A brief birdwatching detour on a family trip to eastern Hokkaido
A family trip to eastern Hokkaido, 3–7 February, four of us. I seized the few spare moments to do just a little birdwatching. The Rock Sandpiper I had been hoping to see was extremely distant, but I did get to see it. It was scope-distance only, so no photographs. I'll try again someday.
Adult White-tailed Eagle with Kunashir Island in the background.
Adult Steller's Sea Eagle at the Notsuke Peninsula.
Juvenile White-tailed Eagle on ice that had collected inside the harbour.
Young White-tailed Eagle. 4W perhaps.
Adult White-tailed Eagle.
Adult male Red-breasted Merganser.
It was out at sea, but a Common Merganser. Male, 1st-winter.
Adult male Harlequin Duck.
A female Harlequin Duck floating in the fishing harbour.
There were plenty of Greater Scaup too. They're in the rarity category for Okinawa.
I spotted a cormorant flock and thought I'd see if there were any Pelagic Cormorants among them — but they were all Pelagic Cormorants. They seem to be using it as a roost; there were nearly 200 birds.
A Whooper Swan on an unremarkable stretch of coast. It came right up to me, so it's probably been fed by people. ^^;
There were a few juveniles as well.
Hokkaido Sika Deer were everywhere. The males and females seemed to be in separate groups.