Mizumoto Park — Nature Blog

Some time ago I spent a few days in Mizumoto Park. Even though my aim was to capture some passerines, I did photograph some of the water fowl in and around the big pond. I find it interesting how different species make one big flock. This time a flock of Eurasian wigeons drew my attention. It is not uncommon to find American wigeons in the flock as well as crossbreds of the two species. This time was not an exception. While watching the wigeons feeding ashore I found a beautiful duck that I couldn’t immediately name. Browsing my bird guide, I learned it was a female Baikal teal, which is somewhat rare visitor in Tokyo.

Also, there were a few great crested grebes among the flock of wigeons. I spotted three, but there could have been more. It seemed that while resting, which was most of the time, they enjoyed the safety of the flock. Only while diving for food they took distance of the flock and went their own ways.

I heard from other photographers that among common teals there was also one North American green-winged teal. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a decent capture of it, but I spent some time watching and photographing the beautifully colored feathers of teals.

Other than ducks, I saw egrets and herons, Eurasian Coots, common moorhens, kingfishers, long-tailed rosefinches to name a few.

最近何回か水元公園に行ってきました。目的は小鳥でしたが、大きな池の水鳥も少し観察し、撮っていました。特にヒドリガモとその群れと混じった鳥を観察していました。ヒドリガモの群れの中、アメリカヒドリガモとその二種の交雑種が混じっていました。陸に上がったら、綺麗なトモエガモ１羽もいるのに気づきました。

カンムリカイツブリも寝ている時ヒドリガモと一緒でしたが、餌を探し潜る時だけ群れと離れて行動していました。

他のフォトグラファーからアメリカコガモの情報も聞き、撮りに行きましたが、満足した写真を撮れていません。しかし、コガモのカラフルで綺麗な姿を見るだけで、嬉しかったです。

カモ類の他にはサギ類、バン、オオバン、カワセミやベニマシコなどを確認出来ました。

Crossbreed of Eurasian Wigeon and American wigeon ヒドリガモとアメリカヒドリガモの交雑種

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。