カテゴリー: Ferry Trip

Aomori—Hokkaido

7-8 March 2020, Aomori—Hokkaido.

We onboarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.). 

Bird List

  • Bean Goose 2
  • Greater White-fronted Goose 80
  • Brant Goose 2
  • Whooper Swan 30
  • Eurasian Wigeon
  • Northern Pintail 40
  • Eurasian Teal 20
  • Harlequin Duck
  • Siberian Scoter
  • Black Scoter
  • Red-breasted Merganser 6
  • Red-necked Grebe
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Red-throated Loon 2
  • Arctic Loon 3
  • Pacific Loon 2
  • Laysan Albatross 25
  • Short-tailed Albatross 1
  • Northern Fulmar 5
  • Pelagic Cormorant
  • Japanese Cormorant
  • Black-legged Kittiwake
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Kamchatka Gull
  • Glaucous-winged Gull
  • Glaucous Gull
  • Slaty-backed Gull
  • Thick-billed Murre 182
  • Ancient Murrelet 141
  • Parakeet Auklet 14
  • Least Auklet 81
  • Crested Auklet 108
  • Rhinoceros Auklet 64
  • White-tailed Sea-eagle
Laysan Albatross
Crested Auklet

Aomori — Hokkaido

Nov. 9, 2019 Hokkaido to Aomori.

We on boarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

Bird List

  • Bean Goose 14
  • Greater Scaup
  • Red-breasted Merganser 2
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Mallard? 7
  • Northern Pin-ail? 2
  • Swan sp. 5
  • Red-throated Loon 2
  • Loon sp. 4
  • Short-tailed Albatross 2
  • Northern Fulmar 66
  • Streaked Shearwater
  • Sooty Shearwater
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 8
  • Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel 3
  • Great Cormorant 23
  • Black-legged Kittiwake
  • Black-headed Gull
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Mew Gull
  • Slaty-backed Gull
  • Pomarine Skua 5
  • Ancient Murrelet 9
  • Rhinoceros Auklet 14
  • Brambling 1
Short-tailed Albatross
Northern Fulmar
Pomarine Skua

Aomori—Hokkaido

Oct 19, 2019 Aomori—Hokkaido

We onboarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

Birds list

  • Eurasian Wigeon : 2
  • Mallard : 1
  • Greater Scaup : X
  • Pomarine Jaeger : 28
  • jaeger sp. : 1
  • Black-tailed : X
  • Mew Gull : X
  • Slaty-backed Gull : X
  • Glaucous-winged Gull : X
  • Laysan Albatross : 2
  • Black-footed Albatross : 2
  • Leach’s Storm-Petrel : 1
  • Northern Fulmar : 34
  • Providence Petrel : 200
  • Streaked Shearwater : X
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater : 2
  • Sooty Shearwater : 218
  • Short-tailed Shearwater : 20
eBird Checklist – 19 Oct 2019

Aomori—Hokkaido

Sep. 22-23, 2019 Aomori-Hokkaido

We on boarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

Bird list

  • Green-winged Teal 6
  • duck sp. 21
  • Snipe sp. 8
  • Pomarine Jaeger  10
  • Japanese Murrelet  2
  • murrelet sp.  9
  • Black-headed Gull  X
  • Black-tailed Gull  X
  • Slaty-backed Gull  X
  • Tern sp. (It would be Common Tern.) 2
  • Laysan Albatross 5
  • Black-footed Albatross 1
  • Leach’s Storm-Petrel 2
  • storm-petrel sp. (white-rumped, Leach’s or Band-rumped Storm-Petrel.) 2
  • Northern Fulmar 1
  • Providence Petrel 340
  • Streaked Shearwater 100-1000
  • Sooty Shearwater 6
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 1
  • Great Cormorant X
  • Japanese Cormorant X
  • Peregrine Falcon 1
eBird Checklist – 22 Sep. 2019
eBird Checklist – 22 Sep. 2019

Aomori—Hokkaido

Aug 23-24, 2019 Aomori—Hokkaido

We onboarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

DAY 1 :We departed Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 8:45 am and arrived at Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 16:00 pm.
Weather : cloudy 
Temperature : around 25℃
Wind speed : around 5~8 m/s

DAY 2 :We departed Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 9:30 am and arrived at Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 18:00 pm.
Weather : sunny partly cloudy
Temperature : around 25℃
Wind speed : around 3~5 m/s
There were various species, we were happy!

Bird List

  • Black-footed Albatross 25
  • Laysan Albatross 18
  • Northern Fulmar 6
  • Solander’s Petrel 51
  • Streaked Shearwater ~1000
  • Sooty Shearwater 115
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 4
  • Japanese (Bund-rumped) Storm Petrel 1
  • Leach’s Storm Petrel 14
  • Fork-tailed Storm Petrel 2
  • Storm Petrel sp. 2
  • Great Cormorant
  • Japanese Cormorant
  • Whimbrel 150
  • Grey-tailed Tattler 3
  • Red-necked Phalarope 12 
  • Red Phalarope 1
  • Phalarope sp. 26
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Slaty-backed Gull
  • Aleutian Tern 3
  • Common Tern 5
  • Tern sp. 20
  • Pomarine Jaeger 8 
  • Arctic Jaeger 3
  • Long-tailed Jaeger 2
  • Jaeger sp. 1 
  • Japanese Murrelet 4
Black-footed Albatross
Laysan Albatross (juv.)
Japanese (Band-rumped) Storm Petrel
Leach’s Storm Petrel
Aleutian Tern
Pomarine Jaeger
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger

Aomori—Hokkaido

Aug 11-12, 2019 Aomori—Hokkaido

We onboarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

DAY 1 :We departed Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 8:45 am and arrived at Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 16:00 pm.
Weather : cloudy 
Temperature : around 18℃
Wind speed : around 3~8 m/s

DAY 2 :We departed Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 9:30 am and arrived at Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 18:00 pm.
Weather : cloudy 
Temperature : around 23℃
Wind speed : around 5~8 m/s
Migratory season is started.

Bird List

  • Black-footed Albatross 3
  • Northern Fulmar 6
  • Streaked Shearwater ~1000
  • Sooty Shearwater 29
  • Short-tailed Shearwater 11
  • Flesh-footed Shearwater 2
  • Great Cormorant
  • Japanese Cormorant
  • Whimbrel 1
  • Red-necked Phalarope 204
  • Phalarope sp. 7
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Slaty-backed Gull
  • Aleutian Tern 2
  • Pomarine Jaeger 1
  • Arctic Jaeger 1
  • Long-tailed Jaeger 1
  • Jaeger sp. 1
  • Japanese Murrelet 6
  • Rhinoceros Auklet 5
  • Tufted Puffin 2
  • Auk sp. 1

Others…

  • Sunfish sp. 1
Aleutian Tern (juv.)
Aleutian Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
Long-tailed Jaeger
Tufted Puffin

Aomori—Hokkaido

Oct 20-21, 2018 Aomori—Hokkaido

We onboarded the Silver Ferry (Kawasaki Kinkai Kisen Kaisya,LTD.).

DAY 1 :We departed Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 8:45 am and arrived at Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 16:00 pm.
Weather : cloudy with occasional rainy and snowy
Temperature : around 10~15℃
Wind speed : around 1~4 m/s

DAY 2 :We departed Hokkaido (Tomakomai port) at 9:30 am and arrived at Aomori (Hachinohe port) at 18:00 pm.
Weather : cloudy and then snowy
Temperature : around 8~15℃
Wind speed : around 1~5 m/s

We had calm voyages.Solander’s Petrels are in the middle of a trip to their breeding grounds.

Bird List

  • Whooper Swan
  • Swan sp.
  • Northern Shoveler
  • Greater Scaup?
  • Black Scoter
  • White-winged Scoter
  • Red-breasted Merganser
  • Great Crested Grebe
  • Oriental Turtle Dove
  • Black-throated Loon
  • Pacific Loon
  • Loon sp. 
  • Black-footed Albatross
  • Laysan Albatross 
  • Northern Fulmar 
  • Solander’s Petrel
  • Streaked Shearwater
  • Pelagic Cormorant
  • Great Cormorant
  • Japanese Cormorant
  • Black-legged Kittiwake
  • Black-headed Gull
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Mew Gull
  • Slaty-backed Gull
  • Pomarine Skua 
  • Japanese Murrelet
  • Rhinoceros Auklet
  • Peregrine Falcon
  • Eurasian Skylark
  • Buff-bellied Pipit?
  • Eurasian Siskin

Others

  • Short-finned Pilot Whale
  • Dall’s Porpoise

Tokyo—Ogasawara Is.

Sep. 14-19 2018, Tokyo – Chichi-jima – Haha-jima (Ogasawara Is.).

We on boarded the Ogasawara-Maru (OgasawaraKaiun Co.).

Tokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 11:00 am Sep. 14 → Chichi-jima (Ogasawara Is.) at 11:00 am Sep. 15
Chichi-jima (Ogasawara Is.) at 12:00 am Sep. 15 → Haha-jima (Ogasawara Is.) at 14:00 am Sep. 15
Sep. 15-18 : Stayed in Haha-jima
Haha-jima at 12:00 am Sep. 18　→ Chichi-jima at 14:00 pm Sep. 18
Chichi-jima at 15:30 pm Sep. 18 →　Tokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 15:30 pm Sep. 19

Weather : cloudy-sunny
Temperature : around 30 ℃
Wind speed : 3-10m/s (at sea)
Wave height : ＜2.5m

Generally, it was a very calm voyage. At off Hachijo-jima (the first day), there were strong wind and swell. The significant result was that Stejneger’s Petrel, White-necked Petrel and Bryan’s Shearwater! A White-necked Petrel looked like a Vanuatu type.

Bird list

  • Bulwer’s Petrel 201+
  • Stejneger’s Petrel 1
  • Bonin Petrel 13
  • Providence Petrel 17 
  • White-necked Petrel 1
  • Streaked Shearwater <10000
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater <1000
  • Bryan’s Shearwater 1 
  • Bannerman’s Shearwater 4
  • Leach’s Storm Petrel 1 
  • Swinhoe’s Storm Petrel ? 2
  • Long-tailed Jaeger 1
  • Skua sp. 3
  • Brown Booby 
  • Red-footed Booby 4
  • Sooty Tern 9
  • Common Tern 100+
  • Brown Noddy 143+
  • Red-necked Phalarope 31
  • Phalarope sp. 44+
  • Pacific Golden Plover
  • Ruddy Turnstone
  • Buff-breasted Sandpiper (A surprising bonus)
  • Ruff
  • Common Sandpiper
  • Japanese woodpigeon
  • Grey Heron
  • Eastern Buzzard
  • Brown-eared Bulbul
  • Blue Rock Thrush
  • Japanese Bush Warbler
  • Japanese White-eye
  • Bonin Honeyeater
  • Oriental Greenfinch

Others…

  • Common Bottlenose Dolphin
  • Pygmy Sperm Shale

Tokyo—Ogasawara Is.

July 27-29 2018, Tokyo – Chichi-jima (Ogasawara Islands)

We on boarded the Ogasawara-Maru (OgasawaraKaiun Co.).

We departed fromTokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 11:00 am July 27. And arrived at Chichi-jima (Ogasawara Islands) at 12:30 am July 28. (arrived one and a half-hours late because of bad sea condition).

We departed from Chichi-jima at 15:30 pm July 28. And arrived at Tokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 15:30 pm July 29. 
Weather : cloudy-sunny
Temperature : around 32 ℃
Wind speed : >15 m/s
Wave height : 2-4m

Typhoon No.12 had appeared in the south of Japan.
We expected that coming rare seabirds by the typhoon.
The significant result was that Black-winged, Kermadec, White-necked Petrel and White Tern !
And fortunately, we could observe a Swhinoe’s Storm Petrel at close by our ship!!

Bird list

  • Black-footed Albatross 1
  • Laysan Albatross 3
  • Bulwer’s Petrel 385+
  • Black-winged Petrel 1
  • Bonin Petrel 168+
  • Kermadec Petrel 2
  • Providence Petrel 2
  • White-necked Petrel 6
  • Streaked Shearwater <10000
  • Wedge-tailed Shearwater <1000
  • Bannerman’s Shearwater 3
  • Bryan’s Shearwater 1 (I couldn’t see… 🙁
  • Wilson’s Storm Petrel 2
  • Swhinoe’s Storm Petrel 1
  • Storm Petrel sp. 5
  • Long-tailed Jaeger 1
  • Skua sp. 1
  • Brown Booby 70+
  • Red-footed Booby 5
  • Crested Tern 1
  • Sooty Tern 17
  • Common Tern 3
  • Brown Noddy 20+
  • White Tern 5
  • Pacific Golden Plover
  • Snipe sp.
  • Brown-eared Bulbul
  • Japanese Bush Warbler
  • Japanese White-eye

Tokyo—Izu Is.

Apr. 8, 2018 Tokyo—Hachijo-jima (Izu Is)

We on boarded the Tachibana-Maru (Tokai Kisen Co.).
The outward journey:Apr. 7-8
We departed fromTokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 22:30 pm and arrived at Hachijo-jima at 9:00 am (Next day)
(arrived ten minutes late because of bad sea condition).

The homeward journey:Apr. 8
We departed from Hachijo-jima at 9:20 am (Early departure because of bad sea condition) and arrived at Tokyo (Takeshiba Terminal) at 20:00 pm (arrived ten minutes late because of bat sea condition).
Weather : cloudy-sunny
Temperature : around 12 ℃
Wind speed : >15 m/s
Wave height : 2-4m

It is the best season for observing Short-tailed Albatrosses (mainly adult birds) and flocks of Tristram’s Storm-petrels.In this trip, we could see several target birds from Miyake-jima to entrance of Tokyo Bay! Adult Short-tailed Albatrosses are so beautiful.Flying Tristram’s Storm-Petrels througth the waves are cool! (but too far to take a photo…) 
I’d like to recommend this ferry trip to you.

Bird list

  • Black-footed Albatross 13
  • Laysan Albatross 1
  • Short-tailed Albatross 8
  • Streaked Shearwater ++
  • Blackish Shearwater sp. (Sooty or Short-tail?) 2?
  • Tristram’s Storm-petrel 5
  • Storm-petrel sp. 1
  • Japanese Cormorant
  • Grey Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Phalarope sp. 2
  • Black-tailed Gull
  • Long-tailed Jaeger 2
  • Skua sp. 1
  • Japanese Murrelet 11
  • Murrelet sp.
  • Blue Rock Thrush
  • Eurasian Tree Sparrow