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

A Grey-faced Buzzard diving steeply toward prey spotted in a sugarcane field after the harvest.

It seems the prey got away — the bird just stood there looking dazed.

Adult female Brown Shrike. This winter there had been several brief glimpses of a bird I couldn't quite confirm as a Brown Shrike, so wary was it. At last it came out somewhere I could actually get a photo.

Once it caught prey, it went straight into the undergrowth. When it finished eating it came back out to a spot with a clear view and started hunting again.

A single Eurasian Spoonbill among a flock of Black-faced Spoonbills.

Female Ruff, first-winter plumage.

There were around 20 each of Common Greenshank and Black-winged Stilt.

Male Falcated Duck (background) and a female juvenile.

The Falcated Ducks were dunking their heads into the water and feeding on aquatic vegetation below the surface.

The male Falcated Duck came very close and gave me a fine view of its beautiful plumage.

A few Gadwalls were at the far end of the pond.

Male Eurasian Wigeon.

Female Eurasian Wigeon.

A Eurasian Woodcock foraging for earthworms on the lawn. It was close enough that it looked a little tense.

A total of three Eurasian Woodcocks were found on the lawn and in the grass.

The light from the right was a bit strong, and a heavy shadow fell to the rear left of the woodcock. ^^;

Eurasian Curlews resting in the shallows at high tide.

Awave Tidal Flat is probably about the only place in Okinawa where you can see Eurasian Curlews gathered in numbers.

This single photo has over a hundred birds in it. In total, there were roughly three times that number.

Dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. Hunting from a favourite perch. The closest I've ever managed to get.

The Naumann's Thrush is an uncommon winter visitor to the Okinawa main island, but during the spring migration season it becomes a little easier to see alongside Dusky Thrushes. I saw Naumann's Thrush and Dusky Thrush at the same spot two years ago as well.

It looked to have just finished eating prey — there was dried blood on the bill.

Adult male. Mid-moult from winter plumage to summer plumage.

Juvenile. The crest is short and the face is brown. The brown feather edges are almost entirely worn away.

It was trembling its feet rapidly in the water and along the paddy ridges to flush insects from the soil and catch them.

Numbers are still small, but Wood Sandpipers also appear to be stopping over on migration.

Adult Grey-headed Lapwing. About half into summer plumage.

This is the posture they take when a Peregrine Falcon appears.

The White Wagtail with a white supercilium would not move from the grass.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Patches of yellow are starting to come through here and there.

White Wagtails were present in various stages of moult, showing a rich variety of plumages.

There were about ten Buff-bellied Pipits as well, but they kept a low profile — when they were on the ground I could only pick out the nearest individuals, but when something startled them into flight the numbers became clear.

A single Long-toed Stint was foraging alongside the wagtails.

Common Snipe foraging in a rush paddy. The bird visible in the background is a Long-toed Stint.

A few individuals were also seen standing motionless in the grass.