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

Both birds are adult male Garganey. Still in non-breeding plumage, so none of that striking pattern yet.

Eurasian Teal, juvenile male. Moulting from juvenile into first breeding plumage — scapulars and flanks are starting to show breeding feathers.

Eurasian Teal, juvenile male.

Eurasian Teal, adult female.

A lone Buff-bellied Pipit.

A Red-throated Pipit keeping a wary eye on me. I was observing from quite a distance, but it was very on edge.

Red-throated Pipit at the water's edge, trying to pick off a small insect stuck to the underside of its tail.

Yellow Wagtail (taivana), juvenile. It can be distinguished from the (Yellow) Wagtail by the supercilium width and other features.

A juvenile (Yellow-browed) Eastern Yellow Wagtail.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage. This year there have been so many Pheasant-tailed Jacanas I'm getting tired of them. ^^;

Wood Sandpiper, adult.

Common Redshank (right) and Marsh Sandpiper, adult winter plumage.

Common Greenshank, adult.

Black-winged Stilt, first-winter plumage.

A Chestnut-breasted Bunting perched on a power line.

A Chestnut-breasted Bunting constantly looking around — perhaps sensing a raptor nearby.

A juvenile Rosy Starling. It perched on the power line in front of the roost I found yesterday.

A Purple Heron swallowing a large turtle (probably a softshell) whole. I wonder if it can digest the shell too.

A Crested Serpent Eagle waiting for land crabs nesting in the paddy bund to emerge.

A male Siberian Stonechat in winter plumage.

Same individual as above. It perched on the grass along the bund and occasionally dropped to the ground to catch prey.

A male Pale-backed Pigeon. This is probably the same bird that has been here for the past few days. This time it was perched on a power line, but now that harvested paddies are appearing I expect it will be easier to photograph going forward.

Red-throated Pipits seem to be cycling through the paddies across the area, with fresh flocks coming and going one after another.

I spotted a shadow rustling about in the grass. I waited to see what it was, and out came a Scaly-breasted Munia. ^^;

Grey-streaked Flycatcher, juvenile. There were two in the same pasture.

Purple Heron, adult. Among the herons gathering for the rice harvest, the Purple Heron was the most reserved — keeping its distance and waiting for insects to emerge. If a turtle shows up, only the Purple Heron can handle it.

The boldest of all is the Eastern Cattle Egret. It follows right behind the tractor.

Little Egrets also follow the tractor much like the Eastern Cattle Egrets, but they're not quite as bold. ^^;

The Great Egret does not chase the tractor; instead it waits for prey to flush on its own.

The Oriental Pratincole I found soared up high and then came back down with what looked like a Tuberous Bush Cricket in its bill. Adult winter plumage.

Common Redshank, juvenile.

Dunlin — 25 birds in total across two sites. For Ishigaki-jima, such numbers staying this long is relatively uncommon. The bird in the foreground is in first-winter plumage, and the one behind is an adult moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Wood Sandpiper, juvenile plumage moulting into first-winter.

Common Snipe, adult. This time of year, but late summer plumage?

Caspian Tern, adult winter plumage. Some of the primaries still retain summer plumage.

It looked like it was about to cough up a pellet, but never did.

Spreading the wings shows the moult clearly. Mostly winter plumage, but a few primaries are still in summer plumage.

In the evening light it was dark, and for a moment a juvenile White-winged Tern gave me a start.

It looked to me like a juvenile Black Tern — but maybe not.

The Black-winged Kite at this spot is a fairly approachable individual, so I was able to observe it at close range. ^^

Those bright red eyes of the Black-winged Kite are a real draw for birdwatchers. ^^

A Crested Serpent Eagle came to a paddy field where rice harvesting was under way.

Common Kestrel, adult female.

It was scanning for prey from the field berm.

The Great Reed Warbler normally stays stubbornly hidden in the sugarcane fields and undergrowth, but the timing coincided with a break in the rain and it briefly came out into the open where I could see it well.

Same individual as above. It appeared to be drying its rain-soaked feathers.

This one pushed the bird above off its perch, so it is the same leaf but a different Great Reed Warbler. It looks even more heavily washed with brown.

More than ten Red-throated Pipits had come down into the recently harvested paddy. A Rosy Starling and a Pale-backed Pigeon were also mixed in among the flock of Oriental Turtle Doves in the same field.

My son can now tell several species apart. Birdwatching with him — a fan of the picture books Tsubame Kōkū, Poppo Kōkū and Karugamo Yūranssen (all by Keiji Motoyasu) — is a real pleasure.

Siberian Stonechat, which often came down to the field path because of the strong wind.

Tufted Duck, male eclipse.

Tufted Duck, female in winter plumage.

Northern Shoveler, male. Moulting from eclipse into breeding plumage.

Northern Shoveler, female juvenile.

Northern Pintail, female non-breeding (right) and male juvenile.

A dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard harassed by two crows. Called a black buzzard, but compared to the crows it doesn't look that dark.

I have a feeling it looks more striking than it did last year when it was still a juvenile.

In the morning it was tucked away somewhere like this, and I had a hard time finding it.

That blackness actually makes it surprisingly hard to spot compared with a normal Grey-faced Buzzard.

Garganey, juvenile male.

It was at some distance, and the grass in the foreground got in the way, making observation difficult.

Eurasian Teal, male. Moulting from eclipse into breeding plumage.

Eurasian Wigeon, male juvenile.

Tufted Duck, eclipse.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana, juvenile. Moulting into first-winter plumage.

Normally juveniles have dark irises and adults have pale ones, but in the Pheasant-tailed Jacana it is the reverse — juveniles have bright yellow eyes and adults have dark ones.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana, head-on. So slender!!

I also managed to photograph the Pheasant-tailed Jacana's long toes. The hind claw in particular is very long.

A Black-faced Spoonbill suddenly dropped into the rice paddy while I was watching a Pheasant-tailed Jacana.

Black-faced Spoonbill and Medium Egret.

A juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper in wintering mode.

Dunlin in winter plumage, wintering in good numbers — several dozen birds.

A juvenile Peregrine Falcon with beautiful feather edges. The white on the head looks a bit like Barbary Falcon, but the breast isn't pale, so probably a regular Peregrine.

When I first spotted it, it was perched on a rice paddy bund.

If it were a Barbary Falcon the streaking on the breast and belly would be brown, and if a Sooty Falcon the whole bird would be yellowish-brown, so I think it's a juvenile Peregrine.

Common Kestrel, first-winter male.

A Caspian Tern in flight against the beautiful sea of Ishigaki Island.

Three Caspian Terns resting at a river mouth.

Caspian Tern, adult winter plumage. A few summer-plumage primaries are still retained.

It flies.

It took off occasionally, but no foraging dives were seen.

A Caspian Tern flying around looking down for prey.

Kentish Plover, first-winter plumage. With a deformity at this level I'd think it can still feed, but if it progresses further that would be tough.

Dunlin, juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Dunlin, adult winter plumage.

A stunning dark morph Grey-faced Buzzard came right toward me!! The focus is soft, but it's a rare shot of a wary dark morph Grey-faced Buzzard, so… ^^;

The upperparts are also a striking dark brown.

A Malayan Night Heron with dark irides.

And while I'm at it, a plain ordinary Grey-faced Buzzard.

A Swan Goose appeared in the rice paddies.

The male and female seem to differ in size, but it's hard to tell….

The name "Sakatsuraggan" apparently comes from the orange-flushed cheeks, said to look like the rosy cheeks of someone who has been drinking — though I'm not so sure.

It moved to a fallow field and was walking around grazing on grass.

Two photos stitched together into a panorama. All adults. The one on the far left looks like a male, maybe?

A young Eurasian Spoonbill.

A juvenile Black-faced Spoonbill.

With a Eurasian Spoonbill (left) and a Black-faced Spoonbill side by side, the size of the Eurasian Spoonbill really stands out. A Little Egret was following the two spoonbills around — its plan being to snatch up any aquatic creatures startled into the open as the pair swept their bills back and forth while feeding.

A Black-faced Spoonbill in flight. The black feathers typical of juveniles are conspicuous.

A Eurasian Spoonbill in flight. Being a young bird, the black feathers are equally striking.

All three Swan Geese are still doing well. I doubt overwintering will be easy for them — I wonder how long they'll stay.

The Swan Geese, apparently startled by a feral cat or something, took flight. They circled above the rice paddies and then came back down.

A Pheasant-tailed Jacana that has been here for about three weeks now. There were two initially, but at some point it became just one.

Pheasant-tailed Jacana, head-on.

It was on alert when a Common Kestrel flew overhead.

A juvenile Northern Lapwing.

The moult is taking a while, but this one is also a juvenile.

A juvenile Eastern Buzzard that has come from the continent. Will it overwinter, or push further south?

A juvenile female Common Kestrel.

The two on the left are Tundra Beans Geese and the four on the right are Swan Geese.

A Tundra Bean Goose taking flight.

A Crested Serpent Eagle is faintly visible behind the flying Tundra Bean Geese. Startled by it, the Tundra Bean Geese never returned to the same paddy field.

Four Swan Geese watching two Tundra Bean Geese fly away.

The Tundra Bean Geese moved to a different paddy. The Swan Geese that had been with them also moved to a different paddy.

Adult female Bull-headed Shrike. Same build as the male I found last time.

It was catching grasshoppers and lardering them. Like the male last time, this shrike makes larders quite frequently. I have never seen a Brown Shrike lardering.

Pinning down a grasshopper caught in its foot. The head is overall rufous-brown.

Rear view. The back is uniformly rufous-brown as well.

A Japanese Scops Owl appeared just five minutes after I arrived at the spot.

The fourth Japanese Scops Owl I encountered was quite a friendly individual.

Same individual as above. A farewell wink.

Ryukyu Scops Owl. One feather is sticking out from the head. ^^;

A Solitary Snipe at rest. It's too wary for me to get any closer. What a fine bird, though.

A Solitary Snipe taking a break in light rain.

Northern Lapwings can be found in paddy fields here and there.

Just a single Brambling. I wonder if it got separated from its flock and can't continue its migration.

Yellow Wagtail, first-winter. One slightly olive-tinged feather is showing on the shoulder.

Same individual as above. Watching from behind, several olive-tinged feathers are visible. The uppertail coverts and undertail coverts at the base of the tail are also faintly olive-tinged.

A different Yellow Wagtail, also first-winter. The uppertail coverts and undertail coverts on this one show no colour.

Same individual as above. Seen from the front, juvenile feathers remain on the breast.

A Solitary Snipe puffed up.

Just as it puffed up, it gave itself a good shake. What a beautiful bird the Solitary Snipe is.

A Solitary Snipe startled by the shutter sound.

In this shot I was a bit further from the bird. This is what its normal body shape looks like.

At first it was like this — extremely alert even seen through gaps in the grass.

Common Snipe is a fine bird too, but next to the beauty of a Solitary Snipe…

There was also a female Ryukyu Little Bittern.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle — the 14th of the season. I called my mentor, who surveys juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle numbers, straight away.

The crest was raised by the wind. I'd like to get closer for a shot, but apparently local birders and rental-car tourists have driven into the paddies here a combined four times, and the landowner is angry and not letting anyone in. ^^; Please be careful if you're visiting. If you wander in without knowing, you'll get a very scary earful in Yaeyama dialect.

My first Swinhoe's Snipe in a while.

A few Buff-bellied Pipits had joined a flock of Eastern Yellow Wagtails.

After waiting quietly, one came close.

White Wagtail, female, first-winter plumage. White Wagtails are scarce this year.

Photographed three Tufted Ducks at the sedimentation pond for the newspaper.

There were plenty of Little Buntings, but twigs kept getting in the way for photos.

A single Masked Bunting among a flock of Little Buntings.

My first Naumann's Thrush confirmed this season.

Pale Thrushes, which started turning up in greater numbers a few days ago. I hear their calls often, but this is my first time photographing one this season.

Red-flanked Bluetail, male, first-winter plumage.

Daurian Redstart, female. Both males and females were present in good numbers.

Siberian Stonechat, male, winter plumage.

Siberian Stonechat, female, first-winter plumage.

Buff-bellied Pipit found on the evening of the first day. It was forming a large flock together with Red-throated Pipits.

The majority were Buff-bellied Pipits, though a few Red-throated Pipits were mixed in.

The next day, Buff-bellied Pipits at the same spot. The flock had dispersed over a wide area.

White Wagtail, male, first-winter plumage. You'd think they'd get along, being both white birds, but it was squabbling with a Kentish Plover.

A ridiculously distant Tufted Duck. Tufted Duck is a rarity in Okinawa. ^^

There were two female Mandarin Ducks, but these were also far away….

Common Buzzard, juvenile. Three individuals confirmed. There have been a lot of Common Buzzards on Ishigaki this year — Yonaguni may be the same.

Black-headed Gull, second-winter plumage. It was bathing in a rice paddy.

Brown Shrikes were plentiful. I searched for other shrike species, but every one turned out to be a Brown Shrike.

Dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. Last year one stayed through March. Hopefully this year's bird will do the same.

A Grey-faced Buzzard — the black morph — seen perfectly side-on. Striking, isn't it. ^^

Daurian Starling, male.

Daurian Starling, female. The flock that day numbered in the teens.

Bathing before going to roost.