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

Rediscovered the Long-tailed Shrike that had gone missing. ^^

A Eurasian Hoopoe dust-bathing.

Dust-bathing seems to be a moment of pure bliss for the Hoopoe.

Even between bouts of dust-bathing, the ever-hungry Hoopoe was plunging its long bill into the ground and catching cockroaches.

It tossed the prey into the air and swallowed it whole.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle that caught a Cane Toad. An individual with dark eyes.

With a tractor working nearby approaching, the juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle gripped the frog in its talons and flew off.

It landed just a short distance from where it had been.

A wintering Japanese Leaf Warbler. I could identify it because I heard it call.

The Japanese Leaf Warbler moves quickly, so I only managed to get a few shots.

A Malayan Night Heron walking along the footpath.

A wintering Daurian Redstart. The numbers of wintering Daurian Redstarts and thrushes can vary considerably from year to year, but this season there are quite a few. Scaly Thrushes are numerous too.

The beautiful Long-tailed Shrike is wintering successfully.

It was perching in the windbreaks around the fields and on the sprinklers, hunting for prey.

The beautiful back of a Long-tailed Shrike.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle was in a paddy field being prepared for planting.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle in a paddy field in the same area as the bird above. They seemed to have no interest in each other.

These days Black-winged Kites can be seen in paddies and fields all over Ishigaki Island come morning and evening.

A Common Shelduck that has been staying since last year. It was resting with Eurasian Wigeons and Northern Shovelers.

The Long-tailed Shrike wintering in its usual spot again today. Big and beautiful.

The Eurasian Hoopoe wasn't there on my first visit, but when I returned after lunch it was foraging in its regular spot.

An adult Long-tailed Shrike. I caught a brief snatch of quiet warbling too.

A Long-tailed Shrike perched on its favourite branch.

Close, but I couldn't get a full-body view. It was coughing up a pellet.

With the warm days continuing, I'm wondering when it will move on.

Adult male Brown Shrike.

Adult female Brown Shrike.

The Red-tailed Shrike, which begins its migration earlier than the other shrikes seen on Ishigaki Island.

The Red-tailed Shrike was catching prey in the paddies and pastures.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. This is the dark-iris type.

Crested Serpent Eagle, adult.

A Buff-bellied Pipit showing some colour developing on the underparts.

A Buff-bellied Pipit that has caught some kind of larva.

A Eastern Yellow Wagtail in the process of moulting into breeding plumage. Within the flock, individuals ranged from nearly complete breeding plumage to still in full winter plumage.

White-breasted Waterhen were frequently seen in the paddies that had been flooded in preparation for rice planting.

A Little Ringed Plover still partly in winter plumage but moulting into breeding plumage. This individual was the most advanced in the flock.

A Red-throated Pipit with just a few breeding-plumage feathers beginning to show.

In a flock of several dozen Eastern Yellow Wagtails, the state of moult varied from bird to bird.

A Common Greenshank showing a few breeding-plumage feathers.

An extremely confiding individual that has taken up residence in the park. It was catching insects drawn to the light from my torch.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl zeroing in on insects attracted to a car's headlights.

An individual in the Chinese tallow tree where Scops Owl fledglings perched during the fledging season. Could it be the parent of last year's fledglings , given the territory?

A Solitary Snipe hiding in the shadow of the grass.

About 110 metres to the Solitary Snipe. It was so far away I had to crop heavily… ^^;

Rufous Night Heron, adult. One feather looks ready to drop but hasn't yet. It has been like this for the past few days.

A Rufous Night Heron moulting from juvenile to adult plumage.