Amami and Tokuno Islands, Japan.

I just spent two nights/one day on Amami and 24 hours on Tokuno with two friends. Ferry crossings from/to Okinawa were over remarkably lifeless seas, except for one small area SW of Amami where we saw a few seabirds and a small mixed herd of common and rough-toothed dolphins. On Amami we saw one lesser Ryukyu shrew, a few Amami spiny rats (including one very tame juvenile) and a few Oriental house rats in and around Mangrove Primeval Forest (28.246844N, 129.313299E); one greater Ryukyu shrew, two Ryukyu boars, one Amami rabbit, one Ryukyu giant rat, a few Oriental house rats, a few least horseshoe-nosed bats of Amami ssp., a few La Touche’s freetails, and a night roost of Ryukyu tube-nosed bats (the first one ever recorded) in Amami Natural Forest Park (28.452367N, 129.593067E); one Amami spiny rat, many Rykyu boars, and one Amami rabbit near Amami Forest Police Park (28.315647N, 129.335955E); and a few La Touche’s freetails emerging from a sea cliff colony on the W coast. On Tokuno, there were dozens of Amami rabbits (often hanging out with Amami woodcocks), one Tokuno spiny rat, one Ryukyu giant rat, and many bats including least horseshoe bats of Amami ssp., Oriental freetails (possibly the first record for the Ryukyus), Ryukyu tube-nosed bats, Yambaru myotis, and Ryukyu bentwings (the latter only recorded by bat detector) along the road that goes from 27.872849N 128.95032E to 27.837487N 128.947579E; also one Ryukyu boar, one greater Ryukyu shrew, and a few least horseshoe bats near Inokawadake Trailhead (27.758944N, 128.976286E). Birds reported in Kantori group on Facebook. Both islands are teeming with wildlife, and overall delightful.