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

Rufous Night Heron in breeding plumage. I feel like sightings of Rufous Night Herons have been increasing in recent years.

The Glossy Ibis has moved to a paddy a little further away but is still present.

Whiskered Tern adult in breeding plumage (right) and first-summer.

Whiskered Tern adult. Some winter plumage remains, but it has mostly changed over to breeding plumage.

A first-summer Whiskered Tern, desperately trying to swallow a large fish. It couldn't manage it in the end.

Whiskered Tern adult. Transitioning from winter to breeding plumage.

Female Brown Hawk-Owl. Collared Scops Owl and Ruddy Kingfisher also breed in this area.

The male. Only one fledgling was vaguely visible… ^^;

This is a Brown Hawk-Owl from a different location. Sexing this pair is tricky, but this one is the male.

And the female. She seems bothered by the noise from a kindergarten excursion that had arrived nearby.

A fledged Brown Hawk-Owl chick. It looks like the youngest of the brood, but no others could be found.

A juvenile Oriental Pratincole. About 30 days old, perhaps.

This one might be the second chick.

I'm fairly sure this is the youngest.

The parent. Sex unknown. The summer plumage is heavily worn.

The Glossy Ibis and the Black-winged Stilt behind it look not all that different in size.

It was busily walking around the flooded paddies, picking up aquatic insects and the like.

Stretching. Today the sun was at a bad angle and the glossy ibis colours didn't really come through.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl chick that had fledged the previous night.

The siblings apparently remain in the tree hollow; the parent is staring intently at the nest entrance. This is a behaviour seen in parent Brown Hawk-Owls and scops owls when fledging is imminent.

A bit more of the Glossy Ibis's characteristic sheen came out.

The prey appeared to be small snails and dragonfly nymphs.

When it clouds over, the Glossy Ibis goes dull in an instant. ^^;

Even when dull, it's still a beautiful bird.

It was quite far away, but there was a female Greater Painted-snipe.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl keeping watch near the nest.

Perched just a few meters from a road used by people and cars.

A female Oriental Scops Owl brooding chicks in the nest.

Three fledged Brown Hawk-Owl siblings. I've been watching this spot for six years, but this is the first time I've actually seen the fledging here. The timing has never worked out before… ^^;

It's my first time seeing a Eurasian Coot on Ishigaki Island in summer. On Okinawa Island as well, multiple individuals overwintering through the summer have been confirmed recently.

Juvenile Purple Heron. There were two juveniles in the same area.

A female Greater Painted-snipe preening. At this time of year I hear their calls often and encounter them frequently.

Eastern Spot-billed Duck with ducklings. Occasionally individuals breed at the dam, but this was my first time seeing a female with chicks in the rice paddies. This female had seven ducklings with her.

These chicks have grown quite large. The adult is in the middle. She had five chicks that had grown to nearly the same size as the parent.

Adorable Eastern Spot-billed Duck ducklings. Mandarin Duck also breeds on Okinawa Island, but among ducks, the Eastern Spot-billed Duck is the only one that breeds on Ishigaki Island. Though not in the family Anatidae, the Little Grebe also breeds on Ishigaki Island.

The female Brown Hawk-Owl parent. Her plumage is quite worn and she looks exhausted.

The male Brown Hawk-Owl keeping watch higher up in the nest tree. Sexing the pair here is straightforward too.

The male on alert as a fledgling Rock Dove comes close.

I managed to get a good shot of the underwing of a Glossy Ibis. Rather than bronze, it shimmered like tempered stainless steel.

The upperparts are gleaming beautifully too.

A Glossy Ibis preening. I willed a feather to fall, but unfortunately I wasn't able to pick one up.

A fledgling Ryukyu Scops Owl. Already able to fly around.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl with a full moon.

The eldest of the three siblings.

This one is the second.

The third is the most easygoing of the three.

The mother of the three siblings above.

The Totoro of Ishigaki Island. You can only see Ryukyu Scops Owls like this at this time of year!!

They're so cute I'm posting lots of photos. ^^

They will live under their parents' protection for a while longer, learning how to hunt and other skills.

A male Emerald Dove. As beautiful as ever.

An Emerald Dove that has found a favourite perch.

It was carrying a twig to the female waiting in the Kuro-tsugu palm.

It was carrying some fairly long twigs too. The light was dim so the wings are blurry… ^^;

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl keeping watch near the nest.

The female inside the nest.

When a Scops Owl is completely relaxed, it perches on a branch like this.

This one is slightly alert to my presence.

Ryukyu Kingfishers can still be observed easily.

I think this individual was a female.

A female Crested Serpent Eagle. It was on the usual forest road.

Startled by a dog being walked, it moved a few dozen metres. However, another dog walker came along shortly after and it disappeared into the forest.

A parent bird bringing a small fish to a Black-naped Tern chick (centre).

This pair is still incubating.

Roseate Terns were also forming a colony on the same reef as the Black-naped Tern colony.

A fledgling Ryukyu Eagle-Owl. It appears to have been more than a month since fledging, but it was still being fed by the parents.

Probably the eldest — a sibling of the individual above.

Sex of the parent unknown. Telling male from female in the Ryukyu Scops Owl is difficult.

Of the three owl species that breed in Okinawa, the Ryukyu Scops Owl is by far the cutest.

A juvenile Oriental Scops Owl. Quite some time appears to have passed since fledging, yet it was still being fed by its parent.

This adult had been perched on the same branch for a long time. The surroundings didn't look like a feeding site. Could it be nesting in the weep holes in the wall right beside it?

Two siblings. Fledgling Oriental Scops Owls are now at peak season on the Okinawa main island, and despite the tough hour I was able to confirm eight families. The chicks often fall asleep around midnight or just after.

Tonight, a Brown Hawk-Owl had taken over the streetlight where Ryukyu Scops Owls, Oriental Scops Owls, and Brown Hawk-Owls usually appear. The Brown Hawk-Owl seems to have the highest rank — when it occupies the spot, neither the Ryukyu Scops Owl nor the Oriental Scops Owl shows up.

An Okinawa Rail resting in a tree. A reliable, tried-and-true spot.

Early the following morning I counted six Okinawa Rails. Almost all of them were crossing the road.

Several Okinawa Woodpeckers confirmed as well. Couldn't get a decent shot… ^^;

Female Oriental Scops Owl.

Male Oriental Scops Owl.

A juvenile Ruddy Kingfisher hatched this year, now grown enough to catch prey on its own. By the way, the Canon 100–400mm handles backlight poorly. This shot came out completely washed out, but I managed to recover it in post… ^^;

A juvenile Oriental Pratincole. They breed on Ishigaki Island as well.

Common Redshank in juvenile plumage. Juveniles are already starting to move through.

Common Redshank adult, transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Common Greenshank adult, transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Common Greenshank adult in late summer plumage.

Wood Sandpiper, adult.

This Wood Sandpiper appeared to have an injured eye.

Long-billed Stint, adult, late breeding plumage.

Common Sandpiper, late breeding plumage.

Red-necked Stint, late breeding plumage.

Red-necked Stint transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Black-winged Stilt transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Two Chinese Pond Herons that appear to have summered over.

Little Ringed Plover, male. Late breeding plumage.

An adult Wood Sandpiper missing its left leg. I thought it was just tucking it up, but the leg never appeared when it flew. Perhaps it had an accident somewhere along its journey….

Black-bellied Terns can also be seen in rice paddies around the area. Moulting from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Ryukyu Dwarf Bittern, female. Showing nuptial coloration.

While I was watching the Ryukyu Dwarf Bittern, a juvenile Black-winged Kite appeared overhead. Black-winged Kites can now be seen all across Ishigaki Island. Their numbers seem likely to keep growing.