諫早でナベコウ、マナヅル、コチョウゲンボウ、オオジュリンなど
1月14日に名古屋から再び福岡入り。せっかくなので諫早名物のナベコウを見てやろうと義母の車を借りて高速道路をひた走り。2時間半ほどかかりました。遠かった…。^^;
広大な諫早干拓なのに事前の情報ゼロで訪れたので、探せど探せどナベコウは見つからず。あきらめかけた時、上空の高いところを黒っぽい怪鳥が飛んでいます。双眼鏡でのぞいてみると念願のナベコウでした。写真を数枚撮り、降り立った地点を確認の上、現場に現場に駆けつけるも見つけられず…。大きく目立つ鳥ですが、水路に降りてしまうと意外と見つけにくいようです。
干拓内では、マナヅルやコチョウゲンボウ、ハイイロチュウヒ、オオジュリン、ミヤマガラスのほか、石垣島でもおなじみのタヒバリやタゲリ、タシギ、ヘラサギ、クロツラヘラサギなどがいました。
A Black Stork in the distance.
A family of White-naped Cranes.
They were foraging in grassland and at a compost dump.
Nine Eurasian Spoonbills and one Black-faced Spoonbill were feeding in a drainage channel.
The single Black-faced Spoonbill mixed in among a group of Eurasian Spoonbills.
Red-footed Falcon, juvenile.
When two Red-footed Falcons flew around, the small birds scattered in all directions.
Hen Harrier, female. There was a male too, but I couldn't get a photo.
Rooks — a large flock of several dozen had come down into the rice fields.
There were plenty of Meadow Buntings, but Reed Buntings were on the sparse side.
The Eurasian Skylark has a different feel from the skylarks rarely recorded in Okinawa.
There were Buff-bellied Pipits in large numbers. I looked for any unusual pipit among them but found none.
Dusky Thrushes were everywhere too.
Four Common Snipe, apparently probing for insects in a compost heap.
Northern Lapwings too — more than I could count.
The Ariake Sea on the way to Isahaya. All Tufted Ducks.