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

Grey-faced Buzzard adult (right) and Chinese Sparrowhawk adult, a rendezvous.

A group of two Grey-faced Buzzard adults and a Chinese Sparrowhawk juvenile. The larger ones are the Grey-faced Buzzards.

Japanese Sparrowhawk juvenile. Whenever a Chinese Sparrowhawk or Grey-faced Buzzard flew overhead, it seemed to mistake them for intruders on its territory and furiously chased them off. ^^;

When I took the shots I thought I'd got Grey-faced Buzzard, Chinese Sparrowhawk, and Japanese Sparrowhawk together, but looking carefully at the photos it's a Grey-faced Buzzard adult, a Chinese Sparrowhawk adult, and a Chinese Sparrowhawk juvenile. ^^;

A kettle of several dozen raptors. Most were Chinese Sparrowhawks, with about two Grey-faced Buzzards mixed in.

Garganey, juvenile.

Northern Pintail, adult female.

Northern Shoveler, adult male.

Northern Shoveler, juvenile male.

Eurasian Wigeon, female.

Dunlin, first-winter plumage.

It was picking up tiny insects from the bottom of the ditch.

Red-necked Stint, juvenile.

Common Snipe. The large numbers seen last week had thinned out considerably — I found only two birds.

Another Common Snipe.

Common Sandpiper, adult. Transitioning from breeding plumage to non-breeding plumage.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult male.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult female.

Pectoral Sandpiper, juvenile.

The breast pattern is sharply divided into a clear upper-lower border.

Another juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper.

Lately the only snipe I can find are Common Snipe.

First White Wagtail of the season. First-winter male.

Western Siberian Wagtail, first-winter.

White Wagtail, adult male, non-breeding plumage.

Perhaps a grasshopper had landed on the leaf.

Launching after a lizard prey!!

The prey was in a grassy patch and I couldn't make out clearly what the Grey-faced Buzzard had caught.

Another Grey-faced Buzzard launching toward prey. It was flying low, skimming just above the scorching ground, so heat shimmer got in the way of the shot. Everything looks hazy… ^^;

A Grey-faced Buzzard emerging from between the hills, heading for its wintering grounds.

A Grey-faced Buzzard flying over downtown Nago trying to catch a thermal.

Grey-faced Buzzard, juvenile.

Perched on a branch, calling out. Perhaps summoning its companions to set off on migration.

An adult female Chinese Sparrowhawk flew far in the distance. It appeared anxious, with no companions around.

Common Snipe. This individual always looks like a Swinhoe's Snipe to me.

Also Common Snipe. This type I wouldn't mistake.

Also Common Snipe.

Upper left and centre are Common Snipe; the one on the right is unidentified.

Looks like a Swinhoe's Snipe to me.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper, juvenile.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Mixed in with a flock of Wood Sandpipers, it didn't stand out. Nearly missed it. ^^;

It has prey pinched at the tip of its bill. It was plunging its bill into the mud at the bottom of the water and eating what looked like small tubifex worms or bloodworms.

When Long-toed Stints or Wood Sandpipers came close, it drove them away.

A textbook Buff-breasted Sandpiper. ^^

Long-toed Stint with a flag.

The code on the metal ring on the left leg was unreadable….

Little Stint. Holding a bloodworm in its bill.

Pectoral Sandpiper, juvenile.

Little Ringed Plover with partly white tail feathers.

Common Snipe.

Common Snipe foraging alongside a Grey-tailed Tattler.

Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle basking in the sun. Its beak was chipped.

Common Kestrel, the first confirmed sighting of the season. A juvenile female.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult female. It was being chased around by crows.

Osprey. Some individuals spend the summer in Okinawa, while others come through to winter.

This Common Kestrel is also a juvenile female.

A Grey-faced Buzzard perched on a branch in the rain, hunting for prey.

A Grey-faced Buzzard, very far off.

Javan Pond Heron in winter plumage, at close range.

The Javan Pond Heron seemed bothered by the Grey-faced Buzzard flying overhead.

A Ryukyu Striated Heron in the grass, apparently trying to pass itself off as a reed.

Whiskered Terns were flying around energetically even in the rain.

Whiskered Tern, juvenile. One leg appeared to be injured — the left leg hung down throughout flight.

Even with rain hitting it, the water beaded off the back of the Whiskered Tern nicely.

Oriental Pratincole in winter plumage. Resting in a flock of around ten birds.

Common Kingfisher, adult male. Perched on a dead branch jutting out over a waterway.

Eurasian Wigeon, juvenile female.

A flock of seven Eurasian Teal.

The first Eurasian Coot of the season was a juvenile.

Floating alone, bobbing on the water — looked a little lonely.

Black-faced Spoonbills preening each other.

Black-faced Spoonbill, adult.

This form is just indescribably charming. It reminds me of something, but I can't quite place it… ^^;

A Ryukyu Least Bittern on slight alert. Give it a little space and it goes right back to normal.

Black-winged Stilt, male.

Black-winged Stilt, first-winter.

Black-winged Stilt, female.

Whiskered Terns wheeling over the paddies and fields. Numbers were low early in the morning. As the sun rose, they appeared from nowhere and built up to the usual count.

A Whiskered Tern with an intent expression.

An Osprey was eating a fish it had caught, buffeted by strong winds.

Out on the tidal flat, an Osprey that had grabbed a large mullet dropped down right in front of me.

Ospreys always start eating from the head. I wonder if that's the tastiest part?

A Red-necked Phalarope, moving in its endearing way.

A Greater Crested Tern far in the distance — well over 400 metres away. About as far as you can still make it out as a Greater Crested Tern.

The first large wader of the season was a Eurasian Curlew.

A little apart from the Eurasian Curlew, there was a Whimbrel.

The high that day was close to 30°C — a summer-like day. The Eurasian Skylark was sitting with its bill open, looking hot.

A Eurasian Skylark was pecking at the same grass seeds sparrows often feed on. So skylarks eat seeds too — who knew.

A male Brambling pecking at cluster-fig fruit.

A female Brambling extracting seeds from a pine cone. When dozens of Bramblings fed on pine seeds all at once, the thin husks covering the seeds fluttered down like a fine snow.

A male Eurasian Siskin. It also appeared to be eating pine seeds.

When Eurasian Siskins arrived in a flock, they would perch high in the trees and look all around.

A partially leucistic Oriental Turtle Dove.

A juvenile Yellow-bellied Tit. It was yellower than I expected. I wonder if adults are even more vivid.

It was eating pine nuts held between its feet.

This individual's grey areas, including the head colour, looked slightly darker.

Two Yellow-bellied Tits. The one in the background, slightly out of focus, is the individual from the photo above.

I'd like to shoot carefully with the 600mm and a tripod, but Yellow-bellied Tits cover a wide area and are hard to track down, so I used the more mobile 100-400.