Japan Ramsar wetland
Mikata Five Lakes
48 bird species recorded; the most in January.
Shift · CC BY-SA 3.0
This month here
37 species in January.20 species in February.8 species in March.0 species in April.0 species in May.19 species in June.1 species in July.6 species in August.0 species in September.8 species in October.32 species in November.0 species in December.
The birds you are most likely to see in the month you choose, those that come for the season first. It opens on today's month.
VU
VU
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
No records for this month.
VUNo records for this month.
- Resident all year
- Summer visitor comes to breed
- Winter visitor comes for the winter
- Passage migrant in spring and autumn
In numbers
48 species, counted.
Our own rating, from the records only: species (50 points), threatened species (20), migrants (20) and protected status — Ramsar, IBA, SPA, observatory (10).
- 48Speciesrecorded more than once
- 14Migrantssummer, winter or passage visitors
- 1ThreatenedVulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered (IUCN)
- 678Recordsopen records within 6 km
- 1Raptors
- 1Gulls & seabirds
- 18Ducks & geese
- 6Herons, ibises & grebes
- 1Storks & cranes
- 19Songbirds
- 2Other birds
From open records (eBird and others, through GBIF, licensed for any use). More birdwatchers mean more records: a quiet place may have more birds than it shows.
The checklist
All 48 species.
By group, with the year in twelve cells: the darker the cell, the more often the bird is recorded that month.
Raptors1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black KiteMilvus migrans
Gulls & seabirds1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Black-tailed GullLarus crassirostris
Ducks & geese18 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- MallardAnas platyrhynchos
- Common PochardAythya ferinaVU
- Tufted DuckAythya fuligula
- Eurasian WigeonMareca penelope
- Eurasian TealAnas crecca
- Greater ScaupAythya marila
- Anas poecilorhynchaAnas poecilorhyncha
- SmewMergellus albellus
- Common GoldeneyeBucephala clangula
- GadwallMareca strepera
- Northern PintailAnas acuta
- Northern ShovelerSpatula clypeata
- Falcated DuckMareca falcata
- Chinese Spot-billed DuckAnas zonorhyncha
- Baikal TealSibirionetta formosa
- GoosanderMergus merganser
- Bewick's SwanCygnus columbianus
- Whooper SwanCygnus cygnus
Herons, ibises & grebes6 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Little GrebeTachybaptus ruficollis
- Grey HeronArdea cinerea
- Great White EgretArdea alba
- Great Crested GrebePodiceps cristatus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Eared GrebePodiceps nigricollis
Storks & cranes1 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Japanese White StorkCiconia boyciana
Songbirds19 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- Brown-eared BulbulHypsipetes amaurotis
- Meadow BuntingEmberiza cioides
- Eurasian Tree SparrowPasser montanus
- Large-billed CrowCorvus macrorhynchos
- Bull-headed ShrikeLanius bucephalus
- Cinereous TitParus cinereus
- Carrion CrowCorvus corone
- Japanese WagtailMotacilla grandis
- Blue Rock ThrushMonticola solitarius
- Daurian RedstartPhoenicurus auroreus
- Grey-capped GreenfinchChloris sinica
- Zosterops japonicusZosterops japonicus
- Masked buntingEmberiza personata
- Turdus eunomusTurdus eunomus
- White WagtailMotacilla alba
- BramblingFringilla montifringilla
- Poecile variusPoecile varius
- Japanese Bush WarblerHorornis diphone
- Barn swallowHirundo rustica
Other birds2 species
JFMAMJJASOND
- CootFulica atra
- Oriental Turtle DoveStreptopelia orientalis
Monthly presence relative to all bird records that month, so a busy month does not inflate every species.
When to go
The most species in January.
Species recorded in each month, with the usual temperature and rain.
- Jan6°/2°163 mm
- Feb7°/2°123 mm
- Mar10°/4°129 mm
- Apr15°/8°123 mm
- May20°/13°135 mm
- Jun24°/18°158 mm
- Jul28°/22°215 mm
- Aug29°/24°149 mm
- Sep25°/20°202 mm
- Oct20°/15°162 mm
- Nov15°/10°128 mm
- Dec9°/5°182 mm
- Bar: species recorded that month.
- Temperature: average maximum / minimum (NASA, 1991–2020).
- Rain: monthly total.
The place
Mikata Five Lakes.
Lake in Wakasa, Japan
Mikata Five Lakes is a wetland of international importance (Ramsar) in Japan.
48 bird species have been recorded here more than once, in 678 open records.
The most recorded are the Mallard, the Common Pochard and the Tufted Duck.
4 species come for the summer, 10 for the winter and 0 only pass through.
1 are threatened worldwide, including Common Pochard.
The most species are recorded in January.
Get there and watch
- Pamco 湖上館place to stay · 2.5 km · 38 within 10 km
- Sugahamanearest town · 12 km in a straight line
- Osaka Itami International Airport (ITM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 97 km in a straight lineCar hire at NGO airport (Tokoname)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided walk, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The place and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the place, with the bird hides, towers and trails that OpenStreetMap shows.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 1bird hides within 6 km自然水鳥観察棟
- 1observation towers within 6 km
- 2visitor centres within 6 km若狭三方五湖観光協会, 若狭美浜観光協会
- 2viewpoints within 5 km展望台
- 24car parks within 3 km
- 8restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 1campsites within 10 km
- 38places to stay within 10 kmPamco 湖上館, 水月花, なが田 and 35 more
- marked trails within 4 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
Around Mikata Five Lakes.
The lakes, beaches, islands, rivers and mountains around this place, and its night sky, in the family's atlases.
Peakyas19 mountains within 25 kmMount Sanjūsangen842 m · 9.8 kmŌmikage-yama950 m · 11 kmSanjōga-take974 m · 12 kmNosakadake913 m · 13 kmMount Mikuni876 m · 14 kmMount Wakasa-Komagatake780 m · 18 kmMount Saihō764 m · 19 kmMount Hyakuri931 m · 21 km
Lakeyas3 lakes within 15 kmLake Suigetsu8.3 km² · 1.3 kmLake Kugushi1.3 km² · 3.6 kmLake Hiruga0.9 km² · 3.8 km
Cavernyas1 caves within 20 kmSotomo · 16 km
Cascadyas1 waterfalls within 15 kmUriwari Falls · 13 km
Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The place, as people saw it.
Other places nearby.
Mikata Five Lakes
Japan
- 39Birdyas Score
- 48Species
- 14Migrants
- 1Threatened
Osaka Nanko Bird Sanctuary
Japan · 113 km
- 79Birdyas Score
- 162Species
- 100Migrants
- 8Threatened
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q11355482) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Birds | 678 open bird records within 6 km (GBIF, CC0 and CC BY 4.0 only; mostly eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology) |
| See these records | gbif.org |
| Species | GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · CC BY 4.0; Wikidata (CC0); Wikimedia Commons |
| Altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Temperature and rain | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Islandyas, Lakeyas, Cavernyas, Cascadyas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit 
dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
viewpoints
Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit 
birdwatching
Every bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.You are here
forests
Every forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit