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

A few winter feathers coming in, but barely — still essentially summer plumage.

The second Curlew Sandpiper. The two were always together. This one is also an adult. I'd like to see some juveniles soon, but they haven't turned up on Ishigaki yet.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, adult. Late summer plumage.

A male Ryukyu Bittern that dropped down right in front of me. Stunning.

Red-necked Stint moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Red-necked Stint moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Red-necked Stint moulting from summer to winter plumage. This one had a sleepy look about it.

Red-necked Stint moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Red-necked Stint adult, nearly in full winter plumage.

All adults so far — no juveniles have appeared yet.

Marsh Sandpiper juvenile, moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Common Greenshank juvenile.

Marsh Sandpiper juvenile (foreground) and an adult in the process of moulting into winter plumage.

The first Dunlin of the season was a juvenile, moulting into first-winter plumage.

Common Sandpiper moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage. First juvenile confirmed this season.

Long-toed Stint in juvenile plumage.

Curlew Sandpiper, summer to winter plumage. Presumed male.

Also molting from summer to winter plumage. Compared to the individual above, the reddish tones are weaker — perhaps a female.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

The body looks compact, but this is a Swinhoe's Snipe. Also a juvenile.

Little Ringed Plover, male. Late summer plumage.

A few winter feathers are showing, but this Marsh Sandpiper is still mostly in juvenile plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (leucopsis), adult winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (leucopsis), juvenile.

Purple Heron, juvenile.

Ruddy Kingfisher, female. Compared to the fresh, beautiful look at the start of the breeding season, she is quite worn and ragged now.

This individual got as far as laying eggs, but in the end they never hatched and the breeding attempt this season failed.

I had been watching from the burrow-digging stage, so we have become familiar with each other — she doesn't flush even at three metres.

She will likely disappear before long, so this is probably the last chance to see the Ruddy Kingfishers on Ishigaki Island for the season.

A male Crested Serpent Eagle was eating a frog or something on a ridge between paddy fields.

A Crested Serpent Eagle moments after being chased off by about seven crows. The crest is raised and it looks agitated.

A Crested Serpent Eagle threatening the crows circling at a distance.

Grey-tailed Tattler, juvenile. Arrived about a month and a half later than the adults I had recorded.

Grey-tailed Tattler, adult. Late summer plumage.

Greater Sand Plover, molting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle I finally got to see on 3 September after being tipped off about it. What a beautiful bird.

Purple Heron, with juvenile plumage mostly replaced.

White-browed Bushlark sheltering in the grass along a paddy bund in strong winds.

Overall proportions. The Richard's Pipit has a shorter tail than the Blyth's Pipit and did not adopt an upright stance.

The distinction between Buff-bellied Pipit and Water Pipit: the bill is slender and more pointed, the shaft streaks on the median coverts are not pointed, and the supercilium is indistinct. The call was also not as strong and forceful as that of a Water Pipit.

Common Tern moulting from first-summer to second-winter plumage.

The Common Tern is considerably larger than the White-winged Tern in the foreground.

Common Tern, head-on.

White-winged Tern moulting into winter plumage. It appeared to have an injured leg and was struggling to walk, though this probably won't affect its ability to feed.

White-winged Tern juvenile in flight.

White-winged Tern moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

White-winged Tern moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Oriental Pratincole moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Ruff, male juvenile. A female juvenile was also present in the same paddy field.

Common Redshank juvenile. A little first-winter plumage is just starting to show.

Long-toed Stint in juvenile plumage. Beautiful.

Little Stint juvenile.

Wood Sandpiper moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Grey-tailed Tattler, adult in late summer plumage (foreground), and juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Lesser Sand Plover juvenile. It had apparently retreated to the paddy fields during the spring tide high water.

Dunlin juvenile. Adults have yet to appear this year.

Common Tern drinking in a paddy field, moulting from first-summer to second-winter plumage.

White-winged Tern, juvenile. Moulting into first-winter plumage.

White-winged Tern, adult. Transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Dragonflies flying over the rice paddies. They appeared to be prey for the White-winged Terns.

A Javan Pond Heron that has been staying for quite a long time.

Preening. The wingtips are entirely white.

A Javan Pond Heron stepping down from its perch into a fallow field.

A Javan Pond Heron, 0.3 seconds before doing That.

A Ryukyu Least Bittern foraging in the usual irrigation channel.

It walks along the channel picking off mole crickets, grasshoppers and the like.

A Purple Heron had just its head poking out of the reeds. This one will eat anything — frogs, snakes, birds — a real glutton.

A beautiful Black-crowned Night Heron juvenile. Adults are lovely too, but this juvenile's patterning is something else.

An Intermediate Egret in the grass. They're not that common on Ishigaki-jima, but several are staying in this heron area.

A Medium Egret in a flooded rice paddy. Would love to see the subspecies alba as well.

Little Egret, present year-round. They don't appear to be breeding.

The third Crested Serpent Eagle juvenile of the season. There is one individual that hasn't been photographed yet…

Something seemed to startle it and it raised its crest.

The juvenile had come out to the forest edge but was keeping an eye on a parent calling overhead. Its crop was puffed up tight, so it seems to be eating well.

A Crested Serpent Eagle adult at a different location.

Brown Shrike, first-winter plumage. It appeared to be watching for prey from the top of a cycad.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (supercilium subspecies), moulting from juvenile into first-winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (supercilium subspecies), adult male.

First Grey Plover of the season. Transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage. On Ishigaki-jima, it's quite rare to see one in full, jet-black breeding plumage.

A Whimbrel taking a running start before takeoff.

Whimbrel overwinter in large numbers on Okinawa-hontō, but they're scarce on Ishigaki-jima.

Greater Sand Plover, juvenile.

A flock of Black-winged Stilts. They seemed on edge — perhaps just arrived on migration.

Pacific Golden Plover, adult, non-breeding plumage.

White-winged Tern, juvenile. It has its bill open — must be the heat.

The colour of the hindcrown and back of a White-winged Tern.

It took flight in search of prey.

White-winged Tern in flight. It was airborne and circling for most of the time.

Oriental Pratincole, juvenile.

Oriental Pratincole, adult, non-breeding plumage.

Oriental Pratincoles, a Black Tern, and Pacific Golden Plovers resting on a paddy bund.

Black Tern, juvenile. To the right of the juvenile is the carcass of an adult Black Tern.

Pied Avocet, female. Possibly first-winter plumage.

The Pied Avocet was associating with the Black-winged Stilts.

Black-tailed Godwit, female. Transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Grey-tailed Tattler moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Common Greenshank in winter plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe (foreground) and Common Redshank.

Pectoral Sandpiper, adult. Moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Dunlin moulting from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Red-necked Phalarope, adult. Plumage is almost fully moulted into winter.

Red-necked Phalarope preening, photographed from behind.

Just a trace of brown remains around the breast. I'd love to see one in summer plumage someday.

Common Snipe, juvenile. I found it while scanning for Chinese Pond Heron with binoculars. At first only the head was visible, but it had a strong snipe feel to it, so I waited — and it came out.

A different individual — Common Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile (right) and Common Snipe juvenile (left).

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile, perhaps?

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

A Black-winged Kite appeared, putting this Chinese Pond Heron on alert — it puffed up the feathers from its head down to its neck. The proportions look completely off. It is most definitely not clowning around. ^^;

This is the same Chinese Pond Heron in its normal state. It looks like a completely different bird.

Ruddy Kingfisher, adult female. The bill has darkened and the plumage is growing duller as it transitions into winter feathering.

Same individual as above. There is a louse fly on its back — a parasite you often find on Ruddy Kingfishers.

Ryukyu Scops Owl, adult male.

Ryukyu Hawk-Owl, adult male.

The first Grey-streaked Flycatcher juvenile of the season.

Same individual as above. It appeared to be catching something in a flycatching sally.

Another Grey-streaked Flycatcher. Also a juvenile.

The fifth Crested Serpent Eagle juvenile of the season. Breeding seems to have gone smoothly, with no typhoon impact.

It was perched in a Chinese hackberry tree overlooking the rice paddies. The bill and tail feathers were muddy — it appears to be hunting on its own.

The Red-necked Phalarope is still present. It moves around between the rice stalks, making for tricky shooting.

Red-necked Phalarope, head-on.

There were several Swinhoe's Snipe on the paddy bunds.

Green Sandpiper adult, late summer plumage.

Pied Avocet, first-winter plumage.

It walked through the paddy swinging its bill side to side, picking up prey.

Both Common Snipe. There were four Common Snipe in this paddy.

Common Snipe juvenile (foreground) and Long-toed Stint juvenile.

White-winged Tern juvenile in flight.

Adult Oriental Pratincole flying low.

A White-cheeked Tern juvenile that had caught a large Lesser Emperor dragonfly.

A White-winged Tern coming toward me.

The White-cheeked Tern's prey was so large it nearly dropped it several times.

A White-winged Tern that came down into the paddy. An individual in mid-moult from juvenile to first-winter plumage. I found another White-winged Tern in the same area.

White-winged Terns and Oriental Pratincoles are resting on the paddy bunds.

I thought it might take a bath, but it flew off just like that.

A juvenile White-winged Tern bathing.

An adult Oriental Pratincole bathing.

White-winged Tern flies differently from Black-bellied Tern, so you can tell them apart somehow even from a distance.

A Bridled Tern in transition from juvenile to first-winter plumage. This is the first time I've managed to photograph a perched bird this close. ^^

A Bridled Tern bathing.

A Bridled Tern in flight. Backlit — a shame.

An adult Black-bellied Tern showed up too, but disappeared somewhere almost immediately.

Greater Sand Plover in flight. Unlike Lesser Sand Plover, when Greater Sand Plover flies the feet extend just slightly beyond the tail tip.

Common Greenshank, adult winter plumage.

Grey-tailed Tattler, adult. Late summer plumage.

Red-necked Stint, adult winter plumage.

Red-necked Stints seem to be scarce on the mainland, but on Ishigaki Island it doesn't feel much different. Numbers aren't particularly high in any given year, though…

A Greater Sand Plover was bathing.

A juvenile Common Greenshank in the rice paddies.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

A juvenile Common Snipe.

A juvenile Common Snipe. By this time of year, Common Snipe make up the majority of the snipe here.

A juvenile Dunlin, moulting into first-winter plumage.

A juvenile Black-winged Stilt. The juvenile plumage is beautiful. The bill also looks slightly shorter compared to an adult.

White-headed Wagtail, adult male. Still in breeding plumage.

Bridled Tern moulting into first-winter plumage.

Greater Sand Plover resting on a field bank. Adult winter plumage.

Greater Sand Plover and Oriental Pratincole. The two species are much the same size.

It looks like it has just arrived on migration, with a tired expression.

It crouched down and fell asleep.

Most of the Oriental Pratincole flock were adults.

Ruff, juvenile female.

An adult female Chinese Sparrowhawk photographed at close range.

Chinese Sparrowhawk, head-on.

I was happy to get a close look at the Chinese Sparrowhawk, which is usually so distant. ^^

Juvenile European Roller.

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher gathered around the melon fly sterile-insect release cages. Grey-streaked Flycatchers, Grey Wagtails, and leaf warblers were also targeting the melon flies.

A lifer Eurasian Wryneck. Rarely encountered even on Okinawa Island or Ishigaki.

All alone at the tip of the cape. Not typical habitat for a Swinhoe's Snipe — perhaps it had just arrived on migration.

A Pin-tailed Snipe found dead on the road. The tips of the feet extend beyond the tail feathers.

The pin feathers of the Pin-tailed Snipe. My hands reeked. My son kept saying "stinks!!". I sent them by mail.

Juvenile Grey-streaked Flycatcher. Found everywhere from the village to the forest roads.

It was frequently catching insects in flight.

A flock of Eastern Cattle Egrets and Little Egrets. Flocks of various sizes kept arriving, giving a real sense of the grandeur of migration.

A mixed flock of Eastern Cattle Egrets and Little Egrets. One individual with a broken leg is visible in the frame.

Isabelline Shrike, adult male.

Pacific Golden Plover, juvenile. First juvenile confirmed this season.

Common Myna breeding on Yonaguni Island. They were nesting again this year in the ventilation opening of the town hall.

A fleeting glimpse of a leaf warbler. Based on the leg colour and the tone of the head and upperparts, it is likely either an Arctic Warbler or a Pale-legged Leaf Warbler — but without hearing the call, there's no telling… This is the best I could manage with two small children in tow. ^^;

First Eurasian Teal of the season. An adult female, but it was quite far off….

Ruff, first-winter female (foreground) and juvenile female. Birds in anything other than juvenile plumage are scarce arrivals, so this was a treat.

Oriental Pratincole bathing.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile. It has been lingering in the same paddy field for quite a while.

Right next to the Pin-tailed Snipe, a Common Snipe was resting.

Common Snipe, juvenile.

Yet another Common Snipe. An adult.

Common Snipe, adult.

Whiskered Tern, juvenile. The juvenile plumage is quite brownish.

Adult winter-plumage Whiskered Tern flying about with sugarcane fields in the background.

Red-necked Stint, juvenile.

Both are Red-necked Stints, juveniles.

Red-necked Stint, first-winter.

Marsh Sandpiper, adult winter plumage.

Black-winged Stilt — not a Pied Stilt — adult male. It seems a small number of people are trying to call this individual a Pied Stilt, but it is absolutely not a Pied Stilt!!