Japan Trip Part 1: Tokyo Disneyland and Kasai Rinkai Kōen

Mukudori (White-cheeked Starling), Tokyo Disneyland

A New Year's trip with the family to Japan. Not birding-intensive, though Dad was let off leash to spend an hour here and there when appropriate. The trip started at Disneyland. As in Florida, there is no lack of bird visitors to the park.

Hoshihajiro (Common Pochard), Tokyo DisneySea

I was delighted to discover, for example, a flock of common pochard resting at a Tokyo DisneySea lagoon.

Bird Sanctuary--Keep Out! signage protecting Kasai Rinkai Kōen mudflats, seen from Disney hotel window

But the real bird action was next door, at Kasai Rinkai Kōen, where I spent a delightful December afternoon. The park features a ferris wheel, an aquarium, a large cook-out spot and two prime birding areas. The first is a small island and mudflat (seen above), a refuge for waders and seabirds. Dominating the surrounding waters (but not photographed--my good camera broke) was a raft of thousands of greater scaup plus hundreds of crested and eared grebes. An osprey and a common buzzard were active on the island.

Bird Park entrance sign

The second area is a deliberately designed and constructed bird sanctuary and observation area, including several blinds, a large educational center, and a lot of signage. 

Sanctuary map and guide. The building on the far right is the aquarium. The building in the middle is the educational center. The two ponds host ducks and waders in season. Visitors are advised to follow three rules: don't frighten, get too close, or hinder the movement of birds on the property.

The educational center was open (not a guarantee during the New Year's holiday). It featured photographs of local birds, exhibits about habitats and conservation, and, good for ID-leery me, a list of recent sightings. 

Sightings at the sanctuary ponds. I missed the kingfisher (カワセミ). Note that this refuge seems to get frequent spoonbill visits (but not this time of year).  

I was also struck by a display of stuffed birds that were literally stuffed toys, not taxidermy. 

Who wouldn't want a greater scaup or crested grebe stuffed toy?

If done well, this is a terrific alternative to creepy bird skins. For better or worse there was no gift shop. 

Blind building overlooking one of the ponds

The blinds are well-built and spacious. While there were plenty of bank-huddling ducks on the pond (including teal, shovelers, spot-billed ducks, long-tailed ducks, mallards, widgeon, etc.) there wasn't much blind action during my visit. 

Street light designed to look like a snag

I was particularly taken by certain details, such as street lights disguised as tree snags. Indeed, this park's proximity to Disney makes me think that this is not just a bird sanctuary, it is a kind of bird theme park. 

Hiyodori (Brown-eared Bulbul), Kasai Rinkai Kōen

I didn't see many small birds aside from sparrows, wagtails, and starlings. The dominant noise-maker at this property and, frankly, everywhere I went in Japan during this trip, was the brown-eared bulbul. When I last birded in Japan, June 2012, this seemingly abundant bird was actually one I missed. Not this trip. I got an intensive course in bulbul calls, whines, and shouts.