I’ve found that Sengenyama Park is very good for birdwatching, and heard that Tama Reien (Tama Cemetery) was good as well. The cemetery is a vast park-like area with a great many trees and shrubs, with not too many people around. I intended to visit Tama Reien, when I discovered that it and Sengenyama Park were adjacent–I had been a stone’s throw away on a few occasions before. So I went to Sengenyama, and walked through into Tama Reien. Not a spectacular day for birdwatching, but I did get two new species and some good footage of some I’d seen before.

First, the Varied Tit. I’d seen this little guy once or twice before, always in the same area, and now I’ve got it figured out: there’s a little semi-shrine-like area, with a tiny stream coming out of a hillside, and the Tits all like to come there to bathe.

By staking out a seat just a few meters away and keeping still, I could wait and see the Varied Tit (and Great Tits) come and go, netting me a few nice photos of the Varied:

In the same area, I was able to catch the Chinese Bamboo Partridges again, probably the same pair as before. I got another few good photos:

This one has a 1000×700 version; click the photo to see it.

For a small film of these two birds and of some Grosbeaks (photos right after this), click on this thumbnail (AVI file, 9 MB, so you’ll need a fast connection–best results may be found by downloading the movie to disk and viewing it on a media player):

So on to the Grosbeaks. Japanese Grosbeaks (Ikaru • イカル), that is. When I ventured across the bridge from Sengenyama to Tama Reien, I ran into the same birders I encountered in my first visit to Sengenyama, including the guy with the camcorder with the zoom lens. He showed me the birds he got, including a shot of a dozen or so Japanese Grosbeaks. After I ventured into the cemetery, I ran into probably the very same flock–many dozens of the little buggers. The birds’ calls sounded almost like someone playing a percussion instrument, tapping on hard, thin, hollow bamboo stems. It’s hard to describe, and unfortunately I didn’t have time to get a recording–I was barely able to get off a few shots of these birds before someone came along with an energetic dog which chased them all off. But here are some of the better shots I did get:

You can see a small part of the flock here, and get an idea of their number. I realized after seeing these guys that this bird is one I often see used as a mascot or something in signs and illustrations. I’ll have to enquire more about that to someone soon.

Finally, I got a glimpse of a bird I’ve heard about quite a bit but never saw except once quickly flying by: the Azure-winged Magpie (Onaga • オナガ):

The Japanese name literally means “Long-tail,” which makes sense–when you see them in flight, the tails especially stand out, not just long and straight but slightly fanned out in the middle. Unfortunately, I had even less time with the Magpies than I had with the Grosbeaks; this time, a group of bicyclists rode through just seconds after the Magpies landed. So though I got two new species, they were both very brief encounters due to interference from passers-by. Ah, well. At least I know where to go again sometime soon for more good birding.