Hegura Island

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Description

Fair Isle. Cape May. Falsterbo. Eilat. Portland. Broome. These are some of the great migration watchpoints of the world.

However, few birders, unless they live in Japan or have visited here in spring or autumn, have likely heard of Hegura, a tiny island in the Sea of Japan between the tip of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture and Nakhodka and Vladivostok, on the continent.



Even a few Japanese appear to have heard of the remote island, 50 km north of Wajima, far removed from Tokyo or Osaka, and decidedly untropical when compared to Okinawa or the southwest islands. Its only claim to fame is its attraction to birdwatchers, fishermen, and a few diehard tourists who go on a one-day return just to say they have been there.

There used to be a thriving fishing community on Hegurajima but, as with many other places in rural Japan, the few youngsters who lived there have fled for the bright lights of the city -- or at the very least, for an easier life -- and now the ones who live there from spring through autumn are mostly elderly. The primary school has closed and is falling into disrepair, and the community center no longer welcomes the locals like it used to. Also, as fewer and fewer people live there, several of the houses are shuttered and many look like they have seen better days.

Among Japanese birders, Hegurajima is known for its long list of rarities, and on a really good day in spring, it might be possible to see 100 species of birds -- ranging from egrets, ducks, raptors, and shorebirds, to swifts and passerines of many varieties.



The bird list for Hegura is long, but a few of the highlights -- which have included several firsts for Japan -- have been Chinese Egret, Rufous-bellied Woodpecker, Black-naped Oriole, Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Fairy Pitta, Shorelark, White-throated Rock Thrush, Whinchat, Wood Warbler, Willow Warbler, and Wilson's Warbler, Golden-crowned Sparrow, and  Black Drongo. Japanese Woodpigeons are, surprisingly regular passage migrants, and each spring a good selection of thrushes, warblers, and buntings pass through.