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

Grey-faced Buzzard, juvenile. Temperatures stayed low, and it was struggling to find food.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult. Apparently the species was sometimes used for falconry during the Kamakura period, but with this temperament I imagine it could only manage small birds at best. ^^;

Rook, a little less wary than before.

It was holding something in its bill. A pond snail, perhaps?

Northern Pintail, female. It was eating seeds from grass about as tall as itself.

Northern Pintail, male.

White Wagtail, having caught a small insect.

Brambling, male. Bramblings don't stay long in Okinawa, so a chance encounter is always a treat.

Brambling picking at Distylium racemosum berries that had fallen to the ground.

At any sound it startled and flew back to a nearby tree.

Distylium racemosum berries that the Brambling had been eating. They had split in two and the black seeds were visible inside.

Distylium racemosum. The Brambling seems to be particularly fond of its berries.

Common Teal, male. Many individuals that were still in eclipse plumage when they arrived on migration are now coming into breeding plumage.

Common Teal, female in breeding plumage.

Black-faced Spoonbills resting in a flock of ten. Nine birds are visible in the photo.

Female Pale Thrush.

Foraging with its bill caked in mud.

Female Brown Shrike in first-winter plumage, perhaps? (I've received information that this may not be a Brown Shrike but rather a Red-backed Shrike or a hybrid with Red-backed Shrike blood. Either way, it appears to be a very rare find.)

This Brown Shrike has only two tail feathers — what on earth happened? (I've received information that this may not be a Brown Shrike but rather a Red-backed Shrike or a hybrid with Red-backed Shrike blood. Either way, it appears to be a very rare find.)

Light-vented Bulbuls damaging corn. I hear their numbers have declined compared to before, but they remain a persistent headache for farmers.

A Light-vented Bulbul perched on a corn stalk. The Light-vented Bulbuls of the Yaeyama Islands are the Taiwan subspecies.

A Scaly-breasted Munia eating weed seeds. Javan Munias live in the Yaeyamas, but I've never seen a Tricolored Munia here.

A Scaly-breasted Munia perched on a cauliflower damaged by Light-vented Bulbuls. Canola flowers in the background.

A flock of around 50 Common Greenshanks. Spring migration has begun.

A single Temminck's Stint, associating with a few Long-toed Stints.

Long-toed Stints. There were a few birds together — these must be part of the northbound movement too.

Common Greenshank landing on water.

Black-winged Stilt landing on water.

Common Snipe in the waterway.

At this time of year, almost all of them are Common Snipe.

Common Snipe foraging.

Common Snipe on alert.

A Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile standing alone in the middle of a rice paddy.

A Grey-faced Buzzard launching toward its prey. It caught a large Melanoplus differentialis afterwards.

Holding prey in its left foot.

After dismembering it a little, the rest was swallowed whole. The Grey-faced Buzzard swallows prey whole, but the Common Kestrel was tearing it apart and eating it piece by piece. Probably a difference in body size.

A Grey-faced Buzzard scanning for prey from its usual perch.

Lesser Kestrel. In the process of transitioning from juvenile plumage to first-summer plumage.

Absorbed in preening. The tail feathers still appear to be juvenile.

A Lesser Kestrel bathed in evening light. I hope it stays long enough to come into full adult plumage….

A Zitting Cisticola nearby. Zitting Cisticolas are probably starting to look for mates ahead of the breeding season — I saw many individuals perched like this at the tops of grasses.

An adult female Common Kestrel that has caught a large Formosan ground locust. The following shots are all the same individual.

The grasshopper, pinned down, was still alive and struggling.

I wanted to get a shot of it taking off too, but I was shooting handheld without a tripod, and a strong southerly wind was blowing so it flew away at incredible speed — I couldn't keep up… ^^;

The pattern on the breast and so on is a characteristic typical of juvenile shrikes.

It looks like an Isabelline Shrike, but the tail feathers show characteristics of a Brown Shrike.

Will the features be a bit more apparent once the tail feathers have fully grown in?

Brown Shrike or a hybrid thereof.

Brown Shrike apparently has a shorter tail than other shrikes.

Today's Brown Shrike was mimicking the calls of small birds. (Added 20 February: it wasn't mimicking other birds — it was the Brown Shrike's own song!! It sounds just like the song posted on xeno-canto. It seems it was practising its song as it is becoming a mature male.)

It caught a small spider.

Itchy.

Brown Shrike from behind. The tail is shorter compared to other shrike species.

It was mimicking the calls of small birds quite frequently. (Added 20 February: it wasn't mimicking other birds — it was the Brown Shrike's own song!! It sounds just like the song posted on xeno-canto. It seems it was practising its song as it is becoming a mature male.)

Looking forward to seeing it develop into a fully summer-plumaged male!!

A Brown Shrike preening.

It only leaped sideways that one time….

A male Blue Rock Thrush. An utterly common bird found everywhere, but strikingly beautiful.

A female Blue Rock Thrush. Paired with the male above. Near my home, some Blue Rock Thrushes have already begun nesting.

A White's Thrush that couldn't get along with the Blue Rock Thrush. ^^; When they got too close, they were threatening each other.

The Scaly-breasted Munia flock numbered around 20 birds.

Whimbrels are also increasing with the spring migration.

Common Redshanks on migration are also increasing. They somehow give a different impression from the wintering birds, or is it just me?

Black-faced Spoonbill J10.

A breeding record of Black-winged Kite written by Spotter Ishigaki Island Nature Guide Service.

BIRDER magazine, March 2017 issue cover.

An adult female. Common Buzzard — rare in Okinawa. Wherever it went, it was driven off by Grey-faced Buzzards.

An adult Grey-faced Buzzard perched on a remarkably slender branch.

A juvenile Grey-faced Buzzard.

A Common Kestrel hovering. The Common Kestrel from the other day was nowhere to be found.

A Japanese Bush Warbler came out to a spot like this and was catching tiny insects on the ground alongside a Daurian Redstart.

Every Daurian Redstart I saw this winter was female.

A Dusky Thrush was in the park. After I took a few shots, someone out for a walk startled it and it never came back…. ^^;

Japanese Bush Warblers are seen in the Yaeyamas during migration, but numbers are low. On the Okinawa main island it is a resident.

A close Olive-backed Pipit. Maybe about 10 metres away.

A sugarcane field and an Olive-backed Pipit. Not a combination you see every day. ^^;

A Brown-backed Shrike perched on a nice branch.

I don't come to check every day, but it has become much less wary of me.

The Brown-backed Shrike from behind.

Heavily cropped for a close-up shot.

Today it took me a while to find — over 30 minutes. It wasn't hunting; it was just relaxing in the undergrowth.

This Brown-backed Shrike always seems to open its bill when it scratches its head. ^^;