Visit Wakayama

The Yoshino River flows from Mt. Odaigahara in Nara Prefecture to the west through Wakayama Prefecture into the Kii Channel. This calm 136-kilometer-long waterway changes names midway to the Kinokawa River, a major river of the Kii Peninsula. The Kinokawa Cycling Road runs along the levees and riverbeds of the Kinokawa River. Cyclists can make a round trip from the mouth of the river to the end of the course at JR Suda Station for a long ride stretching some 120 kilometers, or set their own start and finish points to enjoy a more manageable ride.

Our starting point was Kinokawa Dam. We focused our binoculars on the Musota Aqueduct Bridge just upstream, and lo and behold, there was a whole colony of birds—a large seabird with uniformly black plumage called the great cormorant, or kawau in Japanese, literally an u (cormorant) living around the kawa (river). The Kinokawa Dam area is home to many fishes and makes an ideal habitat for fish-eating birds like the great cormorant. The song of the Eurasian skylark came from the grassy riverbed; the great crested grebe, Eurasian coot (a member of the rail family), and pairs of gadwall swam in the water; and the common gull flew in the sky above.

Our birding guide, Tomokazu Taniwaki, told us, “Here you’ll find seabirds, freshwater birds, and even predatory birds that hunt fish.” In the days when paddy fields covered the area, another common sight was the greater painted-snipe, a rare polyandrous bird where the female mates with several males during breeding season (classified as “Threatened IB” on the Wakayama Prefecture Red List). The Kinokawa area surely lives up to its reputation as a birding paradise.

Peering through our binoculars wasn’t getting us anywhere—it was time to move on. Defying the strong wind blowing from the river, we pedaled eastward along the flat cycling road. Our next birding break was around the Kawanabe Bridge. We carried our mini velos and walked from the levee down the grassy slope to the riverbed.

Having heard that the grassland and open space attracts harriers, we strained our eyes trying to spot one, especially the hen harrier with silvery plumage that glints in the light. Then a bird emerged from the bush—a female pheasant. For a moment, the pale brown plumage got us all excited, as we thought it belonged to a copper pheasant endemic to Japan.

Neck-high reedbeds are an important habitat that birds use for resting and nesting. So if you spot a reedbed, we were taught, the rule of thumb is to pull out our binoculars and check it out. Our discovery here was the Oriental greenfinch, which looks modest on the ground, but when in flight, displays vibrant yellow feathers that stand out against the blue sky. From there on, we departed from the cycling road and crossed the Izaka Bridge to the opposite bank of the Kinokawa River.

Kinokawa City’s town of Momoyama is literally a major production area of momo (peach). Earth and sand washed down from the mountain form deposits and develop the rich soil of the Kinokawa River basin. That coupled with the warm climate makes the area ideal for growing fruit trees. An especially famous fruit is the Arakawa no Momo brand peach of Momoyama. Tens of thousands of peach trees are grown in the Togenkyo peach orchard at the foot of the Izaka Bridge. During full bloom, the orchard is tinted a vibrant pink and enveloped in a sweet fragrance—having heard that, we vowed to come back in the peach blossom season.

After Togenkyo, we returned to the first roadway in a while and breezed past the traffic on our mini velos. At Taniwaki-san’s favorite birding spot, the Moroi Bridge, we spotted a bull-headed shrike and saw an all-white great egret atop a bare tree taking aim at the water for food. Farther on, our goal at Hiraike Ryokuchi Park came into view. The park’s reservoir is an attractive habitat for aquatic birds and destination for migratory birds.

We met up again with Taniwaki-san and pushed our mini velos around the reservoir to observe the birds. There were plenty: the Eurasian wigeon, the northern shoveler, the domestic duck, the mallard, and a gray heron collecting nesting materials.

“Ducks may not look all that glamorous, but they’re fun to watch. Admiring them makes you feel warm and relaxed,” says Taniwaki-san. Papersky’s Editor-in-Chief Lucas B.B. chimes in,“I like the duck with panda eyes [i.e., the smew].” Thanks to bicycles that give us a great amount of mobility and freedom, we spotted a wide variety of birds in many locations and situations. Which birding destination will we explore on the next ride. 

This feature is produced in collaboration with PAPERSKY No. 74, a travel and lifestyle magazine.