Upland Buzzard, Little Bunting, Black-tailed Gull and more on Yonaguni
About five days on Yonaguni for work. Managed a little birdwatching in the spare time. Around Yonaguni Airport: two Upland Buzzards, an Eastern Buzzard, a Hen Harrier, a Peregrine Falcon and a Common Kestrel, apparently hunting small birds in the grass along the runway.
Pale Thrushes were present in large numbers across the island — flocks of thirty or more in the best spots. A few Brown-headed Thrushes were also seen. Pale Thrushes and Brown-headed Thrushes were concentrated mainly in the northern part of the island from Sonai to Kubura, while Dusky Thrushes were conspicuous in the south from Minamimakiba to Hikawa.
Little Buntings, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, Red-throated Pipits and Daurian Redstarts were all holding on through the strong winds. At Kubura fishing port, two Black-tailed Gulls and four Black-headed Gulls were staying over.
A juvenile Upland Buzzard appeared in the distance.
A second Upland Buzzard also showed up. This one was far away too. The two birds were several hundred metres apart and showed no sign of interacting with each other.
A Common Buzzard, right between the two Upland Buzzards. A month ago on a work trip to Yonaguni Island I found a Steppe Buzzard, but this time there was none.
A few Little Buntings were sheltering from the wind.
A Pale Thrush with almost no wariness at all.
A flock of about 30 White's Thrushes had moved into the farmland.
Among the flock of 30 White's Thrushes there were also a few Pale Thrushes mixed in.
A Dusky Thrush at a ranch. At this time of year only small numbers have been recorded on Ishigaki Island, but there were plenty on Yonaguni Island.
A Red-throated Pipit still retaining some summer plumage on the face.
On this individual, the reddish colour on the face has almost completely faded.
Juvenile (Yellow-browed) Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Almost all the Eastern Yellow Wagtails were juveniles.
A juvenile Black-tailed Gull eating a Common Sandpiper. First-winter plumage.
The moult was more advanced on this individual than the one above. Black-tailed Gull, first-winter.
Black-headed Gull, adult winter. There were four of them.
A male Daurian Redstart was at the boat-haul-out area in the harbour. It seemed to be foraging — though I wonder what it was eating.
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