Banding research has been conducted continuously along the Sekiya Coast of Niigata City since 1987. Over this period, more than 14,000 Bush Warblers of Japanese origin have been banded and released. Almost all of these have been Cetta diphone cantans, but a small number of C. d. sakhalinensis may also be included. The results of this research have helped clarify variations in the timing and size, as well as the destinations, of the Japanese Bush Warbler seasonal migration. Among the banded Bush Warblers, however, have been two specimens of continental origin, C. d. borealis. These two specimens were distinguished based on external characteristics, and basic measurements and photos are included in this report.
The banding research is conducted inside a protected area surrounded by a steel fence, within a coastal park. Vegetation in the area is a typical coastal forest dominated by pine (Pinus thunbergii), but with various species of deciduous and evergreen broad-leaved trees mixed in. The undergrowth consists of shrubs, and there is also a manmade pond surrounded by lowgrowing bamboo grass, where the banding research is conducted using ten to twelve mist nets (ATX and HTX).
One of the individuals identified as C. d. borealis was an adult female captured on 17 Oct., 1999. Visual inspection was sufficient for distinguishing this continental bird from Japanese individuals captured at the same time (Fig 1-Photo A and B; Table 1-No.1). The continental form shows a much heavier brownish tint, especially on the crown, back, breast, and tail, as compared to the more olive coloring of the Japanese subspecies. The second individual was an adult male captured on 25 April 2008 (Fig 1-Photo C, D and E; Table 1-No.2), and was noticeably larger than cantans.
Previously only two captures of C. d. borealis had been obtained from Japan; one male in May of 1993 on Rebun Island off the northern coast of Hokkaido; and one female in August of 2005 at Yonago City in Tottori Prefecture, west of Niigata. Visual confirmations as well only amount to several incidents. It is thus believed that these records all represent accidental birds that had strayed off their regular migration route, which runs from Taiwan and central China to the Korean Peninsula.
Banding records from Niigata and elsewhere indicate that subspecies cantans migrates along the Sea of Japan coastline, with peaks in April and September. As the timing of the subspecies borealis migration overlaps with that of cantans, it can be expected that further records of the continental species may be obtained in future banding research.

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Pintail Snipe Gallinago stenura breed over a wide area from Tibet north across the Siberian tundra, and east as far as the trans-Baikal; and winter south along the Korean Peninsula to China and peninsular and island Southeast Asia. In Japan they have been occasionally recorded as accidental visitors, primarily along the Pacific Ocean side of the islands. This research reports three observations of Pintail Snipe in rice paddies in Niigata Prefecture, along the Sea of Japan side of central Honshu. The first observation, made on 19 Feb 2009, was of a single Pintail Snipe mixed in with a flock of seven Common Snipe G. gallinago (Fig 1). Compared to that of the Common Snipe, the bill of the Pintail Snipe is shorter, and thicker at the base. The tail is also shorter. The second observation, recorded on 28 Feb 2009, was of three Pintail Snipe mixed in a flock of five Common Snipe. The third observation, on 1 March 2009, was of three Pintail Snipe individuals feeding alone. The rice paddies in which these observations were made ranged from one to three kilometers inland from the coast, which raises the possibility that these Pintail Snipe are not just visitors accidently blown here. Perhaps, due to global warming or some combination of various changing environmental factors, small numbers of Pintail Snipe may actually be beginning to winter in central Honshu. In the future, researchers and observers should keep a sharp lookout for Pintail Snipe, as more observations are required to ascertain whether or not these birds have begun to winter here.

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