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

It appears to be just one bird this time. It's keeping an eye on me, swaying its head left and right and twisting it around.

Already impressive feet.

A big yawn.

It dozed off for a while too.

At night it watches from above like this as people out for a walk pass beneath the nest tree.

During the day, it was showing just its face.

The male parent standing guard during the day had returned to the branch he used during the incubation period.

The female parent was perched in a tall tree. Both male and female were in different spots from the past few days.

A Brown Hawk-Owl chick at the nest entrance. Last night there was a typhoon, but it seems as though nothing happened.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl. This is the first time I've seen it perched on this branch. Nobody visits the park after the typhoon, so it isn't startled by any walkers — this may be its usual lookout spot.

It showed its whole body during the day. It's grown to the point where it could fledge any time now.

The second chick of the Japanese Sparrowhawk. It was moving back and forth between the nest tree, a Sea Almond, and a nearby Ryukyu Pine.

The first chick. Growth is nearly the same as the second chick, but noticeably bolder in its movements.

First chick (right) and second chick.

Resting in the Sea Almond, perhaps to shelter from the rain.

There are large numbers of Large Brown Cicadas around, but it doesn't seem very interested. Before long it will start tracking moving things with its eyes and pouncing on leaves as if they were prey.

The only-child Brown Hawk-Owl made it through the typhoon and fledged safely. Hope it grows into a fine adult.

The parent birds were side by side keeping watch over the fledgling. Left is the female, right is the male Brown Hawk-Owl. You can just about tell the difference between the sexes. ^^

It was perched beside a walkway where people were passing in the rain with umbrellas and raincoats. Maybe it's not so frightened because it's been watching walkers go by since its time in the nest.

It was raining and very dark, but a modern lens at 400mm can still freeze the shot at something like 1/13 of a second.

A different nest site from yesterday. A Brown Hawk-Owl chick, seemingly about three days post-fledging. While several birds were confirmed at the nest, only one had fledged. There was also only one parent, so the other chicks and a parent are probably somewhere out of sight.

Day two since fledging. Barely moved from day one. ^^;

The parent birds are in exactly the same spots as yesterday, female on the left and male on the right, in the same order.

A pair of Barred Buttonquail. The bird in the foreground with the black throat is the female; the one behind is the male.

They were walking through a sugarcane field.

An Oriental Pratincole that caught a Large Brown Cicada. It had snatched the cicada out of the air about 100 metres away.

This one was running after the lawnmower, catching grasshoppers and other insects that jumped out in fright. It also caught a centipede.

Just beginning to shift into winter plumage. That head-on face looks a bit like a lizard?!

This one is still in summer plumage.

Kentish Plover, male.

This one is a female. She looks ragged — worn out from raising chicks, perhaps.

The nearby windbreak was full of Crested Tree Lizards. This individual had particularly vivid green colouring and a sturdy build — a fine-looking specimen.

A Brown Hawk-Owl parent and fledgling side by side. The fledgling is on the left, the adult male on the right.

The Japanese Sparrowhawk female was keeping watch from her usual Ryukyu Pine. The chicks were napping in the shade of Terminalia leaves.

Near the Brown Hawk-Owl nest, a Broad-winged Mantis was attacking a Large Brown Cicada. The cicada's death cries rang out across the area.

An Okinawa Rail was roosting low to the ground. I wondered if it was injured. The primaries looked almost entirely absent.

This one was roosting high up in a Ryukyu Pine.

Today, from the first Okinawa Rail I found, there were three birds in total, spaced about 50 metres apart.

A Little Tern adult delivering a small fish to a chick.

Once the chicks have grown to around this size, the feeding handoff is over in an instant.

Undeterred by the strong wind, it flew about, going through the motions of hunting and picking up seaweed and other things floating on the surface.

An adult carrying food to the chicks.

The landings are pretty skilful too.

Offshore, flocks of Roseate Terns and Black-naped Terns were hunting together.

A Little Tern passing a small fish to a chick (right).>

This Little Tern is already passing food to the chick in mid-air.

A Roseate Tern sheltering on the sandy beach among a flock of Little Terns.

Bridled Terns were also resting nearby. The individual in the middle background has a metal ring, but I couldn't read it.

Little Terns were the most numerous. Not a single juvenile from yesterday's large gathering is here today. Is there somewhere they go to roost separately?

A Japanese Sparrowhawk fledgling that survived the typhoon.

It looked a little tired, but when a parent brought food, the siblings scrambled for it.

A Japanese Sparrowhawk chick pinning a large brown cicada underfoot and eating it.

Even as a chick, a remarkably sharp gaze.

The female Japanese Sparrowhawk. She didn't seem to spot cicadas sitting still, but when a passer-by startled one into flight she snatched it out of the air.

A Japanese Sparrowhawk eating a large brown cicada. It ate half and gave the rest to the chick.

When a strong gust hit, the chicks would hunker down and hold on.

A Little Tern bringing in a small mullet.

Two chicks fighting over the food.

Once you get the food, run before someone steals it!!

The chick that ran off with the food skilfully swallows it whole while still flying in mid-air.

Fish after fish kept coming in.

Passing in front of the chicks with the food still in its bill.

Just as the chicks rush over, the parent takes off with the food still in its bill.

The chicks chasing the parent bird carrying the food.

Wings, tail feathers, and bill are all shorter than the parent's — it looks one size smaller overall.

The chick can now keep up with the parent's sharp turns. It also hovers and mimics hunting.

Being begged for food by a chick that isn't its own, it lowers its head in warning. Squabbles between adults and between chicks from different families are constant. ^^;

Full belly, so an early nap.

A juvenile Ryukyu Scops Owl spreading its wings. Looking at the underside, you can clearly see the primaries are still growing in.

Three birds were perched high in a Ryukyu Pine.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl still in juvenile plumage, with a young look about it.

A juvenile Ryukyu Scops Owl stretching.

Streaked Shearwaters on the return ferry from Kume Island.

Very distant, few birds — unsatisfying. ^^;

Flying fish startled by the ferry leapt out of the water, but no Brown Boobies came. ^^;

A juvenile Lesser Frigatebird flying right in front of me. I wish I'd had a telephoto lens. ^^;

Adult Ruff. Moulting from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Juvenile Greater Sand Plover.

A few Greenshanks had arrived. Late breeding plumage.

Dunlin in late breeding plumage.

A few Red-necked Stints. Late breeding plumage.

Grey-tailed Tattlers were catching crabs — fiddler crabs and others — on the tidal flat. Transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

A Greater Crested Tern that had caught a large crab.

It swallowed it whole, legs and claws still attached.

After the meal it pecked at nearby pebbles. It's the first time I've seen a tern swallow pebbles.

A crab happened to pass by while it was resting on the sandy beach, and the bird ran over and pounced on it. So they hunt like this too.

Adult winter plumage. Only nine primaries visible, which probably means P10 has been shed.

Looking at the upperwing from below, you can see P10 has grown out by a few centimetres. Once that feather is fully grown, the moult is as good as done. ^^

From this angle, the still-growing P10 on the right wing is visible. Not visible on the left.

Bridled Tern, head-on. Among the terns, this species has relatively long wings for its body size.

An Osprey was resting in a distant Yaeyama mangrove.