Birding around Nishinomiya

There are a lot of birds around the area I live (just outside Osaka) as we are nestled into the side of a well-treed mountain where several rivers flow. I came across a birding station and wetland walk similar to our Waterfowl Park in Sackville and was overjoyed at my find. There were a lot of elderly folk with gigantic telephoto-lens cameras around taking photos of the species that were present that day. I am glad to say that they were not quiet amongst themselves so I didn’t feel guilty that the kids were running around making noise. To amuse them we took a trail that led away from the birders and into the forest only to find ourselves on a tiny path through low-branches of trees and treacherous up-hill climbs. I began to wonder if this trail was meant for humans and eventually decided, after seeing some animal scat, that it was actually a path for Inoshishi (wild boar). We turned around and took some scary, steep slides down the slopes at the edge of the cliffs of the river. I prayed none of us would lose our foothold and go beyond. We are not as agile as a mountainous wild boar.
I was able to locate a birding book that is also in English called “A Field Guide to the Birds of Japan”. It has been a great help for identifying species I was observing in my neighbourhood so I have shared my list below.
Black Kite (raptor), White-rumped swifts, White, Grey and Japanese wagtails, Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Little Grebe (river habitat), Japanese Robins, Asian brown flycatchers, Pale thrush, Willow Tit, Varied Tit, Japanese White-eye, Short-tailed Bush Warbler, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Gray Starling, Azure-winged Magpie (forested areas). We have also seen a lot of Large-billed crows which are huge and look more like Ravens.
One bird which I have learned I will not see in the wild is the Japanese Crested Ibis. It has been in the news lately due to its near extinction and recent reintroduction.
At one time, the Crested Ibis was widespread in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Russia. It has now disappeared from most of its former range. The last wild Japanese Crested Ibis died in October 2003, while the remaining wild population can be found only in Shaanxi province of China.
Traditional watershed habitats have been replaced by irrigated rice farming and dry wheat production so the birds have experienced massive habitat loss. The Crested Ibis managed to find some food in the rice paddies eating frogs, small fishes and small animals but starvation was said to be the cause of mortality of 80% of wild birds found dead. Agrochemicals at feeding-sites is also said to be a factor. It is good to find that extensive captive breeding programs have been developed by Japan and China to conserve the species. On September 25, 2008, the Sado Japanese Crested Ibis Preservation Center released 10 of the birds as part of its Crested Ibis restoration program, which aims to introduce 60 ibises into the wild by 2015. This marks the first time the rare bird has returned to the Japanese wild since 1981. I hope this is a success story.