A recent news clip showed hundreds of swans up in the Shinji Lake / Naka Umi area. My heart fluttered. BIRDS! and WATER! There was only one thing to do…
I strapped on the kayak and headed north to Izumo. I spent a cold night car camping near Gobius where birds, including swans, are known to hang out.
7:00 The sunrise was beautiful and there were lots of birds but no swans.
8:00 I found a local coffee shop for breakfast knowing there would be, well, locals who might have information on these birds. After all where can hundreds of huge white birds possibly hide?
Sure enough they told me. It seems the reason I can’t see them on the lake is because they hang out at a much smaller pond in the rice fields down the road. Seems my romantic image of kayaking in the morning sun among the swans has been shattered. A kayak in the rice paddy is just not going to be possible
9:07 I let Google do the talking and it lead me to the area where the swans should be. I saw white up ahead and stopped my truck and walked up so as not to disturb them. Turns out “they” were a field full of Chinese cabbages and were not easily spooked by humans.
There was some sort of facility further on which the locals had mentioned so I headed in that direction but on the way there I saw them in all their glory. several rice paddies full of huge white tundra swans!!! They were not easily spooked at all as several people were there already taking pictures with huge lenses
We birders make friends fast and in no time at all they were telling all about this flock and their habits. This rice field was their “bed” and, for some reason, this morning they were hanging around longer than usual as if they had been waiting for me. It was fascinating to watch them so closely, but I noticed a small canal running alongside the rice fields and I knew there had to be a spot to put down my kayak. My birder friend showed me a good spot and off I went.
The “water park” had been closed and chains were across the parking lot. I could have parked nearby but I chose to go further down the river where I found a nice place to start out. This was going well until I came to the “passage” to take me to the canal. The Japanese have dammed up most all their rivers so they are now just a series of cement canals with these “dams” which they can close in times of heavy rains or tsunamis. I can usually kayak right under these, but this one was not going to allow passage of anything bigger t duck. I would have to portage. Ironically, I had to slip through the chains of the place I originally had rejected. It didn’t feel like trespassing when I was carrying a heavy kayak on my shoulders.
The small lake’s waters were like glass and ducks and various birds were hooting and fluting all around. I wasn’t very far up the canal when I could see the swans were getting ready to take flight. A few of the “early birds” were already on their way. The others were, as my birder friend had informed me, stretching their necks to read the read and getting ready to take off. I managed to get their just in time! They were taking off in small groups and after ashort time the rest of the flock took off in a honking whoosh! It was spectacular and well worth a long drive, a camp in 0 degree temperatures and an early morning!!!
I still had time and energy left so I decided to explore. I found another canal leading off from the small lake which followed parallel along the lake. I decided to explore and it went a fair distance until I was at a dead end in a narrow canal in the middle of the rice paddies. I could tell the river was on the other side of the bank but would have to get out on a grassy and possibly slippery slope in the rice paddies. This would be the easy part. I would have to drag that heavy kayak out of there too without slipping back into the muddy canal. It was not dangerous as I could tell the canal was shallow BUT this could get really messy if I made a mistake.
Fortunately, through much care I got that kayak out of the irrigation canal. It must have looked quite odd sitting in a rice paddy while I looked along the river for a place to set down. I eventually did and the remaining part of the trip was quite pleasant along that small river.
I could see that this was once a very important river and there were places where boats would have tied up to the dock in the past. Toward the end near Lake Shinji there was a wooden bridge! Cars were running over it!!! But from beneath it was clearly made of wood.
Then I came to Shinji Lake where I had originally envisioned kayakking among the swans. hHe lake was smooth as glass and although there were no swans, there were plenty of other birds. I was able to follow the shore back to the original river where my little truck awaited me.
Even in the middle of winter I somehow manage to work up a good sweat plus after my misadventure in the canal I had mud between my toes and dirt on my feet that would not come off with a towel. I need a good soak and Shinji lake has some of Shimane’s best hot springs.
After a good soak and a cup coffee, I was ready for more adventure. As if by chance the owner of coffee shop told me about a bird park where you can watch wild birds in their natural habitat! I was hooked. If this non-birder found it interesting it was a must-see for a birder.
I took a detour to the Yasugi area where even more swans flock. There were certainly more but they were more spread out. They were also in a muddy rice field and made for less spectacular photos but Mt. Daisen in the background was quite picturesque
And with only a little over an hour left to closing I rushed off to the Yanago Waterbird Park (米子水鳥公園). I got there with only 30 minutes to closing but it was worth every minute. The guides were so helpful and the view of the birds was wonderful . They had not one but about 12 telescopes for watching the birds up close as they went around the lake doing… whatever wild birds like to do. I will certainly be back here again- maybe in November when the spoonbills drop by.
Mrs Mom 