This will be the first of at least three posts on my birdwatching over the past few weeks. I found a great new spot for birdwatching in Tokyo: Kasai Rinkai Park, just west of Tokyo Disneyland. It’s on the JR Keiyo Line, Kasai Rinkai Koen Station. I went there two weeks ago, and never got around to posting about it. Today, I went to both Kasai Rinkai Park and the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park. But Kasai Rinkai is going on my list of must-see birding spots in Tokyo, equal to and perhaps even surpassing the Wild Bird Park.

The east side of the park is more or less dedicated to a bird sanctuary with probably a dozen well-placed blinds. I went there at the end of July, and despite the late hour (past 5 pm) I saw dozens of Egrets (Great and Little), two and perhaps three types of Sandpipers, a Black-crowned Night Heron (adult and immature, radically different in coloring), Cormorants, Grebes, and some other species. In winter, it’s supposed to be knee-deep in ducks.

I don’t know how this park stayed off my radar for so long–it’s just as good (if not better in a few ways) than the Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park, but it’s also free. The only problem for me is that it’s a bit of a distance away–but that’s worth it, once in a while.

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For this post, I’ll describe mostly the new birds I found at Kasai Rinkai today.

We’re having a break between storms right now, and so last night I decided to get to sleep early; if I could manage that, an early start would be great for birdwatching. I was able to wake up at about 5 am, and was out and on my way by 6 am (those who know me will understand what a feat that is). I stopped by the Tama River on my way, and from what I saw, I think I’ll wake up really early again soon–lots of birds out on the river at that time. There were assorted Egrets, of course, but also a Grey Heron and–most surprising because I’ve never seen one around here–a Kingfisher. Unfortunately, Kingfishers in Tokyo seem to be incredibly skittish, and I was unable to get a clear shot of the bird.

I then went on to Kasai Rinkai Park, and in addition to many familiar species (Cormorants, Egrets, Herons, Grebes, Sandpipers, Plovers, Magpies, Bulbuls, Sparrows, Crows, and Starlings), I also got no fewer than five new life birds. There were the usual herons and egrets, but I immediately spotted a Black-winged Stilt and a Grey-tailed Tattler; I later spotted (with help) a Common Greenshank and a Common Redshank. I hate it when birds have the word “Common” in their names–it takes all the fun out of seeing a new life bird. “Hey, look! A completely new bird! It’s, let’s see… oh. It’s a Common something-or-other. Nothing special. Dang.” The fifth was a surprise I uncovered only upon returning home and looking closely: a Eurasian Curlew.

As usual, some of these have large-sized versions (up to 1200 pixels wide) which can be viewed by clicking on the images here.

Here’s the Black-winged Stilt (Seitaka-shiki (literally, “tall sandpiper”) • セイタカシキ), a bird that’s pretty hard to miss:

The Grey-tailed Tattler is one of those many birds that you could easily mistake for a Common Sandpiper. THese birds make it hard to figure out which is which. But in this case, the yellow legs (thus, the Japanese name Kiashi • キアシシギ • or, yellow-legged sandpiper) make it easier to identify:

Then the Greenshank (Ao-ashi-shigi (literally, green-legged sandpiper) • アオアシシギ), easier to spot with its plumage and leg color:

Note that this bird has caught a little fish. I got a video of this, and will try to upload it soon.

And the Redshank (Aka-ashi-shigi (literally, red-legged sandpiper) • アカアシシギ) with its quite noticeable leg color:

Here you can best see the red color at the base of its bill:

And finally, the Eurasian Curlew (Dai-shaku-shiki • ダイシャクシギ)–which unfortunately, I only got in silhouette; it must have flown off after I got this photo. It’s certainly a Curlew because of the beak; but from the size and shape of the bill, it is almost certainly the Eurasian Curlew.

That’s all for today–five new life birds ain’t bad. Next, I’ll have some more familiar birds from Kasai Rinkai Park, both from today and from two weeks ago, and I’ll see if I can fit all the birds I got today at the Wild Bird Park in a third post.