Japan – Russell Jenkins Stoop Files

Joetsu – at Winter’s End.

March 20, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Winter

I enjoyed a one day tour of the Joetsu area in Niigata as winter was fading away. I had my head buried in work and suddenly it was lifted from the bog. Streets recently smothered in black ice were drying up as the sun beamed down from a clear, blue sky. We first visited “Gangidori”, an historical street and found it sitting quietly still, under the melting snow. Young people first walked here with plans and dreams and decades came and went like days. I’m sure the footpaths provide passage for us now and will do for others to shelter through the snow seasons to come long after we’re gone.

Quiet and still and present.

From these streets, we then visited Takada Castle Site Park. The park is surrounded by moats and canals, that, on this day, were still holding on to the freeze. Beautiful, thin shelves of ice glistened over the surface of the water in the late morning sunlight with a scattering of ducks and walkways linked by bridges meandering around the castle, which stood wondrously overlooking the grounds from her centre stage. All framed by distant mountains seemingly etched on frosted glass.

Then, of course it was lunch time. Kanzuri Nabe. Delicious, warming, and energizing. I imagined it like a roasted noodle. The texture was thick, but not heavy. Hmmn. Just one more, please.

Nourished and refreshed, we arrived at the oldest winery in Japan. Iwanohara Vineyard in Joetsu is a story of determination and dedication and I recommend a tour to the store rooms where you can stand and listen to the history of the surrounding walls and feel the atmosphere of the ripening of time. Again, the frozen winters and rainy summers gift the soil with riches from the past for the palette of palates for the future. Be prepared to depart with an arm full of souvenirs.

We took a short break and stood out on the roads between the wide unused rice fields of winter and marveled at the glare of the mountains. Then we trekked to Kasugayama Shrine. It’s a beautiful shrine with spacious grounds weaving into the mountains. We climbed a tall stairway to a Tori gate at the top and were greeted by numerous Kami overseeing our visit. It is so fortunate to feel so welcomed and protected as the distant travelers we are, and I am grateful for such peace and wisdom bestowed upon me. I hope I can somehow express my gratitude and my respect. I hope my story and pictures can do justice in portraying such important cultural, and natural beauty on this earth.

I highly recommend this tour! if you want to find out more have a look at their website: Edge_of_Niigata_Joetsu_Tour

Spring in February

February 15, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

We had weeks of freezing, dull weather, but suddenly we had a glorious spring weekend. I went to Fukushimagata on Saturday but barely got any photos. I was surprised to see most of the geese and swans had gone. Then today I was really happy to see Daurian Redstarts. Surely a sign of spring.

Fun, Sun, and Snow!

January 11, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

Great White Egret stalking at Fukushimagata.

After a very cold week, Saturday brought sunshine to Niigata City. I woke up early but didn’t want to go out on black ice when it was 1 degree celsius and waited till after 8. By then, the centre of the roads had begun to thaw and I felt safer going out and about. I was in different minds where to go, but I’m glad I chose my old friend, Fukushimagata.

At first, I stayed along a canal in hope of finding Falcated Ducks, and a possible raptor using it as a corridor, but the Falcated Ducks were no longer where I knew them to be and there seemed to be more going on in the distance around me.

Great White Egret, White-tailed Eagle, Bewick's Swan, Fukushimagata,

As I started to move up the canal towards the wetlands I encountered a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Japanese Tits, and Brambling at the trees to the side. The woodpeckers flew off quickly so I continued to step through the snow towards the wetland. Once I got to the next bridge, something stirred up the geese around me and there was noise and movement all about. I first came to Fukushimagata, Niigata, in 2004, and was amazed by the thousands of geese that autumn. As the years passed, I felt there has been fewer, but yesterday, I felt the same as I did when I first visited. It was lovely to see so many large, wild birds with the snow covered mountains in the background and the sun reflected off the melting white ground.

Small family groups of humans and lone birders trudged to the observatory within the wetlands, but I chose to sit on an old bench and wait for the birds to come to me. Which they did. Lots of close encounters with swans, and geese, Great Cormorants, and coot. The Great Egret had no fear of me, and arrived right in front of me and stalked calmly at the water’s edge. At times the geese stirred up, and I was thrilled to see a distant White-tailed Eagle mixing up the place before it decided to land in a a tree out in the middle of the wetlands. I sat there waiting for it to get back into action, but it out-waited me, and I left to walk my dog before the fine day came to an end. I sat long enough to watch the eagle being mobbed by passing crows, harriers, buzzards, Black-eared Kites and anyone else bothered by its presence. Not me. I felt very calm sitting there with all the wild birds about me with the light reflecting upwards. I got sunburnt, but it was time to myself, and I did manage to walk an appreciative dog for 90 minutes in the sun afterwards. Guilt free happiness for one day.

A Japanese Buzzard prepares to swoop down at a White-tailed Eagle sitting in the tree below. The other raptor coming front-on is a Black-eared Kite.

Dark, Quiet,

January 2, 2025 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

Bull-headed Shrike at Toyanogata, Niigata.

Apart from my visit to Australia, my 2024 was fairly uneventful birding wise. I’m on holidays at the moment but rain, rain, rain, wind, wind, wind, has been the schedule since December started. Snow is on the menu for tomorrow. The max will be 3, but it has been steadily going between 3 and 5 Celsius for a while now. It is dark. The middle of the day is too dark for bird photography. I’ve had my eye on the Nikkor 600mm f6.3 for a while, but it’d be too dark at that aperture. Even f4 struggles in the middle of winter here.

The photos I’m adding today are from a stroll through Toyanogata on the first day of 2025. It was a better day than last year. I ended up huddled on a rooftop with the threat of tsunami after the earthquake, and the year before I was sick in bed. Yesterday was dark, but I could go for a walk. I saw a Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Northern Goshawk and a Japanese Green Pheasant, but I was too slow to get clear shots. I did see lots of shrikes however. I don’t have many photos of shrikes, so I might try and get some if I have a chance in the days ahead. Birds were the usual suspects, and I was focussing on a Brown-eared Bulbul when it narrowly escaped a charging shrike. The shrike was much smaller, but very fast and aggressive. I always see these things and forget to take the photo!

Bull-headed Shrike

A Flurry of Ospreys

April 10, 2024August 11, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

When I was a kid, I read old yellowing pages about the effects of the agricultural chemical DDT on raptors such as Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons. The birds ingested the chemical via their diet and it caused the thinning of their eggshells. The rate they were disappearing, it was unlikely they’d see the new century.

I remember seeing my first Osprey sitting high up on a dead tree at the side of the Tingalpa Reservoir, Capalaba, (Queensland, Australia) during the hot mid-afternoon sun on Christmas Day in 1988. I was thrilled and took almost a whole roll of film with my Pentax K1000 and Sigma 80-250mm lens. I think my photos just looked like a grey match stick – the stem of the branch with a grey round blob at the end of it. (Maybe expensive slide film such as Ektachrome).

In the last week of March this year, 2024, I was standing at the edge of the Fukushimagata (wetlands) in Niigata, and I saw an osprey overhead. No big deal anymore. They are resident at the wetlands, and I am used to seeing them. However, after that osprey went by, another one came from another direction. I was lining up a circling bird to photograph it when another crossed its path with a large fish. I was just there for about two hours and saw a continuous flow of busy ospreys. The wetlands are surrounded by vast, then empty rice fields that had just thawed from the winter, and the ospreys crossed the fields at random. I went for a walk away from the wetland area and I saw one osprey hurrying over my left shoulder towards the water, and as I turned to watch it, I saw another one passing over me with another fish. I took it for granted and just visited twice. I think it rained on the Tuesday, but I saw it all happening again on the Wednesday. I visited again on the Friday and stood there for four hours, but didn’t see one. The flurry had finished. It was pretty amazing to see in Japan, twenty-four years into the new century. If I think back to 1988, I had no idea, I’d ever see such a thing.

Uncropped 500mm Full-frame Bird Photos at Wetlands on a Dull Winter Day

March 12, 2024March 12, 2024 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

What a catchy title, I know, but as my usual Goldilocks-self, I had been pining for that 400mm 4.5 Nikon lens for the last year and a bit. For me, quick and nimble gets most of my best pics, but my experience yesterday, made me feel ‘Goldilocks’ should stick with the porridge she has. 500mm maybe just right for now.

It was sunny a fair bit after the January 1 earthquake, but I didn’t’t feel like standing at the edge of a remote wetland worrying about aftershocks and the near-by sea. Yesterday, was my first outing to Fukushimagata since December 28, 2023. It was pretty dull when I got there and I think most of the swans and geese have already headed north. I saw an eagle back in December, but I think any “Steller’s”, would be gone by now, though I think we should still have a chance to see a “white-tail” until the end of March. The joy of the day was the continuing views of osprey appearing every few minutes and catching fish around me.

I think my 500mm f5.6 is still pretty nice despite squeaks and rattles after five years of regular use. The new 600mm f6.3 might suit me better if I love standing around the wetlands, but as you can see by the dullness of these images, I am wary of going from 5.6 to 6.3, even though it is such a small difference.

Way back when I was young, osprey and peregrines were fading in numbers and became symbols of the damage of chemicals to the environment but I’m happy to announce that these many years later, osprey are one of the more common raptors I see in Niigata.

They seemed to be finding fish just behind a small island not so far off-shore from where I was standing but they’d disappear behind the reeds. I could hear the ‘splash’, but would have to wait for them to come back up before I could see them again.

Some ducks still remain, always lots of Great Cormorants and Great Grebe, with a few Marsh Harriers floating around the place. I love seeing them up against the snow-covered mountains. Of course it’s nice to have close-ups, but framing them in the surrounding environment is more, er, more. It’s more to look at?

Well. Not much snow this winter, and it’s raining here much of the time but I hope to return soon. March at Fukushimagata has its surprises.

Woodpeckers of Winter

January 7, 2024August 25, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

Usually this time of year, I head to the wetlands searching for raptors, but to be honest, I just keep taking the same photographs year after year. Don’t get me wrong, I love fleeting encounters with raptors, but my image folders become stale looking at the same birds with similar poses. This year, my biggest resolution is to attempt to photograph difficult and elusive birds such as woodpeckers. I have seen three species this year, and as aways they appear briefly, then flick away to another tree, or they stay on the back of the tree, and we play stupid hide-and-seek games. One thing is for sure though – They are pretty lovely. Even just a brief glimpse is a joy. Thus, I will make an effort to improve on my woodpecker photo collection. Here are some images taken at Toyanogata, Niigata, last Friday. Maybe I was just there for ten minutes so I’m sure I can do better with greater effort. These photos are of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but I discovered Niigata can have two versions, the “Eurasian” and/or the “Japanese”. I still think this a a “Japanese Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I did have a nice encounter with a young White-tailed Eagle on December 28. My photos are pedestrian but it’s always thrilling to have the breeze cross over your shoulder.

Vandal in the Wild

August 9, 2023August 12, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

A young Northern Goshawk was very aggressively shaking and ripping into this tree branch.

I came across this young Northern Goshawk giving this tree branch a big shake and ripping off the bark. There are lots of large bugs and beetles in Japan this season. It’s good to see this young bird wasn’t shy fending for itself. I took lots of pics of it really smacking shaking the branch about. In fact the branch snapped and both it and the goshawk tumbled a metre or two before the goshawk managed to save itself and fly to another tree.

Please watch the small slideshow below:

A Special Day on Sado-jima.

May 27, 2023August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

*Nipponia nippon* – Crested Ibis, –***トキ (***Toki), Sado Island, Niigata, JAPAN. May 19, 2023.

Thank you to Billy for introducing me to Hitoshi. And thank you to Hitoshi for meeting me at the port at Sado.

At first, I was disappointed it was a rainy day, but the rain was soft and the island was covered in mist and puddles. Hitoshi drove me around the island in his car and showed me a few of its special sites and it was like his car was a paint brush flowing through a beautiful Japanese sumi-e, (Japanese ink wash) painting. It was a very inspirational experience.

*(Our first sighting at about 9:30am)*

*Nipponia nippon* – Crested Ibis, -Toki, Sado Island, Niigata, JAPAN. May 19, 2023.

The island has mountains like book-ends. Mountains to the north and mountains to the south, and in between is a vast mosaic of rice-fields. I could see rain drops creating little circles in the water of the fields where we searched for Sado’s famously treasured “Toki-bird”, Nipponia nippon, the Crested Ibis. This Ibis has been successfully rescued from extinction since I have been in Japan. It was truly wonderful to find them living freely on this beautiful island.

I first wrote about Toki on this blog back in 2009, when a single bird was roosting at a regular spot in Uchino in Niigata City. It was one of the original birds from a breeding program released on Sado back in 2008. The last known wild Japanese Crested Ibis was captured and brought into a breeding program more than 20 years ago and died in captivity in 2003. Hitoshi confirmed that it passed away in captivity in 2003. Actually, I still remember reading the news when I was in Australia. I had always believed that it had successfully bred with others brought here from China. I have now learned from Hitoshi that my belief was not true. All the birds on Sado are Chinese. Hitoshi told me there are now 550 of these beautiful and unique looking Ibis living on the island. You can read about my first encounter here on my website.

(Please click on the blue links.)

I also have posts here and Toki is included in a post about my friend Mr Honma.

It took an hour to find our first Ibis, and it was thrilling to see it grazing naturally in the rings of water created by rain drops. We saw about 5 through the day. Each individually. Like rare gem stones scattered over the fields. We also encountered a Racoon Dog, (Tanuki) and egrets and herons about the place. A Japanese Green Pheasant was seen peering at us through the long grass roadside. Lots of smaller birds graced us with their songs when we wound down the car windows. I was very happy to see lots of sea birds on the far side of the island. (The sea-gulls seem to have mostly disappeared from Niigata City recently).

At the edge of a rice field – a weary looking Racoon Dog, ホンドタヌキ *“Tanuki”*

Black-tailed Gulls

Below: Hitoshi also took me to a traditional Japanese Inn and we had a huge sashimi lunch. Fresh as the day.

Lunch at an Inn on the far side of the island. All fresh ingredients from Sado.

I really enjoyed the ferry ride from Niigata City to the island and back. On the way back to Niigata City I enjoyed seeing dolphins skimming about the place, (maybe Pacific White-sided Dolphins – Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) and various species of seabirds far off through my binoculars. Maybe some kind of “Loons”? I think I’ll do the ferry ride again someday, even just to see the wildlife at sea.

Pacific White-sided Dolphins – *Lagenorhynchus obliquidens (I think) on the way back to Niigata City. Captured with my phone through the window of the third floor of the ferry.*

This was only my second visit to Sado. Here is a post about my first visit. I hope to go back in the near future to meet Hitoshi and be thrilled again at Sado-jima’s precious treasures.

Crested Ibis

at other sites on Sado

Crested Ibis

at another site

Crested Ibis

With flowering grasses in May

This is a photo of a precious gift to me from Hitoshi. When I pick it up, the aroma of its natural oils waft upwards and stir my nostalgia of the day on Sado. It is a beautiful piece of an endemic tree to Sado. Hitoshi is the director of the Botanical Academy on Sado. I am very grateful to him for this wonderful gift, and for sharing his rich knowledge of this magical place. I watermarked the photo but the subject is created by Hitoshi. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Thank you so much to Hitoshi and Billy for your kindness, and this special day.

Kamo-Yama-Koen in Summer

August 13, 2022August 24, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan

Siberian Chipmunk at Lisu-Koen, Kamo-Yama-Koen, Niigata.

I usually visit Kamo-Yama-Koen in Niigata in the autumn, but decided to make a change and go a few months early. Glad I did. I visited the Chipmunk park there, which was a real thrill.

Pondering the Big Ones…

September 9, 2021August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

Western Osprey at Hyoko, Niigata, Japan last Sunday

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted anything on this site. I have never let it go for so long before. I have been out taking photos and seeing lots of nice things, just procrastinating editing and posting stuff. I haven’t really gotten any good bird photos for a while.

Last Sunday I visited Hyoko and was photographing swans in long, summer grass. It will change colour in a few weeks time. I was looking through my view finder and a shadow went right across my face and I looked up to see a beautiful Western Osprey passing overhead. I think these photos capture its lovely, long wings.

Western Ospreys are found in Japan – A famous exotic country of the Far East. Not to be confused with Eastern Ospreys which are found in Australia – a western nation. Spending time finding wild birds helps me to find clarity.

Bewick's swan at Hyoko, September 2021

Bewick’s swan at Hyoko, September 2021

Nikon Df for Birding in 2021

April 29, 2021August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

These days, I use three cameras, a little beaut, Sony RX100iii, a super Nikon D500, and a passionately stoic Nikon Df. They are all different, and I usually use them for different purposes. I have found though, more and more, in poor light, especially in dull Niigata winter days, I am very sensitive to the grain or noise in my D500 pics. It is a great camera to capture action, but I have been getting too disappointed with grain in the atmosphere of the photographs. More and more, I have been turning to the Df for everything. The Nikon Df is famous for not having high resolution, no video, average frames per second, one card slot, old fashioned dials, not such powerful autofocus. To conclude, it is such a great camera. The photos from it just capture a true, unclouded atmosphere, with an ambience you can walk into. I hope I can use it for a long time.

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

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Brown-eared Bulbul

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Japanese Pigmy Woodpecker

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Misty

December 30, 2020August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

The large hut at the entrance to Fukushimagata. A beautiful wetlands in Niigata.

Well its been very dull and misty and wet. I haven’t really gotten any decent bird pics for a while. Yesterday was my first holiday of the winter break so I went out at 7 and came home about 6. My back and legs are tired today, which is an even duller and wetter day. A blizzard has been forecasted for later on, so good I got out. I took mostly scenery pics for the day with my Nikon Df and a newly acquired Tamron 35mm f1.8. I love operating the Tamron but the images seem to have some kind of fringing. I guess I will accept that as artistic licence.

I was hoping to find an eagle or two but the best raptors to be seen were Eastern Marsh Harriers and a couple of Eastern Buzzards. I visited the Long-eared Owl at the library at Toyanogata and it was the most colourful bird encounter on this dull day, with bright orange eyes. I fear, I was spotted looking at the owl by an excited family who surrounded me unmasked to announce their discovery to the world. I escaped quickly but with guilt over the impact on the owl.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have a peaceful and creative new year,

As I Walked Out on the Streets of Murakami

October 9, 2020August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan

I took last Wednesday off and decided to take a train ride of about 50kms to Murakami. I went there in the spring of last year and found a large parklands alongside river winding through tree covered mountains. I wanted to go back in autumn sometime, and I did.

It is a nice train ride and I enjoyed listening to an audiobook and looking out the windows of the train. When I got there, I bought a chocolate sandwich and an ice coffee which I carried to a small city park on the edge of the larger parkland area. It was dull and cool and very quiet. I don’t remember going anywhere in Japan with such an absence of humans. I enjoyed just taking photographs of the scenery and I could see how summer had disappeared and autumn was opening its doors.

At the small park, I sat down, ate my sandwich and slurped my drink. It was terribly quiet though, with only the sound of a very loud crow in the tree above me. I still casually browsed the park and watched some beautiful carp that seemed excited to see me as they swam slowly around the shallow canals of the park.

Having been refreshed from the food, and rest at the park, I decided to was time to hike down to the parklands and search for birds among the trees and along the river.

It still seemed awfully quiet. Kind of eerie even. I remember last year, there were joggers and golfers and walkers. I only saw one farm truck and and a woman who drove up and suddenly stopped and placed flowers at a shrine at the small park behind me.

The bridge to the parkland area along the river.

Once I got down to the bridge, I discovered I couldn’t enter the parkland area. At first it seemed the bridge must have been damaged, but then I looked closer at the kanji on the white poster. To confirm my understanding, I used Google Translate. I watched my phone as it translated it to, “Kuma Appearance”. I stepped back a little, and felt the hair on the back of my neck respond. I admit it was fear. There’s no way that bit of yellow tape looked like it was gonna keep a bear from getting through. I left, and headed back to the station.

Once home, I learned a man had been seriously attacked by a bear there just a few days before. I did further searches to discover 3 more people had been attacked at the town of Shibata a few train stops before Murakami. Then I discovered more such incidents around Niigata, and that the Niigata Prefectural Government had issued a warning of a “Bear Infestation” around the prefecture. Because of the strange weather, the beech trees failed to produce fruit that the bears need to fatten up on. The poor things are coming to the towns. At least 7 people have been attacked in recent weeks.

Anyhow, it was dramatic adventure even with the absence of life. The fish and the crow, and the woman who visited the shrine, were the only living things I found once I got away from the city. At least I have learned I should keep an interest in the local news.

A Summer Summary

September 5, 2020August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Dragonflies

I haven’t found too many birds the last month or so, but have seen some nice scenery. I had two weeks off in August and visited a few places in Niigata. We spent one night in a hotel in the Bandai Asahi National Park, and spent an afternoon at Sakata, Niigata. I also had a nice outing with Billy and got my best shot a a wild Japanese Macaque in Niigata. (Many photos of them in Nagano and Tochigi). I saw them a few times from a car but it was difficult to get a clear photo before they fled.

Bandai-Asahi National Park