Aomori Holiday - Natsudomari Peninsular

Location: Natsudomari Peninsula - from Aomori to Asadokoro Seashore

Access: Car; For direct access to the Asadokoro Seashore: Aomori to Kominato Station - Tohoku-honsen Line; Walk to coast (10 minutes)

Weather: Overcast, Cool, Light Breeze

Time: 1.00pm - 2.30pm

Birds: Whooper Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Teal, Spot-billed Duck, Northern Pintail, Tufted Duck, Red-breasted Merganser, Black Kite, Common Black-headed Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Common Gull, Herring Gull, Slaty-backed Gull

Comments: This list comprises of birds seen while driving around the Natsudomari Peninsula from Aomori to the Asadokoro Seashore in Hiranai. The winding road leads through small fishing villages hugging the water; the air thick with the smell of the last catch. Bordering the roadside - scallop nets, plastic and glass floats - forming high walls, many long abandoned and half hidden in long grass.

Offshore, male and female Red-breasted Merganser in groups of two's and three's are found at regular intervals - from just off the rocky beaches to the limits of the binoculars ability to accurately make an identification. Slaty-backed Gull in full adult plumage are the most common gull found on the rocky breakwaters, while at the Asadokoro Seashore we also find a Common Black-headed Gull, displaying the uneven colouring found between winter and summer plumages.

At the Asadokoro Seashore we also spot our first Common Gull (Mew Gull) for the year, and four remaining Whooper Swan being fed by a group of young children. From October the Asadokoro Seashore is famous for attracting large numbers of swans from northern Europe.

Links: BB Tohoku Archives - Links to video footage of the Asadokoro Seashore and Magitsutsumi; map - Natsudomari Peninsula

2006 Japan Bird Count: 86 Species