A daily record.
Featuring photos of wild birds and nature, mainly from Okinawa Main Island and Ishigaki Island

An adult male Red Collared Dove (right) and a juvenile female.

Juvenile male Red Collared Dove.

At first glance you might think this Red Collared Dove is a female, but it is a juvenile male.

A Black-winged Kite raising young. Raising three chicks takes a lot of rats.

I was watching it hover from inside the car, and it flew past, coming toward me.

A Javan Pond Heron that had been on the irrigation channel was startled by a truck and perched on a branch.

There are three Javan Pond Herons. They use the channels and the rice paddies.

There was also one Chinese Pond Heron together with the Javan Pond Herons, but it didn't show itself much.

Among the Gallinago snipe, Common Snipe are the most numerous.

A female Black-winged Kite. In the north wind, it perched on top of a dead branch looking for prey.

The male that was in the same place. Since they're together, they may breed from now on.

A Crested Serpent Eagle beside the road. Traffic accidents involving Crested Serpent Eagles will increase from now on, so drivers need to be careful at the wheel.

A juvenile Common Kestrel. Among the birds that winter on Ishigaki Island, the proportion of juveniles is high.

While watching the grove where a Chinese Sparrowhawk had dived in, I spotted a Black Wood Pigeon.

Two juvenile Pied Avocets have arrived.

The first juvenile male Garganey confirmed this season.

A juvenile male Eurasian Teal that was with the Garganey above.

A textbook individual — identifiable as Pin-tailed Snipe at a glance.

Same individual as above.

This is a Swinhoe's Snipe. A juvenile.

Same individual as above.

This is also a juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

This is a Common Snipe. Numbers had been building for several days, but work kept me too busy to get out and see them.

Common Snipe (two birds in the foreground) and Swinhoe's Snipe.

How the tail feathers of Pin-tailed Snipe appear. The look changes depending on the angle. For reference.

How the tail feathers of Swinhoe's Snipe appear. Depending on the angle, they are often mistaken for Pin-tailed Snipe.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Long-toed Stint, flushed by the arrival of a Common Kestrel.

They circled a few times and came back down to the same paddy field.

The first Ruff of the season has arrived too. A juvenile.

A juvenile Little Tern had caught a dragonfly.

A Black-faced Spoonbill has been staying here for the past few days.

This season Javan Pond Herons can be found in rice paddies all over the place.

Chinese Sparrowhawk, juvenile. I also picked out several adults soaring.

My first Common Kestrel of the season. It was flying along the cliffs facing the sea.

A few Oriental Dollarbird juveniles confirmed. All were juveniles.

Isabelline Shrike were found in a variety of habitats — farmland, residential areas, the harbour, forest tracks and more.

Subspecies such as Isabelline Shrike and Chinese Grey Shrike turn up, but the subtle differences make identification tricky, especially for females and juveniles.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher were coming into Yonaguni Island in considerable numbers.

I also heard Arctic Warbler calls. Numbers are still low, but wintering birds will be increasing from now on.

Found a leucistic Eastern Yellow Wagtail. It was in a flock of "Siberian Thrush"-type Eastern Yellow Wagtails, so it's probably that subspecies. When I first spotted it I thought it might be a crazy rare subspecies. ^^;

Pacific Golden Plovers were also in, with multiple flocks on farmland and grassland.

A single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper mixed in with a flock of Pacific Golden Plovers. It looked quite exhausted.

Black-winged Stilt at the reservoir. There are few water sources on Yonaguni Island, and various shorebird species had gathered here.

Whiskered Tern at the reservoir.

Whiskered Terns could also be observed in grasslands and similar areas.

Encountered small flocks of Common Emerald Dove several times. They are very wary, so photography is a challenge.

This Common Emerald Dove was alone, so I was able to photograph it at close range.

Common Kingfisher at the reservoir. I wonder whether it breeds on Yonaguni Island?

Common Myna numbers are increasing year by year.

This Mallard was observed at the same reservoir last year as well. It may be spending the entire year at this pond, unable to migrate due to some kind of trouble.

Two Javan Pond Herons.

Same Javan Pond Herons, but the colouring on the upperparts is quite different. Could it be a juvenile versus adult difference?