On December 2 a few freshwater reservoirs on a hill a few kilometers north of our place in Matsuyama were visited, in the hopes of finding some new duck species. The first bird to get my attention there was an adult Cormorant (the bird on the left of the two above) that managed to catch a big Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), a North American freshwater fish. I’m not sure whether this is a Temminck’s or a Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax capillatus/P. carbo. Its white facial patch is not as pronounced as I’d expect from a Temminck’s. The bird on the right is an immature Temminck’s.
While scoping out the cormorants’ successful catch, there was a bat foraging above the same pond. For about half an hour it appeared to be catching prey from the water surface, possibly with its hind legs, as the third photo shows. In between foraging flights it regularly perched against the side of a concrete wall adjacent to the water.
There were plenty of ducks present at two of the four reservoirs. Besides 17 Eurasian Teals Anas crecca and a single Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, I recorded 11 Common Pochards Aythya ferina, 17 Tufted Ducks Aythya fuligula, 30 Northern Shovelers Anas clypeata and (the highlight of my visit) a single Mandarin Duck Aix galericulata male.
Red-eared slider Trachemys scripta elegans. Native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but also present in impressive numbers in all freshwaters I’ve seen in Japan thus far.
My borrowed bike.
