A daily journal.
Mainly introducing wild birds of Ishigaki Island, Okinawa, through photos.

First confirmed record!! Pin-tailed Snipe wintering!! (video)

I have been able to document Pin-tailed Snipe wintering on Ishigaki Island as a definite record. This is the individual confirmed last November. Construction started nearby and I was too busy with work over the year-end and New Year period to get out and check, but it was wintering at the same spot.

Pin-tailed Snipe had been observed here as late as late February 2024, but a solid wintering record had remained elusive. Having confirmed this bird from November through to late January, it now stands as a firm wintering record. I can only hope this individual stays on through to the spring Pin-tailed Snipe season in April.

Pin-tailed Snipe

This Pin-tailed Snipe left a strong impression, so I've been able to identify it individually. You can tell at a glance. ^^ First-winter plumage.

Pin-tailed Snipe

I was passing through for work and didn't have much time, but it gave me a bath scene.

Pin-tailed Snipe

A Pin-tailed Snipe preening after bathing.

Common Snipe / Pin-tailed Snipe

A Pin-tailed Snipe driving off a Common Snipe (right). The smaller-bodied Common Snipe loses out to both Pin-tailed and Swinhoe's Snipe.

Common Snipe

The same Common Snipe as above. First-winter plumage. Around five Common Snipe are wintering here.

Common Snipe

Common Snipe are wintering all over the island.

Long-toed Stint

Temminck's Stint — many pass through, but almost none winter here.

Common Greenshank

A Common Greenshank with an injured wing. It may have difficulty migrating when spring comes.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plovers are wintering in flocks in the rice fields.

Eurasian Spoonbill

A Eurasian Spoonbill on an extended stay. It was fairly wary.

Categories: 野鳥