Japan

Arasaki

Information

SITE RANK

68

HABITAT Fields, marshes and paddies near an estuary

KEY SPECIES White-naped Crane, Hooded Crane, Black-faced Spoonbill, Chinese Penduline Tit, Daurian Jackdaw

TIME OF YEAR October to March

The cranes of Arasaki are a major tourist attraction, and can be seen during the day from the visitor centre.

Cranes – the birds, as well as the machines – have an ability to transform landscapes. Even the dullest of damp fields can seem to come alive when these stately yet exuberant creatures set foot upon the inviting moist turf, and either stride serenely in search of food or leap unselfconsciously into the air to dance, lighting up the landscape with their patterns and movement. And that transformation is particularly strong in one small corner of Japan. The region of Arasaki, on the southernmost main island, Kyushu, is a flat agricultural area reclaimed from the sea in the 17th century. Close to the large town of Izumi, and next to the estuary of the Takano River, it is a patchwork of paddyfields and marshes that, for some reason, are host to what is arguably the most impressive concentration of cranes in the world. From October to March about 10,000 of these birds settle at Arasaki, having travelled all the way from Siberia and northern China.

Cranes have been visiting the area since at least 1695, not long after the first sea defences were built. Since then, of course, much has changed, not least the wholesale loss of all the cranes’ other refuges on the island, sacrificed to disturbance or development, which has left Arasaki as the only remaining site. There has also been an increasing appreciation of the birds. The area was designated as a National Natural Treasure in 1921, and then a Special Natural Treasure in 1952. A farmer began the regular feeding of birds not long afterwards, and now there is a special Crane Observation Centre (complete with two-storey telescope-bedecked observatory and restaurant) where the birds can be seen during the day, plus a Crane Museum and a Crane Park. Thousands of people come every year to appreciate in modern comfort what is, in effect, an ancient spectacle.

For birders, the delight is in the sheer number and variety of birds, as well as the ease of seeing them. The flocks are dominated by two species, the Hooded and White-naped Cranes. Both have quite dark plumage for cranes, especially the Hooded, with its slate-grey feathers covering the whole body up to the pure-white upper neck. The larger, longer-necked White-naped Crane has a similar dark grey colour on breast and back, but has soft white wings and upper tail coverts and a white patch from the nape down the neck to the upper back. While the Hooded Crane has a small red patch on the crown, the White-naped Crane has a large scarlet circular ‘mask’ surrounding the eye. It is thus easy enough to distinguish the two species. In the winter of 2005–2006 some 10,000 Hooded and 1,200 White-naped Cranes could be found in the region of Arasaki, which is about average. The two species mix freely together, although the White-naped Crane has more of a tendency to get its feet wet than its congener.

Each year brings some extra excitement for birders in the shape of some hangers-on. In 2005–2006, for example, there were two Sandhill Cranes and one Common Crane among the hordes, and indeed these two species turn up most years, the Sandhill Crane easily identified by its body plumage, a paler grey than the others, and the Common Crane by its striking black-and-white head pattern. Rarer visitors that come only every few years include the diminutive Demoiselle Crane, the Red-crowned Crane (which looks like a white-plumaged version of a Common Crane) and, as a special bonus, the mainly white Siberian Crane. Patient scanning through the flocks can also reveal an assortment of odd-looking individuals and hybrids. Thus, with luck, it is possible to see seven species of crane in a day at Arasaki, which is almost half the world total.

Besides cranes, the wide variety of habitats here, which includes reedbeds, coast and woodland, attracts what is an excellent variety of birds for Japan in the winter. Many ducks can be seen including, at times, unusual visitors such as Falcated Duck or American Wigeon mixed in with the many Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, Eurasian Wigeons and Eastern Spot-billed Ducks. In the creeks several species of heron occur, including Intermediate Egret and Black-crowned Night Heron; and sometimes a small flock of Black-faced Spoonbills also winters around the Crane Reserve. Look out too, for waders, which may include Kentish Plover and Northern Lapwing. The woodland areas hold Japanese Green Pheasant, the rivers have Brown Dipper and the splendid Crested Kingfisher, while on the fields and scrub every bunting should be checked: Meadow, Black-faced and Rustic Bunting are all regular, although their winter plumage is never quite so diverting as their spring finery.

Two special bonus birds also deserve a mention. A patch of reeds within the Crane Reserve regularly turns up Chinese Penduline Tit, the most migratory member of its small family. Recently split from Eurasian Penduline Tit, the males have a thinner black face-mask than their better known relatives. And on the fields visible from the observation tower, among the large flocks of Rooks, look out for the smaller Daurian Jackdaws feeding among them. These are also winter visitors from China; be aware that some, if not all, will be of the all-black morph.

The day’s birding always begins and ends here, though, with the cranes. In common with flocks elsewhere in the world, the birds undertake regular daily movements at Arasaki. The roost site is opposite a guest house run by the crane warden and, in the pre-dawn blackness, you can be woken by the increasing excitement of the bugling calls. The birds then often rise as one to go off to the fields near the observatory, where fish and rice is provided for them daily. The sight and sound of the commuting flock is, without exaggeration, one of the finest experiences in the birding world.

Arasaki’s two main species: a smaller, darker Hooded Crane (centre) stoops beneath an arch made by two White-naped Cranes.

Keen birders will look out for rarities among the multitudes. Up to seven crane species occur at Arasaki.