Lake Utonai with HIOC

This past sunday we went to the Lake Utonai sanctuary.  It is a sanctuary set by the Wild Bird Society of Japan.  Lake Utonai has a number of birds who live there year round.  There are also a large number of migratory birds that use the lake as a stopover point.  The trip was organized through the Hokkaido International Outdoor Club.  We hired one of the rangers for a guided tour.  Our guide was an expert in the local birds.  She could spot the birds and identify them easily.  I was really impressed watching her set up the spotting scope to view the birds.  I couldn't see the bird with my naked eye, but she could find it and center it in the spotting scope.  We had help from a number of the members of our group who had the translation skills and an English language bird guide book to explain what we were seeing in English.

I like this photo of the group gathered around the guide in the forest of green.

I got this photo of the Kite chick in a nest by the trail.  It was tricky to get a clear shot of him on the nest.  The tree foliage kept getting in the way.  The guide said that he will learn to fly in a week or two.  We were lucky to see him before he left the nest.

These photos are of an adult Black Eared Kite Milvus migrans.  It may have been one of the Kite chick's parents.

The lake has lots of waterfowl that use it as a resting place during their migration.  This is a Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius.  If you click on the image you can see a larger version of the image.

Here is our guide (with the tripod and spotting scope) pointing out some of the flora and fauna.

This bird was hard to identify.  It was also hard to photograph because it liked to hide in the grass or the bushes.  I think it may be a Siberian Rubythroat Luscinia calliope.

I am not sure as to the identity of these two birds.  If you can identify them please let me know!

Here is Haidee in full birdwatching gear.  There were several blinds set up with views over the lake and meadows.  We would open up the viewing windows and peer out like we were on safari.

I enjoyed this image of the photographers watching the birdwatchers watching the birds.

Our guide took this group photo.  In this group photo from left to right: Kyle, Dave, Barbara, Haidee, Gavin, Yusuke (sp?), Bre, Linnea, Margo, Robert, Leon, and in the bottom right corner, Rick.  Thanks to Leon for organizing this great trip!

That's all for now,

-Kyle (and Bre)