The Gyotoku Bird Observatory is a 56-hectare natural habitat for
aquatic birds located in Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan. This area was once
known internationally as a natural habitat where
large numbers of waterbirds gathered.
In those days, more than 260
species of birds could be seen here. But through the years with
increased development, the tidal flats and marshes that were home to
these many birds began to disappear.
Gyotoku Bird
Observatory tidal flats
To help reverse this situation, in November 1979 Chiba Prefecture
established this wildlife protection area to serve as a wild
bird sanctuary.
If you're a bird lover and ready to escape Tokyo's concrete jungle, the
Gyotoku Bird Observatory is a great place to observe aquatic birds in
their natural waterfront habitat.
Gyotoku Bird
Observatory Visitor Center
The facility includes a three-story visitor center and educational
facility, as well as a small adjoining bird hospital to care for
injured and sick wild birds. The 2nd floor has 44 telescopes and a
large
picture window for viewing the expansive wildlife protection area.
Observatory building 2nd floor telescopes
On Sunday afternoons and national holidays at 1:30, there is a group
bird watching tour of the normally
restricted special bird sanctuary zone, which you should sign up for in
advance on the 2nd floor of the observatory building (please see my
video below of a tour I took Feb. 27, 2011).
There is also a tour on the 4th Saturday of every month @
16:30 (16:00 from Oct. thru Jan.).
Birds one can expect to see here include:
Little
Grebe, Great Crested Grebe, Great Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron,
Little Egret, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Mute Swan, Mallard, Spot-billed
Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup,
Common Buzzard, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Common Snipe, Common
Sandpiper, Common Black-headed Gull, Herring Gull, Oriental Turtle
Dove, Common Kingfisher, Buff-bellied Pipit, White Wagtail, Brown-eared
Bulbul, Daurian
Redstart, Dusky Thrush, Bull-headed Shrike, Carrion Crow, Grey
Starling, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, and Common Reed Bunting.
bird hospital
patient
My Gyotoku Bird Observatory
(行徳野鳥観察舎)
Photos
The thumbnails below are a sampling of my 86 photos hosted at
Flickr.
Clicking on the collage will
open up my Flickr photo page, or you can view
all of them sequentially in the slideshow player below. I hope you
enjoy them !
Click
above to view a slideshow of my Gyotoku Bird Observatory (行徳野鳥観察舎)
photos, taken
Feb. 13, 2011. (View all pics at a glance here.)
Video
On Sun. afternoon Feb. 27, 2011, I joined their bird watching
tour from 13:30-15:30. There weren't a lot of birds that day
because of the strong winds, but it was a sunny day and we got a lot of
exercise walking around this HUGE bird sanctuary.
I hope you enjoy my video below:
Hours of operation:
Open 9 AM – 4:30 PM everyday, except closed Mondays (or Tuesdays
following a Monday holiday), the last Friday of every month (for
cleaning), and the New Year holidays (December 28 – January 3).
Admission to the Gyotoku Bird Observatory and use of the library,
audio-visual room, and exhibition
rooms are free.
Access: The nearest station is Minami-Gyotoku on
Tokyo Metro's Tozai subway line. If you have
long legs
like me, the 2-km trek should only take 20 min. or so.
I hope you enjoy my video below:
