A Grey-lag Goose — a first record for me, seen on New Year's Eve. I think it's an adult, but I'm not sure.

All five were moving around together in a tight group. Against the harsh backlight the glare off the water was so intense that to the naked eye they were just silhouettes… I thought my eyes would give out.

An individual believed to be a male Ryukyu Scops Owl. It did sing for me, but when it called it was deep in the forest, so I couldn't get video. I did manage an audio recording. ^^

Same individual as above. No matter how many times I see one, a Ryukyu Scops Owl always gets my pulse up.

An Okinawa Rail roosting in a Ryukyu pine. This was a find in an area where I had never seen one before.

A different individual near the one above. Perhaps they are a pair.

A Eurasian Woodcock foraging in the grass.

A Spot-billed Duck hybrid — probably a Spot-billed Duck × Mallard cross.

First-winter Black-tailed Gull. This is only the second time I've seen a young Black-tailed Gull in Okinawa. A genuine rarity here.

Whenever a Great Cormorant surfaced with a fish in its bill, the Black-tailed Gull would try to steal it.

It landed nearby. It was bathing.

A Black-tailed Gull scattering Northern Pintails and Eurasian Wigeons. I noticed in the photo that an American Wigeon was in the frame right beside the Black-tailed Gull. ^^;

There were lots of Common Snipe in the sweet-potato fields. Same scene as the rice paddies on Ishigaki Island.

This individual was banded S39 in South Korea in 2013. A veteran in its eighth year.