2025 hokkaido, japan - birding + culture: Saturday, June 7

I awoke to drizzle and went over to the dining area’s small buffet. I had warm pants, rain pants, silk turtleneck, wool sweater, down sweater and wind breaker, hat, and gloves on.

Getting ready to board our ship

We drove the short distance to a harbor in which there were four small whale-watching boats filling up with tourists. We took the last boat which wasn’t too crowded and clambered on board and up to the top deck in the stern. It was raining lightly but since I had rain pants on I could plunk myself down on the wet bench without any problem.

Birding in the rain

The sea was pretty calm but with a little chop. I had promised myself a few decades ago that I would Never go on a pelagic birding trip ever again, and yet here I was: on a rocking boat trying to identify small black, grey, and white dots. At least I was warm, but it is still my least favorite form of birding! We saw some Dall’s porpoises, but not much else, and turned back after 2.5 hours – to try again tomorrow!

We drove down the coast through stretched out tiny villages, 2-3 buildings deep, at the base of steep wooded hillsides. Schools, that double as tsunami evacuation sites, are located further up the hillsides.

We stopped for a convenience store lunch; ham and cheese with lots of lettuce on “Wonder Bread” for me. We stopped at a nature preserve and walked along boardwalks for a mile or so. The elusive Sakhalin Grasshopper Warbler called over and over but never showed himself. There are a bunch of warblers that look Very similar, and without hearing the call I could never tell them apart (even with hearing the call I would be hard pressed….). I saw a very impressive black fungus on a log.