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

Oriental Pratincoles wheeling over the rice paddies.

Oriental Pratincoles resting in a harvested rice paddy. In full breeding plumage, of course.

I looked up and saw one had soared high into the sky — and it had caught a grasshopper. I was surprised enough that a grasshopper was flying at that height, but the eyesight of the Oriental Pratincole that spotted and caught it was equally astonishing.

A male (foreground) and female Emerald Dove were foraging on the forest road.

A female Emerald Dove. She was not particularly wary, but the light was extremely dim and the shot came out blurred… ^^;

Among the Oriental Turtle Doves in the rice paddy, a single female Ruddy-breasted Seedsnipe had joined them — wait, I mean a female Little Button-quail... Actually, a single female Ruddy-breasted Crake... Let me correct that: one female Crimson Sunbird... No — a single female Red Turtle Dove had flown in among the Oriental Turtle Doves in the paddy. The Red Turtle Dove was incredibly far away and this is about the best shot I managed… ^^;

A male Oriental Scops Owl keeping watch over the nest from a tree. Of the three nests I found this season, this one is in the easiest spot to observe.

A pair of Ruddy Kingfishers. The male is on the left.

Two Ruddy Kingfishers taking turns digging a hole in a dead tree.

The environment is very dark, so even ISO 25600 isn't enough to freeze the motion. ^^;

After finishing the work, it came back to the same branch and the pair switched over.

A female Emerald Dove at the usual water hole.

Until recently she had always come with the male, but lately she shows up alone. The male may be incubating.

An Emerald Dove sunbathing.

A Ruddy Kingfisher working on nest-building in a dark stretch of forest.

The nest hole being excavated is visible near the top of the tree in the background. This pair is digging two holes simultaneously.

Nest-building seems to take a serious physical toll on the Ruddy Kingfisher — after about an hour of continuous digging, it was holding its bill half-open in the heat and appeared to be breathing hard.

The forest interior is dark and even the excellent AF of the α9 II can't keep up, but the electronic viewfinder makes pre-focusing easier than an optical viewfinder. ^^

Pre-focus and 20 fps. Managed to get the shot handheld.

The nest hole has reached the point where the bird can fit roughly half its body inside.

An Emerald Dove at the usual feeding spot.

A female Ryukyu Scops Owl. Those who are perceptive will understand what situation this represents. I'm worried.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl. It is paired with the individual above.

A male Ryukyu Flycatcher in second-year summer plumage. As it is in its third calendar year, it is presumably taking part in breeding. The pale leg colour and plumage made me wonder at first whether it might be a first-year bird, comparing it with mainland Narcissus Flycatcher, but it appears to be second-year.

The back looks like this — somewhat browner compared to an adult.

A singing Ryukyu Flycatcher. The song is considerably more leisurely than that of the mainland Narcissus Flycatcher.

It was moving from branch to branch over a drainage channel.

This individual is not particularly wary. I get the impression that Ryukyu Flycatchers vary greatly between individuals — some are very wary and others are not.

It was in view for only about ten minutes, but it showed a good variety of poses.

A close-up shot. This is a male Ryukyu Flycatcher in second-year summer plumage. The yellow supercilium and wing-covert edges are washed buff, and the flight feathers are browner than in adults. The legs are dark grey rather than the jet black of adults.

Wax plant blooming low and easy to observe. It is coming into peak flower now, a pleasure to watch.

A Okinawa Rail resting in a Ryukyu pine.

A male Okinawa Robin in the grounds of a lodging facility.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl keeping watch.

The female paired with the individual above, incubating in a tree hollow. The hole is shallow, so she is fully visible from outside. ^^

Chinese bayberry laden with fruit.

Kouri Bridge and the rocky reef where terns nest. Black-naped Terns and Roseate Terns were flocking near Kouri Bridge, catching small fish. A scene that feels distinctly like Okinawa in summer.

A male Oriental Scops Owl — a breeding individual here. The female was nowhere to be found; not sure whether she is incubating or not.

The pattern of feather loss on the crown is similar to the male Oriental Scops Owl I photographed in exactly the same spot last year, so this may be the same bird.

An Oriental Scops Owl on the forest road. Also a male.

A Ruddy Kingfisher on the forest road. Judged to be male from its morphology.

A Ruddy Kingfisher resting on a slender branch. Sex unknown.

Also a female Ruddy Kingfisher on the same forest road.

The male paired with the individual above. The fact that both male and female are resting outside the nest suggests either that the chicks have grown to some extent, or that egg-laying has not yet taken place.

Preening after a bath.

Tending the feathers all the way to the tips of the primaries.

It worked through them carefully, again and again.

Tending the other wing as well. This individual has partial leucism around the ear coverts.

After finishing its bath, the Ruddy Kingfisher went off to look for food.

A breeding Ruddy Kingfisher on the forest road. It caught a large Joro spider, beat it against a branch to kill it, then carried it off to the nest. The female was nowhere to be seen.

A Ruddy Kingfisher breeding in the park perched on a branch in front of the nest. It had brought in a large grasshopper, so the chicks seem to be developing well. ^^ For a bird that actually breeds inside the park, this individual is remarkably wary.

The male Ruddy Kingfisher I found on the other night's nocturnal walk. It was borderline in the dark, but it was indeed a male. ^^

A male Ruddy Kingfisher coming to bathe in a small stream. The light was poor, so the ruffled feathers have gone a bit soft in the image… ^^;

Same individual as above. No sign of a paired female here either.

I cranked the ISO up to 204800 to coax the sun out from behind the clouds, and just managed to get the shot at 17:16:33 — ten seconds after the maximum eclipse at 17:16:23. Not something you can do without a mirrorless camera. ^^

There were plenty of people from other outlets there too, but the thick cloud had everyone giving up on shooting.

A Barringtonia flower fully open after sunset. A heavy sweet scent hung in the air around it.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl keeping watch over the nest from a tree. My son couldn't work out where it was… A shame.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl also keeping watch over its nest. This one was perched at a easy-to-see spot just a little above eye level, so my son was thrilled. One of the tail feathers looks like it's about to fall out. I'd love it if it did. ^^

A female Ryukyu Scops Owl. Compared to the early breeding period more than a month ago, the plumage has become quite worn and ragged.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl. Compared to more than a month ago as well, it looks considerably more worn. You can sense just how hard raising chicks is.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl. The female is presumably inside the nest.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl that had been searching for prey sheltering from the wind in the shade of the trees. This is likely the individual paired with the male I photographed the other day.

A small Coconut Crab was crossing the road.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl looking back over its shoulder. Of the pairs I'm watching, this nest looks like it will fledge the earliest.

For some reason the top of its head is slightly bald.

Scratching its head. ^^

A female Ruddy Kingfisher. Still incubating, but out of the nest today. After watching for ten-odd minutes she went back inside and resumed incubating. Maybe it got too hot?

Same individual as above. A patch of white feathers behind the eye serves as a marker for individual identification.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl that had been putting up a big fight against two crows.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl — a male — raising chicks very close to the Brown Hawk-Owl nest above.

Male Ruddy Kingfisher. This area has Ruddy Kingfishers, Oriental Scops Owls, and Brown Hawk-Owls all raising chicks.

A young Crested Serpent Eagle. Believed to be a male.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl breeding in the neighborhood. A puzzling individual that stays completely hidden during the day no matter how hard I look.

Also a nearby Oriental Scops Owl — this one a female, perched on a branch in front of the nest. At this hour feeding the chicks had already finished, so not much action… ^^;

The male paired with the individual above. It was on the opposite side of the nest from the female.

A male Oriental Scops Owl, singing away energetically. It is breeding in the same area as the pair above, a few dozen meters away, but I can't find the nest tree. Couldn't find it last year either. A tough one… ^^;

A Brown Hawk-Owl, believed to be female.

This individual appears to be the male, though I'm not fully confident, so confirming that remains an open question for this pair going forward.

The Oriental Scops Owl that was in its usual spot again tonight. The black insect to the left of the owl is a female Hime-maru cockroach.

A juvenile Flying Fox that had fallen and was crying out.

I managed to get it moved onto a tree branch.

A mother Flying Fox watching anxiously as her fallen young lay on the ground.

Parent and young reunited — quite a moving moment.