Four Common Shelducks in the paddies. Four Common Shelducks on Ishigaki Island — that's unusual.

A pair of Black-winged Kites. They were far away and the atmosphere was bad, so I churned out shot after shot with nothing in focus. This one is among the better ones. ^^;

A female Crested Serpent Eagle in flight.

A Crested Serpent Eagle that flew straight toward me.

A Grey-faced Buzzard launched itself at a grasshopper. It grabbed it with its feet and carried it off toward the windbreak.

Yellow-throated Buntings occasionally turn up in large flocks on Ishigaki Island too.

This time it was a flock of just four, all adult males.

A male Daurian Redstart was busily pecking at cycas fruits left over by a crow.

While I was watching the Yellow-throated Buntings, a female Daurian Redstart appeared from somewhere.

There was a Buff-bellied Pipit in the paddies. A flock of eight Grey Buntings also turned up, but they disappeared into the pampas grass and I couldn't get a shot…

The snipe were all Common Snipe. Others around included Common Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Marsh Sandpiper, and Common Redshank. I couldn't manage to find the Solitary Snipe my mentor pointed me toward — disappointing.