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

A female Oriental Scops Owl. The ruffled belly feathers may be a brood patch.

Same individual as above. For at least the past two days the female has also been coming out at night to hunt. The eggs have likely hatched and there are chicks in the nest.

The male Oriental Scops Owl paired with the individual above.

Same individual as above. A lucky-break Oriental Scops Owl that caught a Yaeyama Large Cicada which had flown straight at my flashlight. Whether the prey was too big or the chicks were already full, it ended up eating the whole thing itself.

A female Oriental Scops Owl — a different pair from the one above. Still carrying food to the chicks even past midnight.

The male paired with the individual above, keeping watch from his regular position.

The pair above during the daytime. The female.

A male. The ear-tufts and other feathers are showing some wear.

A Brown Hawk-Owl close to fledging. Only one chick visible so far.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher in the park.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher near the coast.

A Ruddy Kingfisher along the prefectural road. Also a male.

A male Oriental Scops Owl resting in the shade.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl. On standby at its usual spot.

Black-bellied Terns were flying around over the meadow.

It's in breeding plumage, but I wonder if it didn't take part in breeding this year?

The first chick, a Brown Hawk-Owl that fledged the day before. I've been watching several sites this year, but this is the first fledgling I've seen this season.

A parent keeping watch over its chick from a little distance away.

A female Oriental Scops Owl that has recently started poking her face out of the nest hole. The chicks must be getting bigger and the chamber getting cramped.

A male Oriental Scops Owl standing guard near the nest. Paired with the individual above. I finally figured out where it spends the day. ^^

A different pair from the one above. The female.

The male paired with the individual above. Looking ragged and worn out from raising chicks. ^^;

A Brown-eared Bulbul that had caught a grasshopper while raising chicks. It flew off to the nest with it shortly after.

A Purple Heron in the meadow. Possibly a young bird.

An Oriental Pratincole moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage. It had come to bathe at a river mouth. Oriental Pratincoles breed on Ishigaki-jima as well, and this individual was probably born here.

An adult Oriental Pratincole in flight with the sea behind it. Moulting into winter plumage has begun.

A Lesser Sand Plover moving into winter plumage.

A different individual from the one above.

A flock of 25 Rufous-necked Stints had gathered at the river mouth.

A few Terek Sandpipers were bathing and catching prey.

Female Kentish Plover.

Male Little Ringed Plover. A good number of Little Ringed Plovers have come in.

Wood Sandpiper, adult. The fresh-plumaged juveniles are still a while off yet. ^^

About 15 Wood Sandpipers moved into the rice paddies.

Long-toed Stint, adult. The feathers are worn from the long journey.

Six Common Greenshanks across two sites. They are moulting from breeding plumage into non-breeding plumage.

A Common Redshank that arrived alone and was staying near the Common Greenshank flock.

The Common Sandpiper, always by itself. Does it migrate alone too?

The rocky reef where Roseate Terns nest. Around 20 birds are visible in the photo.

A Black-naped Tern that came down onto the sandy beach.

A Black-naped Tern relentlessly attacking a breeding Pacific Reef Heron — not sure why.

Size comparison, left to right: Greater Sand Plover, Little Tern, and Kentish Plover.

A few Little Terns were also visiting along the coast. They should be fledging around now, so they will probably bring chicks along before long.

A Green Turtle that had just emerged from the sand. I thought it might be lethargic, but almost immediately it seemed to snap awake and headed straight for the sea.

My son got so caught up cheering that he crossed the barrier rope and had to be stopped by his mother. ^^;

Arrived at the water's edge. It vanished into the sea in an instant.

The Black-naped Tern colony. No typhoons so far this year, so things are going smoothly.

Roseate Tern. A metal ring was fitted on the right leg, but I couldn't read it.

Little Tern also breeds here, though in smaller numbers than Bridled Tern and Roseate Tern.

The heat had the Bridled Terns bathing too.

Lesser Sand Plover in flight.

Ruddy Turnstone in flight. The tail feathers are badly worn and the primaries are in moult — P5 growing in.

The Greater Sand Plover was close, but backlit….

I couldn't track down the flagged Grey-tailed Tattler.

A Lesser Sand Plover with a crab it had caught.

Lesser Sand Plovers were running all over the sandy beach going after crabs.

Kentish Plover also breeds on Ishigaki-jima.

The Red-necked Stint is almost in full winter plumage.

The Common Greenshank still has much of its summer plumage remaining, but is in the process of moulting into winter plumage.

A Pacific Reef Heron that landed right in front of me.

There is still a lot of down, and it will likely take about a week before fledging. I got this record shot while getting a stepladder and other equipment ready.

Ishigakijima, where the temperature climbed to 34 degrees. Even the Oriental Scops Owl chick is panting in the heat.

A Ruddy Kingfisher a few days out of the nest. Still being fed by the parents, but it won't be long before it's on its own.

A female Oriental Scops Owl keeping watch in front of the nest. Fledging is expected in about another week.

This Brown Hawk-Owl is still incubating. The one keeping watch is the male.

A young Malayan Night Heron was resting on its usual branch.

It appears to be a different individual from the chick that fell from the nest the other day.

Based on its development, this individual appears to have hatched before the one above. This one also seems to be different from the chick that fell the other day, so there appear to be three chicks in this nest.

The father of the chicks above. When I stopped by on my way home from work, he was on alert against crows coming in to roost. His feathers are badly worn, giving a sense of how hard he is working to raise his young.

The mother of the chicks above. She too is constantly doing battle with the crows. Several crow feathers have fallen around the nest tree — traces of the fighting, perhaps?

A male Ruddy Kingfisher. He looks like he can finally relax now that the breeding season is over. Still a beautiful bird, but the Ruddy Kingfisher will soon begin its moult and start looking rather ragged.

A fledgling Slaty-legged Crake, several days out of the nest. The bill is still short and the iris still has a bluish tinge — a youngster through and through.

A juvenile Black-winged Kite screaming and threatening a crow.

Of the two Black-winged Kites that fledged, one was apparently taken by crows. The survivor was also bullied considerably by crows, but has grown up well.

The crow is larger in body, but the Black-winged Kite holds its own.

A Ruddy Kingfisher in the park. The kingfishers, which had been so conspicuous, have become much less noticeable.

A juvenile Oriental Pratincole. Small numbers breed on the island as well.

An adult Oriental Pratincole, already in winter plumage.

A juvenile Oriental Pratincole in flight. It is now flying freely and with ease.

A Black-bellied Tern in flight.

In the process of transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

A Black-naped Tern incubating. Having started breeding late, it was on a rock considerably closer to shore than the main reef used for nesting each year.

Adult Wood Sandpipers fighting over a feeding territory.

An adult Long-toed Stint in late breeding plumage — looking quite ragged.

A juvenile Purple Heron in a rice paddy. Last year there was breeding at the sedimentation pond, but I wonder where they raised their young this year.

A Slaty-legged Crake with a mud-caked bill. An individual with a distinctive iris.

A fledgling Ryukyu Scops Owl.

The parent birds during the day. The upper bird is female, the lower is male.

It stood out clearly thanks to its long trailing tail and pale, bright coloration. I was surprised to get such a good look at it.

A Malayan Night Heron chick about two weeks after hatching.

A Malayan Night Heron chick about 30 days after hatching, eight days before fledging. At this stage the nest is still largely intact.

A Malayan Night Heron five days before fledging. The nest has been mostly broken apart.

As expected, the first chick — the largest — fledged first.

It is holding its bill open because of the heat.

The second chick, which fledged the day after the first. It was fed a grasshopper by the female parent. I could not locate the first chick.

The second chick has more down than the first, hasn't it. Individual identification is also possible from a mark on the bill.

The male parent watching over the fledged first chick.

The female parent searching for prey.

The second chick appeared to be getting enough food and was relaxed.

A female Ruddy Kingfisher. Moult does not seem to have started yet — a clean-looking individual.

It caught prey twice, but ate both itself without carrying anything to the juvenile. ^^;

A juvenile sleeping on a tree branch. This is the offspring of the bird above. Unlike the parent, the bill is dark and the breast feathers have a scaly pattern.

A Ryukyu Scops Owl chick roosting lower than breast height.

The chick watched me for a while, then lost interest and fell asleep after this. ^^

The male parent of the fledgling above. With so many crows around, it probably gets little rest.

A Black-naped Tern incubating. At other nests, chicks have already hatched and grown considerably.

Black-naped Terns, Roseate Terns, and Little Terns are flying, but they are distant.

Bathing Black-naped Terns and Roseate Terns. The Black-naped Tern is second from the right; all others are Roseate Terns.

A banded Crested Serpent Eagle on a narrow lane in the village. I think it's a male, but I have no idea whose bird it is or where it came from.

A pair of Black-naped Terns. They looked as though they were about to lay.

A Black-naped Tern chick (right) and its parent.

A Black-naped Tern that came to bathe.

A Black-naped Tern colony. In the right half of the frame, two chicks of roughly the same age are visible.

A small flock of Little Terns. The individual at lower right is a fledged Little Tern chick, already beginning to moult into first-winter plumage.

The first Wood Sandpiper of the season, an adult. Still largely in breeding plumage.

Also the first Black-winged Stilt of the season. An adult male.

Another individual was in the adjacent paddy field.

This one appeared the following day — a different bird. An adult female.

A Common Greenshank in late breeding plumage, bill open as if feeling the heat.

A flock of eight Common Greenshanks in a different paddy from the bird above. Some individuals were beginning to show winter plumage.

Wood Sandpiper turnover seems high, but the numbers are holding steady.

The Sanderlings at the river mouth have completely moulted into winter plumage.

Greater Sand Plover in winter plumage (right) and Grey-tailed Tattler in winter plumage.

A male Greater Painted-snipe threatening a Common Moorhen. I thought there might be chicks nearby, but apparently not. What beautiful plumage, though. ^^