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

A Javan Pond Heron staying over. Will it winter here?

The same individual as above. Until recently, two Javan Pond Herons were in the same rice paddy, but today there was only one.

The first Eurasian Teal of the season. There were two, but both were juveniles.

Several Purple Herons in the paddies as well. It's becoming a good time of year to see them.

The overwintering Brown Shrikes are calling

Wood Sandpiper juvenile. The ones still around are all juveniles.

Black-winged Stilt, juvenile. A few adults mixed in here and there.

Common Greenshank, winter plumage. Numbers are thinning out, with only the wintering birds remaining.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher, adult. It was chasing the juvenile.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher, juvenile. The individual being chased by the adult above. Got to hear its call too.

My first Common Kestrel shot of the season. First sighting was on Yonaguni Island in mid-September. ^^;

The season has come when Crested Serpent Eagles — both adults and juveniles — are easy to see in rice paddies and fields.

White-tailed Eagle, adult.

White-tailed Eagle, juvenile.

White-tailed Eagle, adult.

White-tailed Eagle, juvenile.

Glaucous Gull, 4th-winter.

The bird at the back is a Glaucous-winged Gull, adult winter.

Slaty-backed Gull, 4th-winter.

Slaty-backed Gull, 4th-winter.

Black-tailed Gull, adult winter.

Heuglin's Gull, juvenile.

Slaty-backed Gull, 2nd-winter.

From back left: Glaucous Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Slaty-backed Gull 2nd-winter, Slaty-backed Gull juvenile.

Two adult Glaucous Gulls on the left.

Black-tailed Gull, Heuglin's Gull, and Slaty-backed Gull.

Greater Scaup, male (back) and juvenile.

Tufted Duck, male (back) and juvenile.

Two male Mallards. Transitioning from eclipse to breeding plumage.

Black-necked Grebe, winter plumage.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker on a power line. Didn't expect to see one perching there.

A small number of Chestnut-eared Buntings were present.

Eurasian Goldfinches in flocks here and there.

Laughing Dove, adult female.

Three Laughing Doves. The bird in front is a male; the two at the back are females.

Japanese Grosbeak, adult female. She looks rather scruffy — probably mid-moult from summer to winter plumage.

A Javan Pond Heron that has settled in for a long stay — well into wintering mode. If it stays until spring, we might get to see it in breeding plumage.

Common Snipe numbers have started climbing again lately. A mix of juveniles and adults.

My first Eurasian Wigeon of the season. Appears to be a juvenile.

White-winged Tern, adult. Some remnants of breeding plumage remain.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult female.

Grey-faced Buzzard, juvenile.

Peregrine Falcon, adult male.

Citrine Wagtail moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Same individual as above, from the opposite side.

Citrine Wagtail juvenile, head-on.

Citrine Wagtail from a slight front angle. It was foraging while walking around the paddy fields.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, juvenile. The broad supercilium suggests the subspecies taivana.

Oriental Pratincole, first-winter. A flock of six Oriental Pratincoles all looked equally worn out — perhaps just arrived on migration.

Oriental Pratincole, adult winter.

White-winged Tern, adult in winter plumage.

This one has the primaries in tatters.

Common Snipe, adult. This one looks tired too.

Brambling, adult male.

Brambling, adult female.

The Bramblings were in a flock of several dozen.

Adult Black-faced Spoonbill. On the Okinawa main island it summers over and can be seen year-round, but on Ishigaki-jima it winters here from around this time through next spring.

A young Black-faced Spoonbill.

The two were foraging together companionably. They appeared to be catching dragonfly larvae and the like.

Common Redshank moulting into winter plumage.

Common Greenshank in winter plumage.

Adult Marsh Sandpiper.

Adult female Black-winged Stilt in winter plumage. The bird on the left is in first-winter plumage.

The first Daurian Redstart of the season. A very approachable male.

I have a feeling Daurian Redstarts are going to be numerous this year.

A Crested Serpent Eagle launching off after spotting prey.

It was perched on a banana plant, scanning for prey.

A Crested Serpent Eagle looking down over a pasture from a Ryukyu pine.

Juvenile Ryukyu Sparrowhawk.

Adult male Eurasian Siskin. It was absurdly far away, so heavily cropped. ^^;

The Black-faced Spoonbill was spending the day in the same paddy field again today.

Dunlin in first-winter plumage.

Adult Dunlin. Moulting from summer into winter plumage.

Juvenile Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Juvenile Green Sandpiper.

Adult Black-bellied Tern. Moulting into winter plumage.

Common Teal were coming into the paddies in large numbers all over the place. The individual on the far left is a male in eclipse, but you can see a few breeding feathers coming in.

Eurasian Wigeon in a small flock of several birds. This one appears to be a juvenile.

Harsh image due to backlight and heavy cropping. A Red-throated Pipit that looked like a Buff-bellied Pipit. Raptors were lurking around the paddies, so all the birds were extremely wary and difficult.

Male Daurian Redstart. Beautiful.

A confiding individual that even showed me its back.

A female was nearby too.

Red-throated Pipit in winter plumage. There were over a dozen. The rest are juvenile Yellow Wagtails (taivana).

Almost all the Yellow Wagtails were juvenile taivana.

A male Red-throated Pipit in mid-moult, with some red still remaining on the face.

The male Pale-backed Dove (right) moulting into first-winter plumage. It is noticeably smaller than the Oriental Turtle Dove on the left. Yesterday I thought they were an adult male and adult female, but it seems it was an adult male and a juvenile. Both the Pale-backed Dove and the Oriental Turtle Dove would not come out, wary of raptors such as Japanese Sparrowhawk, Common Kestrel, and Eurasian Sparrowhawk.

Javan Pond Heron at the usual spot. Its range is narrower than when it was first found.

Javan Pond Heron with an earthworm it had caught.

The Javan Pond Heron is not very wary and keeps coming closer and closer.

Male White Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

Adult Grey-streaked Flycatcher. Numbers are down, but I'm still getting encounters.

Amur Wagtail, first-winter plumage. Probably a male.

It kept flying up to catch insects. You can see insect wings in its bill, but I couldn't tell the species.

Male White Wagtail, first-winter plumage. It was flocking together with Amur Wagtails.

Adult male Bull-headed Shrike. The white wing patch came out clearly — a record shot I have no complaints about!!

I thought it had dived into the grass, but it had caught a frog and was making a larder.

The tail-wagging behaviour typical of shrikes was not observed.

Even just a rear view looks out of place on Ishigaki-jima. The Bull-headed Shrike looks chunkier than the Brown Shrike.

This is an adult male Brown Shrike.

A Gray-faced Buzzard, since we're on the subject of raptors. A wintering bird.

Male Pale-backed Pigeon in first-winter plumage.

Female Pale-backed Pigeon in first-winter plumage.

Adult female Pale-backed Pigeon. An individual with a faint collar.

Adult female Pale-backed Pigeon.

Adult Black-winged Kite. Those ruby-red eyes are striking.

A Black-winged Kite hovering.

Its level flight is also distinctive — recognisable at a glance even from a distance.

A juvenile Common Kestrel attacks the Black-winged Kite from behind.

The Black-winged Kite extends its sharp talons and fights back.

While the Black-winged Kite and Common Kestrel were locked in their fight, Barn Swallows were wheeling around them.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana transitioning from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

The two Pheasant-tailed Jacanas kept moving in and out among the rice stalks.

Female Pale-backed Pigeon in first-winter plumage.

Male Pale-backed Pigeon. Moulting from juvenile into first-winter plumage.

Adult female Pale-backed Pigeon.

First record of Northern Pintail this season — a male. Moulting from juvenile into first alternate plumage.

Purple Heron, juvenile.

Same individual as above.

White-winged Tern, juvenile. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a Whiskered Tern since getting back to Ishigaki.

Black-headed Bunting, first-winter.

Black-headed Bunting, head-on.

Rosy Starling, juvenile. Not yet in first-winter plumage, but if it stays through the winter we might get to see that beautiful summer plumage. Two birds here, so fingers crossed.

Size comparison with Common Starling. In this individual's case, the Rosy Starling is just slightly smaller.

The Common Starlings were in a flock of 13.

Daurian Starling, adult male. The Daurian Starling is noticeably smaller than the Common Starling.

Chestnut-cheeked Starling is even smaller than the Daurian Starling above. Male juvenile.

The Common Starlings were in a flock of 7. They breed locally on Okinawa-honto, but on Ishigaki they are scarce winter visitors.

Brown Shrike, first-winter.