Birds of Kichijoji

[Ely Teehankee]

Kichijoji is a prefecture between Tateo's hometown of Saitama and Tokyo. We had a lot of fun taking pictures and looking for places to eat. We walked a lot but it was nice and cold at about 5ºC. At night it would be nearer 0ºC. The food is good especially if you like Ramen. There are so many kinds and cooked in different ways. Each restaurant has their own way of doing it. The exciting part in going to a new place is that you will get a lot of lifers as most of the birds that you will see are different from what we have back home.

Canon EOS 1DX, Canon EF 800mm f5.6L IS USM, Gitzo GT3530LS tripod, M-3.6 Mongoose Gimbal Action Head. Manual exposure in available light.


Jungle Crow (Corvus macrohynchos) 18-23 inches. A lifer for me. It seems to be bigger and fatter than our Large-billed Crow. Maybe the cold weather has something to do with it.
1/160 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker (Picoides kizuki) 5 1/2 inches. Another lifer. Similar to our Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker but since this is Japan, it is called the Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




Oriental Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) 12 1/2 inches. At first I thought it was a Spotted Dove but it is different. Another lifer for me.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




This one is so thirsty that he decided to have a drink. I was lucky to see him flying in and I was so happy to see him perch on the mangrove just above the water line. He must have drunk more than 10 times giving me the chance to catch him in action.
1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




White Wagtail (Montacilla albalugens) 7 1/2 inches. A common and easy to find bird in Japan.
1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




Great Tit (Parus minor) 6 inches. Another lifer for me for this skittish bird. Its behavior reminds me of our Elegant Tit.
1/1000 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




Japanese Green Woodpecker (Dicus awokera) 11 1/2 inches. This was the big bonus of the day as I have never seen a Japanese Green Woodpecker that not only eats worms and bugs from the rotten barks of a tree but also indulges on small fruits as can be seen on the next picture.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




1/200 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800




Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) 6 inches. I was wondering why a crowd was gathering looking out to the mangroves at the edge of the lagoon. It turned out to be a Common Kingfisher and from what I gather it goes there everyday feasting on the small fish.
1/500 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800

[Tateo Osawa]

Many nice photos, Ely. Specially I like the Kingfisher and the Woodpecker eating fruits. First time I see woodpecker eating fruit. We enjoy very much birding in Japan.

[Romy Ocon]

Lovely set Ely. Great detail on the crow, and nice timing on the drinking dove!

[Ely Teehankee]

Jan 23, 2015 14:09:28 GMT Tateo Osawa said:

Many nice photos, Ely. Specially I like the Kingfisher and the Woodpecker eating fruits. First time I see woodpecker eating fruit. We enjoy very much birding in Japan.

I agree with you Tateo as it is also my first time to see a Woodpecker eating the fruit. We both enjoyed birding and also the many good food & restaurants that we went to. But we certainly did a lot of walking which also happens here at times when looking for birds.

[Ely Teehankee]

Jan 24, 2015 2:24:01 GMT Romy Ocon said:

Lovely set Ely. Great detail on the crow, and nice timing on the drinking dove!

Thank you Romy for your comments, some of the pictures here, are more for documenting this wonderful birding experienced that we had in Japan.