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

Pin-tailed Snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe, and Common Snipe

Pin-tailed Snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe, and Common Snipe are all staying in the paddies of Ishigaki Island. Spring snipe identification gets harder than autumn — which is actually quite enjoyable. ^^

Pin-tailed Snipe

Pin-tailed Snipe spotted on a distant paddy bank. The backlight makes observation tough… ^^;

Pin-tailed Snipe

Another Pin-tailed Snipe. Looks very similar to the individual above.

Also a Pin-tailed Snipe. Compared to the individual above, this one tends darker.

Common Snipe / Pin-tailed Snipe

Common Snipe (left) and Pin-tailed Snipe. The Pin-tailed Snipe is the same individual as the one at the top.

Pin-tailed Snipe

Another Pin-tailed Snipe, mid-moult into breeding plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe / Pin-tailed Snipe

Swinhoe's Snipe (right) and Pin-tailed Snipe. In this case the size difference is clear, but in the field you basically can't identify them by size alone.

Pin-tailed Snipe

A Pin-tailed Snipe that came up onto a concrete block in the evening. This was the individual that had been hiding in the grass all day.

Swinhoe's Snipe

A Swinhoe's Snipe that wouldn't come out of the grass.

Swinhoe's Snipe

Another Swinhoe's Snipe in the grass.

Common Snipe

I don't often get a chance to photograph them, but there was a Common Snipe here too.

Black-winged Stilt / Whimbrel

While I was watching a flock of Black-winged Stilts, a Whimbrel came down. Looking at it this way, the Whimbrel is surprisingly small — or is it that the Black-winged Stilt is large?

Oriental Pratincole

About 20 Oriental Pratincoles had come down. Three are visible in this photo.

Categories: 野鳥