Post by Ely Teehankee on Jan 4, 2015 2:38:14 GMT
I was able to talked to Romy the other day and contrary to his plans of going back to birding and doing business on his own, he is back in Pangasinan. His good friend needs him to take care of some urgent business matters and he can’t let him down, so he is back in Pangasinan. I have not been posting at the PBPF Forum as Romy told me that he had to do some cleaning up and find time to attend to this Forum which he started and is the Administrator of the PBPF Forum. Having done that he has now given me the go signal to resume posting and I am starting a post with my recent trip to Japan. My friend Tateo invited me to go to Japan as he was going home for a vacation this December. I was reluctant to go for fear of the cold weather this time of the year. The temperature ranges from 0º to 10º C at this time of the year. Surprisingly with the temperature being at 3ºC most of the time, it was comfortable as I was wearing a thermal t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, underwear, long johns, socks, thick rubber shoes, scarf, warm cap, and a down jacket which is very light. It keeps the heat in and the cold out. Romy explained to me that with the social media like Facebook, people have shifted their preference as it is easier and more responsive to the times. However the picture quality of websites are much better, and it gives one a better chance of sharing their experiences in more details. I will share my pictures with friends in both medium because some of my friends do not use Facebook. I hope that more people will use the PBPF Forum. It is Romy’s intention to unite all bird photographers and I would like to ask for your support on this endeavor.
Tateo & I had fun birding together. We had breakfast, lunch, dinner in different kinds of restaurants. We had Udon (Japanesese noodles), Gyoza, Yakiniku, Sushi, Sashimi, similar to what they have here but the quality is better in most cases, after all they are the author of these Japanese recipies. Thank you Tateo for your hospitality and company.
We went to 3 Prefectures, Saitama, Kichijoji, and Tokyo. In Saitama which is home for Tateo, there is the Arakawa River, the longest river in Japan. The main attraction there were the water birds. Although they were far and difficult to get close to them as they would swim away from you. What we would do, as the ducks swim upstream we would move ahead of them and hide in the bushes and wait for them to pass by. Instead of the 30-40 meters distance that we were photographing them we would get some of them at about 20 meters. There were also birds that were lifers for me as we do not see them in the Philippines.
All the pictures except the last one were taken with 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.
On the way to the Arakawa River we passed by a Persimmon Tree and I saw that there were birds on the tree. The first bird that I saw was a Grey Starling. A cute fat bird with a voracious appetite.
Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus) 9 1/2 inches. It was a lifer for me and seeing different species feasting on the Persimmon was a treat. Some owners eat the fruits and leave some for the birds. In this particular tree, the owners were probably not interested in eating the fruit.
1/400 sec., f/9, ISO 400
Grey Starling (Sturnus cineraceous) 9 inches. They come in waves and eat as fast as they can and take off. If is a lifer for me. I am still hoping to see some colorful birds but it is winter and chances are there won't be many.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 36 inches. We have this at Lake Paoay and there is a day of celebration organized by Doc Pete & Richard every year called the Return of the Great Cormorant.
1/800, f/8, ISO 400

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 19 inches. A delightful lifer at 48.5 meters. They have a white spot on their cheek and have goldeneyes. Picture is full frame and there are Tufted Ducks swimming alongside them.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800

Great Tit (Parus major) 6 inches. Another lifer for me, similar to our Elegant Tit by nature, almost non stop of flying from branch to branch looking for insects & worms to eat.
1/1000 sec., f/8, ISO 400

Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 31 inches. Another lifer for me. This bird is rare in the Philippines.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) 23 1/2 inches. Rare in the Philippines but quite common in Japan. Tateo does not even want to take picture of them anymore but it is a lifer for me and I always enjoy taking pictures of birds including ducks. LOL.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos) 23 inches. I have seen them in Candaba but they were much farther than this one. Most ducks have a smiling gape that gives one a good feeling when you watch they swim.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 29 1/2 inches. A lifer for me and to see it this close is truly a delight.
1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 15 1/2 inches. I saw this duck once in Wack Wack and it was a thrill to see him swimming on the pond right on the golf course.
1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Whopper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 60 inches. It is pronoucned Hooper and what a sight to see over 40 swans b![]()
eing adored by the Japanese. They too love birds and amazingly they are migrants that fly in and become friendly with the people. They would move from one place to the other until it is time to go back where they come from. For a time they were not coming but now they are back. I have seen the common Mute Swan and Black Swan but this one is a lifer for me.
1/1250 sec., f.5.6 ISO 800
Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) 4 1/2 inches. Although very similar to our Lowland White-eye & Mountain White-eye, it is still a lifer for me to see this Japanese White-eye in Saitama.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 11 inches. Another lifer that adds up to the number of birds seen in Japan.
1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 5 1/4 inches. As common as it is in the Philippines it has adopted to the habits of the Japanese ETS in partaking the Persimmon fruit. I wished we also had Persimmon trees in the Philippines.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Aracara River is the longest river in Japan and they have built spillways and controls to regulate the flow of the river. Photo taken by Tateo. Canon with SX60.
Tateo & I had fun birding together. We had breakfast, lunch, dinner in different kinds of restaurants. We had Udon (Japanesese noodles), Gyoza, Yakiniku, Sushi, Sashimi, similar to what they have here but the quality is better in most cases, after all they are the author of these Japanese recipies. Thank you Tateo for your hospitality and company.
We went to 3 Prefectures, Saitama, Kichijoji, and Tokyo. In Saitama which is home for Tateo, there is the Arakawa River, the longest river in Japan. The main attraction there were the water birds. Although they were far and difficult to get close to them as they would swim away from you. What we would do, as the ducks swim upstream we would move ahead of them and hide in the bushes and wait for them to pass by. Instead of the 30-40 meters distance that we were photographing them we would get some of them at about 20 meters. There were also birds that were lifers for me as we do not see them in the Philippines.
All the pictures except the last one were taken with 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.
On the way to the Arakawa River we passed by a Persimmon Tree and I saw that there were birds on the tree. The first bird that I saw was a Grey Starling. A cute fat bird with a voracious appetite.
Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus) 9 1/2 inches. It was a lifer for me and seeing different species feasting on the Persimmon was a treat. Some owners eat the fruits and leave some for the birds. In this particular tree, the owners were probably not interested in eating the fruit.
1/400 sec., f/9, ISO 400
Grey Starling (Sturnus cineraceous) 9 inches. They come in waves and eat as fast as they can and take off. If is a lifer for me. I am still hoping to see some colorful birds but it is winter and chances are there won't be many.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) 36 inches. We have this at Lake Paoay and there is a day of celebration organized by Doc Pete & Richard every year called the Return of the Great Cormorant.
1/800, f/8, ISO 400

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 19 inches. A delightful lifer at 48.5 meters. They have a white spot on their cheek and have goldeneyes. Picture is full frame and there are Tufted Ducks swimming alongside them.
1/800 sec., f/8, ISO 800

Great Tit (Parus major) 6 inches. Another lifer for me, similar to our Elegant Tit by nature, almost non stop of flying from branch to branch looking for insects & worms to eat.
1/1000 sec., f/8, ISO 400

Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) 31 inches. Another lifer for me. This bird is rare in the Philippines.
1/200 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha) 23 1/2 inches. Rare in the Philippines but quite common in Japan. Tateo does not even want to take picture of them anymore but it is a lifer for me and I always enjoy taking pictures of birds including ducks. LOL.
1/250 sec., f/8, ISO 400
Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos) 23 inches. I have seen them in Candaba but they were much farther than this one. Most ducks have a smiling gape that gives one a good feeling when you watch they swim.
1/320 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) 29 1/2 inches. A lifer for me and to see it this close is truly a delight.
1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula) 15 1/2 inches. I saw this duck once in Wack Wack and it was a thrill to see him swimming on the pond right on the golf course.
1/400 sec., f/5.6, ISO 200
Whopper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) 60 inches. It is pronoucned Hooper and what a sight to see over 40 swans b
1/1250 sec., f.5.6 ISO 800
Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) 4 1/2 inches. Although very similar to our Lowland White-eye & Mountain White-eye, it is still a lifer for me to see this Japanese White-eye in Saitama.
1/250 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Brown-eared Bulbul (Hypsipetes amaurotis) 11 inches. Another lifer that adds up to the number of birds seen in Japan.
1/100 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) 5 1/4 inches. As common as it is in the Philippines it has adopted to the habits of the Japanese ETS in partaking the Persimmon fruit. I wished we also had Persimmon trees in the Philippines.
1/125 sec., f/5.6, ISO 800
Aracara River is the longest river in Japan and they have built spillways and controls to regulate the flow of the river. Photo taken by Tateo. Canon with SX60.
