to Akan

We will leave the Rausu area, and if we have time, we may stop in at Kiritappu, a great site for seawatching and Asian Rosy Finch, before arriving at Akan for the night. In the afternoon we will visit the Akan Crane Centre which is in easy walking distance of our lodge. We will have chances to photograph dozens of Red-crowned Cranes gather in the white powder snow to dance and bugle in an unforgettable nuptial display. We will overnight in Akan.

 

Day 10: Akan to Izumi

We’ll fly back to Tokyo (Haneda) and then on to Kagoshima on the southern island of Kyushu, which is bordering on subtropical. We head to the town of Izumi, home to the most impressive gathering of cranes in the world, for a two night stay.

 

Day 11: Izumi

This morning we will be blown away by one of the most awesome birding spectacles on Earth; a gathering of more than 10,000 cranes. The cacophony of bugling crane calls will be heard seemingly right outside our rooms, in darkness before we have even left our beds. Regal White-naped Cranes join the more abundant Hooded Cranes, and by scouring these flocks of extremely elegant birds we may pick out a few Common or Sandhill cranes, or if we are really lucky a vagrant Demoiselle or ghostly Siberian Crane. After this overwhelming experience we’ll tap into a variety of other habitats in the region. The coast may yield Temminck’s Cormorant and the scarce Saunder’s Gull. Fields and meadows should reveal buntings and pipits, and perhaps the verdant Green Pheasant. Rivers will be scoured for one of the world’s toughest shorebirds, Long-billed Plover, while Japanese Bush-warblers skulk in the riparian thickets.

 

Day 12: Izumi to Mi-ike

After a final morning at Izumi, we will head to Mi-ike where we will overnight. On clear days we’ll see the impressive volcanic cone looming large in the background, while birds such as Ryuku Minivet, White-bellied Green Pigeon, Mountain Hawk-Eagle, Gray Bunting, White-backed Woodpecker and Japanese Grosbeak may thrill us in the foreground. We’ll also visit a lake where we search for some rare waterbirds, chiefly the incredible Mandarin Duck amongst the many common ducks. We will overnight in Kirishima.

 

Day 13: Mi-ike to Kadogawa

We will take a boat trip out to Kadogawa Harbor to search for Japanese Murrelet. While out there, we may also encounter Vega, Black-tailed, and Slaty-backed Gulls, Great Crested Grebe, or Pacific Reef Heron. In the afternoon we will explore the Miyazaki coastline and check an estuary for the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill. We will overnight in Sadowara.

 

Day 14: Kyushu to Tokyo

After some final birding in the area, the main tour finishes today with a flight back to Tokyo. If you are not joining the extension, you may connect with international flights home. Those staying for the extension will head for the ferry terminal.