More than 220 bird species have been recorded on the Notsuke Peninsula, making it one of Japan’s premier birdwatching destinations. Thanks to the different species that appear from spring through winter, birdwatching can be enjoyed here year-round.

Spring is the season of migratory birds. Flocks of scaup, black scoter, and Eurasian wigeon gather in Notsuke Bay, sometimes reaching over 40,000 birds. The rare spotted redshank can also be seen, and the peninsula is one of its few breeding sites in Japan. In summer, stonechats, long-tailed rosefinches, and Middendorff’s grasshopper warblers breed on the open grasslands, filling the air with their songs.

In autumn, sandpipers and plovers stop at the tidal flats, followed by brant geese, whooper swans, and various ducks arriving to overwinter in Notsuke Bay. Raptors such as peregrine falcons and northern goshawks also appear, drawn by the abundance of waterfowl.

Winter is a season of quiet yet prime birdwatching. Whooper swans and pintails remain on the frozen bay, while snow buntings and Asian rosy finches can be spotted across the snowy fields. Notably, roughly one-third of all Steller’s sea eagles and white-tailed eagles that winter in Japan gather in this region, with numbers exceeding 300 in some years.