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

A Eurasian Hoopoe with a small scar under its eye, wandering around on a tidy lawn.

I crawled forward on my belly to get the shot. ^^; The Hoopoe stretched up and looked over at me as if to say, what's that?

This Hoopoe was very wary too. ^^;

A flock of Grey Plovers and Grey-tailed Tattlers.

Pacific Golden-Plover and Grey Plover.

There was a Pacific Golden-Plover with a broken left wing. Must have hit a power line or something.

Black-winged Kite after a long absence. I managed to get the distinctive red eye in the shot too. ^^

Striking, isn't it.

A Black-winged Kite being chased by a crow cut across quite close by, but unfortunately it was a bit backlit… ^^;

The closest Black-winged Kite yet. I had to shoot in an awkward position because it was so close, and my back paid for it…

A Black-winged Kite spotted across a wide sugarcane field. This is how large it came out with an 840mm lens. Can you see it there, small in the centre?

Occasionally an Osprey would circle overhead and startle them into flushing, but they didn't seem to stray far from Sankakuike.

When it spots prey it launches out in an instant. The Common Kestrel is fast right from the first beat.

Caught something in the grass. It ate on the ground, so I couldn't make out what it had caught.

Eurasian Spoonbill and Black-faced Spoonbill. The Eurasian Spoonbill is a size larger than the Black-faced Spoonbill.

Eurasian Spoonbill, juvenile. Perhaps because it was a juvenile, it followed the Black-faced Spoonbill around and stayed with it the whole time.

Black-faced Spoonbill. There appear to be around three on the island.

Five Bean Geese came floating down into a rice paddy. ^^ They arrived one after another following the Eastern Spot-billed Ducks.

A feisty Crested Serpent Eagle — it was biting the handler repeatedly. ^^;

It flew straight across the pasture and into the woodland on the other side.

Common Shelduck. You can observe it up close at leisure. When an Osprey shows up, it keeps an eye on the sky and moves even closer.

The Common Shelduck spent the whole time relaxed — stretching, dozing off.

The Pied Avocet was resting with a flock of Black-winged Stilts, got flushed when an Osprey appeared, but returned quickly.

A Pied Avocet foraging alongside Black-winged Stilts.

The Osprey circled overhead and made several feints toward the pond, but then flew off toward the sea.

A single Black-headed Gull was resting alone.

Common Kingfishers are quite wary on Ishigaki-jima, but on Okinawa Main Island they let you photograph them easily. ^^

I wonder if Common Kingfishers breed on Okinawa Main Island?

The Eurasian Spoonbill slept the entire time. A Black-faced Spoonbill also turned up, but that was after I had put my camera away, so no photos… ^^;