コサメビタキ — Nature Blog

Instead of my usual parks in central Tokyo, in recent days I have taken the train to Mizumoto Park in Northern part of Tokyo in search for different bird species.

I came across with some new acquaintances such as Asian Brown Flycatcher, Winter Wren and Scaly Thrush as well as many species commonly found in central Tokyo, too; the Daurian Redstart, Red-flanked bluetail, Hawfinch and Bull-headed Shrike to name a few. I also found many ducks and other water fowl, which I intend to share later.

Local photographers feed some of the birds so they are rather used to photographers and are easily approachable. Otherwise, especially the winter wren, one of the smallest birds in Japan, would be very difficult to find and capture in the dense underbrushes if you don’t visit the park frequently enough to learn their usual routes.

I was very surprised to find Asian Brown Flycatcher as it usually migrates to warmer climates for winter. For some reason, it has decided to stay and I am hoping the weather doesn’t get too cold for many consecutive days so that it can survive the Tokyo winter.

Another happy encounter was the Dusky Thrush. For some reason they have been very few in numbers this year, so I was happy find one trying to camouflage among the grasses and fallen leaves.

最近はいつもの東京中心部の公園と違ってちょっと遠くの水元公園に野鳥を探しに行っています。自分はあまり縁がなかったトラツグミ、コサメビタキ（東京越冬中）、ミソサザイの他、馴染みのジョウビタキ、ルリビタキ、シメ、モズなどに出逢いました。カモ類や他の水鳥ももちろん沢山いました。今年数が少ないと感じているツグミも枯れ草や枯葉の中に隠れようとしていました。