Beginners Guide for Birds of Japan Rivers and Seas

Beginners Guide for
Birds of Japan
Rivers and Seas


Photos and Text by
Beethoven Asami

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In this e-book, I included all 151 bird species of rivers and seas that are included in the Handy Guidebook for Waterside Birds published by Wild Bird Society of Japan.

I’m working on an advanced version right now and it should be available sometime 2016. It will cover most of the birds you’ll see in Japan.

For each species the following information are provided:

English, scientific, and Japanese names, length, wingspan, weight, status, habit, voice, identification, behavior, name, and others

How to Observe Birds:

To observe wild birds without scaring them, I recommend the following items:

Costume: In green or camouflaged, avoid red, yellow and shining fabric
Shoes: Mountain boots or rubber boots that were well broken in
Hat: With wide brim and chinstrap
Binoculars: 7 to 9 time magnification with a water proof function
and object lens diameter from 30mm to 42mm. Object lens diameter
from 20 to 25mm will tire your eyes in a short time. I recommend
the following models: 7x35, 8x30, 8x42, 9x35, and 9x42
Spotting Scope: Not mandatory but nice to have if you want to see
birds with big magnifications from 30 to 60 times

How to Take Bird Pictures
In addition to the above, the following are needed:

Telephoto lens with focal length of 400 to 600 mm with vibration
resistance function
Digital Camera with about 20 million pixels
Folding Chair: Sitting position is better than standing not to scare
birds
Camouflaged Blind or Sheet

How to take good pictures
Birds at rest
ISO 400-800
Shutter Speed of 500th of a second
Aperture 5.6-8.0 for a single bird, F11 or more for a flock
Enable an image stabilizer or vibration reduction feature

In flight
ISO1600-3200
Shutter speed of 4,000th of a second for a small bird, 1,000th for a big bird,
Aperture F8 or more
Disable an image stabilizer or vibration reduction feature

Taking Field Notes
I strongly recommend taking field notes by using binoculars or spotting scope. Good field’s notes should cover the following items: Feeding methods, walking or hopping, direct or indirect head scratching, calls and songs, living alone or in a large group or making a mixed flock with other species. The most important thing in taking notes is writing down only in the field. You should not wait taking notes until you go back to your hotel or your home. If you do that, you tend to make mistakes by trying to remember what you have not actually memorized or what had actually happened.
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Birds Index

American Wigeon, Ancient Murrelet, Baikal Teal, Bar-tailed Godwit,
Bean Goose, Black-crowned Night Heron, Black-faced Spoonbill, Black-headed Gull, Black-naped Tern, Black-necked Grebe, Black Scoter, Black-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Gull, Black-throated Loon,
Black-winged Stilt, Blue Rock Thrush, Brent Goose, Buff-bellied Pipit, Cattle Egret, Chinese Hwamei, Cinnamon Bittern, Common Greenshank, Common Goldeneye, Common Merganser, Common Moorhen,
Common Murre, Common Pochard, Common Redshank,
Common Reed Bunting, Common Sandpiper, Common Shelduck,
Common Snipe, Common Tern, Cackling Goose, Crested Ibis, Crested Myna, Domestic Duck, Domestic Goose, Dunlin, Eurasian Coot, Eurasian Curlew, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Spoonbill, Eurasian Teal,
Eurasian Wigeon, Falcated Duck, Far Eastern Curlew, Gadwall, Garganey, Glaucous Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Goosander, Great Cormorant,
Great Egret, Great Knot, Greater Painted Snipe, Greater Scaup,
Greater White-fronted Goose, Green Sandpiper, Grey-headed Lapwing,
Grey Heron, Greylag Goose, Grey Plover, Grey-tailed Tattler,
Harlequin Duck, Hen Harrier, Herring Gull, Hooded Crane, Horned Grebe,
Indian Rose-necked Parakeet, Intermediate Egret, Japanese Cormorant, Japanese Crane, Japanese Crested Ibis, Japanese Marsh Warbler,
Japanese Murrelet, Japanese Reed Bunting, Kentish Plover, Kittiwake