A daily record.
Featuring photos of wild birds and nature, mainly from Okinawa Main Island and Ishigaki Island

The bird to the left of the Bonin White-eye is a fledgling.

Bonin White-eyes are everywhere. This one is eating papaya fruit at a private residence.

A Bonin White-eye after bathing.

Fledglings of the Long-billed Bush Warbler could also be seen here and there.

This one is a sibling of the Long-billed Bush Warbler above.

The Long-billed Bush Warbler was accompanied by several chicks.

Fledgling Blue Rock Thrushes are all over the place too.

The Japanese White-eye is apparently an introduced species. There were a lot of them.

Oriental Pratincoles on the playing field.

There were also a few Pacific Golden Plovers on the same field as the Oriental Pratincoles above.

Two Eurasian Coots at the dam.

When I went to the fishing port at night, there were fish absolutely everywhere. ^^;

This is what I came to see. Ryukyu Wood Pigeon. Beautiful.

The back is beautiful too.

There were two Bonin Grosbeak — I hadn't expected to encounter them at all.

A fledgling Long-billed Bush Warbler. It had just left the nest.

Bonin Blue-tailed Skinks were concentrated around the north harbor area.

On Chichijima I encountered many Bonin Buzzards, whereas I hadn't come across any on Hahajima.

Just like on Hahajima, Chichijima also had plenty of fledglings — Blue Rock Thrush, Japanese White-eye, Long-billed Bush Warbler and others.

There was one White-winged Tern at the dam.

A Great Egret was also at the same dam as the White-winged Tern.

From the EOS-1D X Mark II onward, all-point autofocus works at f/8, so I gave it a test. I photographed White-winged Terns flying around the coast. Conditions were good, but the tracking was spot-on.

The Osprey coming straight at me is also in sharp focus. This too is the 600mm with a 2× extender at f/8, autofocus. The EOS-1D X Mark II is feeling good.

At first I couldn't tell what it was, but a look through the binoculars revealed a Great Knot.

There was also one Pectoral Sandpiper.

About ten Marsh Sandpipers.

There were roughly as many Common Greenshanks as Marsh Sandpipers.

A few Little Terns as well.

Gray-tailed Tattler. It looks like winter plumage — what's going on?

A Japanese Paradise Flycatcher incubating. Shot with the EOS-1D X Mark II. You can see the improvement over the EOS-1D X.

Also a Japanese Paradise Flycatcher incubating. Shot with the EOS-1D X. The EOS-1D X Mark II renders brighter exposures, and noise appears improved as well. The silent shooting on the EOS-1D X Mark II is very quiet, making it ideal for nest situations. ^^ The standard shutter sound is also quieter than before.

A male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher brought in a large Joro Spider. The chicks are now able to handle prey this large.

A male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher waiting for a chick to produce a fecal sac.

At this Japanese Paradise Flycatcher nest, the ratio of food deliveries is roughly three males to one female. Nest construction was done almost entirely by the female, but the males appear to be quite cooperative when it comes to feeding.