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

A Black-naped Tern courting. The individual on the right has a blue flag.

It seems both migration and breeding are a little late this year, but there were individuals already incubating.

Another pair, together.

The individual with a flag on its left leg appeared to be a male, seemingly urging the female to build a nest at this spot.

The Dinodon semicarinatum had bitten the tail of a Ryukyu Green Lizard, and the Ryukyu Green Lizard had bitten back at the snake's head.

For a moment the Ryukyu Green Lizard managed to escape from the Dinodon semicarinatum's mouth, but with a remarkably swift movement it was bitten again.

Once the Ryukyu Green Lizard went limp, the Dinodon semicarinatum raised its head high and carried the lizard off into the undergrowth.

A female Japanese Sparrowhawk charging straight at me at tremendous speed. You can probably tell from the way the wings are pulled in. I think the top speed exceeded 80 km/h. Small birds don't stand a chance when one of these comes after them… ^^;

A male Japanese Sparrowhawk.

A female Japanese Sparrowhawk. She is gripping prey in her talons — looks like a Brown-eared Bulbul.

The Brown-eared Bulbul I had found two weeks ago had already fledged.

Three Bridled Terns appeared all at once. The individual at upper right is dropping a bomb. ^^;

They flew close by. I was surprised at the size of the Bridled Terns — a first for me.

Bridled Terns passing overhead at Nagannu Island. Black-naped Terns and Roseate Terns were nesting on the island in good numbers.

One passed directly overhead.

The black back is a distinctive feature.

They seemed curious about people, and occasionally came close to check us out.

In the distance, a flock of Bridled Terns was wheeling in the air.

Roseate Terns against the blue sea of Okinawa. You can see the white flag and metal ring fitted in Australia.

There was a Black-naped Tern carrying a geolocator fitted by the Yamashina Institute for Ornithology. If we can recapture this bird next year and analyse the geolocator data, I think we will be able to get a clear picture of the Black-naped Tern's migration route.

There were only a handful of Little Terns.

A flock of Roseate Terns.

A Roseate Tern chick. It can't have been more than a few days since hatching.

A Bridled Tern chick in the distance. It didn't seem able to fly well yet, but it moved fast on foot. ^^

Bridled Tern eggs. For photographing nests and breeding activity, I followed the guidance of the survey team.

Roseate Tern eggs. The colour looks deeper compared to Bridled Tern eggs. The surveyors can tell from the nest construction whether it belongs to a Bridled Tern or a Roseate Tern.

Many Roseate Terns are incubating. Apparently they sit on the eggs not so much to warm them as to keep them from getting too hot in the sun.

A Roseate Tern returning to the nest. I also watched birds going back and forth between the bathing spot and the nest.

Roseate Tern (left) and Bridled Tern.

A Roseate Tern flying low.

A flock of Roseate Terns. A quintessential bird of Okinawa in summer.

This appears to be a different individual from the Roseate Tern with the white flag shown above. I couldn't read the number, but this one was also banded and released in Australia.

A Roseate Tern — the colour of the bill and feet is striking.

A Roseate Tern flying along the horizon.

A Bridled Tern came over to have a look.

A close-up of a Roseate Tern.

Survey work. Wildlife protection officers carefully record the number of nests and check on their progress.

Press coverage in progress. The two of us can cover a story with two lenses, a pen and a notebook, but the TV crew had a huge amount of gear — looked like hard work.

The sea at Chibishi (Keise-shima) was strikingly beautiful. ^^

Even so, this was shot with contrast set to linear. I imagine it would come out even more intensely blue if I'd used landscape mode.

Japanese Sparrowhawk siblings. I think before long they will stop returning to the nest tree and strike out on their own.

It flew across to the pine tree next door. It moves around with complete confidence.

When it gets tired, it perches on a branch for a rest.

When a parent returns, the chicks come back to the nest and beg for food.

The tail feathers are still short, but they will grow out quickly from here. Once that happens, it will be able to hunt prey on its own.

Along with the Black-faced Spoonbill, there were also Little Egrets, Grey Herons, and Black-crowned Night Herons. There seemed to be a lot of juvenile tilapia around, which they appeared to be targeting.

The three ring-shaped marks on the mud visible behind the Black-faced Spoonbill are remnants of tilapia nests. The fry are being eaten by egrets and kingfishers, but their numbers don't seem to be dropping. ^^;

The Black-faced Spoonbill, as usual, coming right up close.

Even in silhouette, the Ryukyu Scops Owl looks different from the Oriental Scops Owl.

Compared to the Oriental Scops Owl, the Ryukyu Scops Owl has a larger head and a stockier build overall.

Brown Hawk-Owls were nesting several tens of metres away, and whenever their calls came through, the Ryukyu Scops Owl kept reacting to them.

This Ryukyu Scops Owl appears to have no tail feathers — I wonder if something happened to it?

When the light drops, the pupils open up this wide.

A fledgling Okinawa Robin. It shows little wariness.

At this time of year, both adult Okinawa Robins and fledglings are out, so I would think the population is at its highest for the year.

A Ryukyu Pygmy Woodpecker hanging upside down, searching for insects among the Terminalia catappa.

It came as close as about 2 metres at the nearest.

After searching for insects for around 10 minutes, it flew off somewhere.

Okinawa Himeharu-zemi?

Cryptotympana facialis.

Okinawa horned beetle.

Okinawa skink. The blue tail was beautiful.

A newt was trying to eat an insect that had fallen into the water.

Okinawa tree lizard.

Kuroiwa's cicada?

Ryukyu dragonfly?

There were about 20 Wood Sandpipers across two rice paddies.

About 15 Little Ringed Plovers.

I peered through the binoculars and spotted something — a Ruddy Kingfisher incubating eggs.

The Ruddy Kingfisher met my gaze. This is the most critical time of year, so I took a few shots and then left.

A lizard like this came right to my feet. It was an unusual lizard that seemed to glide as it ran.

A beautiful Whistling Green Pigeon, but once it moves deeper into the forest it blends right in among the surrounding leaves.

Against the green, the Whistling Green Pigeon's blue bill and eye stand out.

A juvenile Ryukyu Scops Owl staring intently at the ground.

A different individual from the one above. All three juveniles had shed their greater coverts — moult appears to be progressing.

At this time of year large numbers of cryptotympana cicadas and Ryukyu brown cicadas emerge, so prey seems to be no problem. Not just the Scops Owls — Ruddy Kingfishers and others also frequently catch cicada larvae in the evening.

An Oriental Scops Owl that feels like the bottom half is adult and the top half still juvenile.

Every now and then it turns to face me.

In the evening, clouds with interesting shapes were building up.

There were only 2 Long-toed Stints.

Only two Long-toed Stints were present, and they were constantly fighting each other.

Just one Green Sandpiper.

A Wood Sandpiper panting in the heat.

The Wood Sandpipers that numbered around 20 last week were down to 5.

A few Little Ringed Plovers.

An adult Okinawa Rail.

From a slightly different angle. The Okinawa Rail was calm, so I pointed it out to a family of tourists who were wandering around nearby. They managed to get some shots with a compact camera too. ^^

A juvenile Okinawa Rail. The colour of the eyes and feet is duller compared to an adult.

After photographing the juvenile Okinawa Rail, I was on my way to a spot for Ryukyu Scops Owl when I ran into a photographer who had come up to Yanbaru, on a pitch-dark forest road. I passed on the Okinawa Rail information to them too. ^^

After finishing with the Okinawa Rail, I happened to look up at the southern sky and the Milky Way was clearly visible. Modern cameras are impressive — they captured far more stars than the naked eye could see. ^^;

The Milky Way to the north, shot from the same spot as the photo above.

This Ryukyu Scops Owl appears to have lost the feathers on its head and face some time ago. Perhaps it also lost one eye at that time. The wing coverts are also in disarray.

The left side is particularly bad — you can even see the ear. It was a painful sight. The eye will probably never recover, but the feathers will grow back.

Grey Plovers were constantly squabbling over the driftwood. ^^;

Dunlins were perched peacefully on the driftwood.

I wonder if the Grey Plover's moult starts in two places at once?

That day it was a spring tide, and the water rose quickly, eventually submerging the driftwood. The Grey Plovers were competing for spots right to the end.

Debris washed in by the Kyushu heavy-rain disaster covered the tidal flat. In the background, heavy machinery removing the debris is visible.