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

Subadult Red-footed Booby. The bright red feet are just barely visible.

The moult is visible too.

When a Red-footed Booby spotted a flying fish, it would wheel around and dive steeply.

The one with the blue face is an adult male Brown Booby.

Adult female Brown Booby. Pretty much a pterosaur, really.

Adult male Brown Booby. There were a lot of males. I wonder if the females were back on the island incubating?

Bridled Tern with Yonaguni Island in the background.

First-summer male Chinese Sparrowhawk. A few juvenile feathers remain on the belly.

A Dollarbird on the forest road. First time I've seen one in spring.

The Black Drongo seemed to be in a hurry to move on — rather than making its usual sallies from the power lines, it flew steadily eastward and was out of sight in no time.

While I was watching the Black-winged Stilts, a Chinese Pond Heron dropped in.

Near the guesthouse, a Oriental Pratincole. Why is it still in juvenile plumage at this time of year?

A Siberian Citrine Wagtail in a flock of several dozen Citrine Wagtails. Afterwards the flock was flushed by a Japanese Sparrowhawk.

There were a lot of Yellow Wagtails.

I also saw (Blyth's) Citrine Wagtails here and there.

White Wagtail adult summer plumage. All the wagtails here were White Wagtails (Taiwan subspecies).

White Wagtail first-winter to summer plumage.

Jankowski's Bunting. In flight, the white outer tail feathers were conspicuous. A male was also present in the sugarcane field, but I couldn't get a photo.

It kept its bill open the whole time because of the heat.

The Curlew Sandpiper was in transition to summer plumage.

The Black-tailed Godwit was also in transition to summer plumage.

Marsh Sandpipers — one nearly in full summer plumage, another still transitioning.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in summer plumage.

Red-throated Pipit in summer plumage.

Long-toed Stint moulting from winter to summer plumage.

A Grey Nightjar targeting insects from a power line.

At the Okinawa Rail site, I found an individual roosting almost as soon as I arrived.

A male Ryukyu Robin on guard near the nest.

When other robins approached, the male would drive them off. He showed no reaction to people.

A Ruddy Kingfisher roosting on exactly the same spot, the same branch as last year.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl loitering around the nesting tree of a Elegant Scops Owl. Like the Elegant Scops Owl, the female of this species is probably incubating at this time of year.

Sankakuike had few birds, but I was able to see Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Long-toed Stints in summer plumage.

This Sharp-tailed Sandpiper still had winter plumage remaining.

Black-tailed Godwit, female, first-summer plumage.

Black-tailed Godwit, male, summer plumage.

All Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in breeding plumage. The two on the left are adults; the one on the right is in first-summer plumage.

Common Redshank in breeding plumage.

A Ryukyu Kingfisher in red and white — quite a celebratory look. This one is a female.

This is what the back and left side of the face look like.

This is the male of the pair. Again, the facial expression is noticeably different between male and female.

The White-breasted Waterhen family finished bathing quickly, then followed their parents into the sugarcane field and disappeared from view.

This White-breasted Waterhen was seen on a different day, preening on a branch jutting out over a river.

A female Brown Hawk-Owl. The brood patch is visible.

The male Brown Hawk-Owl returning close to the nest after driving off a crow.

The female Brown Hawk-Owl returning to the nest.

The tree hollow seems to be shallow — you can see her sitting on the eggs. No wonder the crows found her.

The male back at his regular lookout post.

The Ashy Minivet chicks have grown large and are spilling out of the nest.

They already have the look of proper Ashy Minivets.

A truly magnificent purple — this is the Ryukyu Kingfisher at its finest.

The Ruddy Kingfisher paired with the individual above. This one is believed to be the female.

Adult male Crested Serpent Eagle.

A second-calendar-year Crested Serpent Eagle. Compared to last month, you can see the moult has progressed. By around October it will look no different from an adult.

A Malayan Night Heron zeroing in on an earthworm.

Rain began falling in the early afternoon, and all the island's birds were completely soaked.

A female Ruddy Kingfisher, or so it appears. This individual has white feathers mixed in around the lore and behind the eye.

The male paired with the female above. His bill has a few wood shavings on it — he may still have been in the middle of digging the nest hole.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl keeping watch over the incubating female. Brown Hawk-Owls will take prey that passes in front of them even during the day, but this individual is an odd one — it leaves its lookout perch and flies around inside the bright forest searching for food.

I was worried about flooding from the heavy rain, but she was still incubating.