Black Drongo and 11 Pied Avocets Arrive!! (video)（Nov. 7, 2024） Bird Reports List--Wild bird photography and birdwatching on Okinawa Main Island and the Yaeyama Islands (Ishigaki Island, Iriomote Island, Taketomi Island, and more)

Black Drongo and 11 Pied Avocets Arrive!! (video)

Nov. 7, 2024

Ishigaki Island is getting strong northerly winds from unseasonably late Typhoon No. 22. I was out searching for the Black Bittern that had been reported the day before and the day before that, thinking "I wonder what else might turn up," when a message came in: "There's a Black Drongo here." I headed over and found a poorly-wary juvenile Black Drongo. It appeared to be preying on dragonflies and the like.

Toward evening, several acquaintances contacted me to say there was a flock of Pied Avocets. I was nearby on my way home from buying groceries at the supermarket, so I stopped in — and there was a flock of 11 Pied Avocets. In 2020 a flock of 7 visited Yonaguni Island, but this was well beyond that. The larger the flock, the more beautiful and impressive a sight it makes.

Black Drongo

A Black Drongo perched on a branch right in front of me.

Black Drongo

This individual is a juvenile, so it has white spots from the breast down to the undertail coverts.

Black Drongo

White spots are present on the underwing as well. From past records, Black Drongo apparently retain white spots on the underwing at least through the first-summer plumage of the year following hatching.

Pied Avocet

A dancing flock of 11 Pied Avocets. The monochrome Pied Avocets and the ash-grey sea under overcast skies together create an atmosphere of quiet austerity.