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

A Swan Goose on an extended stay. It had its guard down, so it just sat down and fell asleep. ^^

Five Swan Geese. I was at Ishigaki Island Sugar Mill covering the sugarcane situation this season when they flew overhead. On my way back to the office, I went to the rice fields in the direction they had flown off to — and there they were.

Temminck's Stint, first-winter plumage.

Temminck's Stint, front-on view. It was picking thin earthworms out of the mud and eating them.

Swinhoe's Snipe, which overwinters here in small numbers. Just to be sure, I checked the trailing edge of the wing and the flanks as well. ^^;

Little Ringed Plover in breeding plumage. A bird in a hurry — it switches into breeding plumage during winter and back into non-breeding plumage during summer. ^^;

Common Sandpiper, first-winter plumage. Plain-looking at first glance, but when the light hits the feathers they shine beautifully.

An obviously pale base with olive tones visible on the tertials and elsewhere. The proportions also seem different from Buff-bellied Pipit.

This is how the Buff-bellied Pipit looked when it first came into my binoculars. The moment I saw those bold streaks on the whitish breast, my heart skipped a beat.

The uppertail-coverts of the Buff-bellied Pipit. The pattern seems different from Buff-bellied Pipit and Red-throated Pipit.

Hard to make out, but in the centre of the photo you can see the elongated, dark hind claw.

The tail feathers of the Buff-bellied Pipit. It appears that T6 having a white spot is the same as in Buff-bellied Pipit and Red-throated Pipit.

The Buff-bellied Pipit was there again today. First-winter plumage, perhaps. One field guide states that the darkened claw can be used as an identification feature, but from what I saw today, individuals of both Buff-bellied Pipit and Red-throated Pipit with darkened claws are perfectly common… ^^;

Buff-bellied Pipit is paler than Buff-bellied Pipit and the like, but when only the upperparts are visible the paleness is not so obvious.

The breast markings of Buff-bellied Pipit are dotted-line in character.

Buff-bellied Pipit is often found deep in grass like this, but with patience it can be located.

Heaving its small body over the grass, one clambering step at a time.

It's hard to get a clear view of the whole bird.

It rested on the rice-paddy bund for a while.

This one is Buff-bellied Pipit, first-winter plumage.

Red-throated Pipit, winter plumage.

(Yellow-browed) Citrine Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

White-faced Wagtail, summer to winter plumage transition.

A juvenile Hen Harrier appeared right in front of me out of nowhere. It flew off in an instant and this was all I could get… ^^;

A juvenile hatched this year. Under normal circumstances it would spend the time with its family until the spring migration next year, but it must have become separated for some reason.

Five immature Black-faced Spoonbills.

Mallard, adult male breeding plumage.

The Tundra Swan was floating in a rush paddy, feeding on weeds. A ladybird was riding on its back.

A flock of ducks. Around 100 were resting in a waterway.

A Buff-bellied Pipit in wintering mode. The bird was far away, the temperature had risen and heat shimmer had set in, leaving the photos hopelessly blurry.

Just when I thought this one might be a bit better, the Buff-bellied Pipit itself is looking the other way… ^^;

Six Eurasian Skylarks were present. Three are visible in the photo. All six are first-winter birds.

Northern Lapwing, first-winter plumage. Three were resting in a paddy field.

Grey-headed Lapwing — an infrequent visitor to Okinawa. First-winter plumage.

Brown-eared Bulbul — wait, this is a male Isabelline Shrike, first-winter plumage. Isabelline Shrikes overwinter here in a wide variety of plumages, from adults to juveniles.

Naumann's Thrush — no, this is a Red-bellied Thrush, first-winter plumage. Three were in the paddy field.

Female Dusky Thrush, first-winter plumage. Together with the Red-bellied Thrush above, five birds were foraging in the paddy field.

A striking dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard — commonly known as "Black Buzzard." This is its third consecutive year visiting. It has been coming since it was a juvenile, so it is now three years old.

Compared to when it was a juvenile, its body seems to have filled out and become more solid.

This is an ordinary Grey-faced Buzzard — a juvenile. It was far away and the heat was making the air shimmer, so the photo came out hazy and soft… ^^;

It had caught a large beetle at the compost heap.

A close Common Kestrel, female, first-winter plumage.

A Crested Serpent Eagle drying its wings, drawn out by the warm weather.

A female Osprey after bathing.

A juvenile Malayan Night Heron. It is around the time they should be moulting into adult plumage, but this individual has not yet shown any adult feathers.

Five Bar-headed Geese are still present.

A juvenile Tundra Swan enjoying life in the tropics. The flock of Bar-headed Geese is now 3.5 km away — closer than before. It feels uneasy having the juvenile on its own, so I do hope they join up.

I received a photo of an individual that had been staying on the Okinawa mainland at the end of last year and compared them, but they appear to be different individuals.

A Common Pochard in breeding plumage, male. They are everywhere in Kyushu but rarely turn up in Okinawa.

Buff-bellied Pipit. What a great bird. ^^

I managed to get what is currently my best and most endearing photo of a Buff-bellied Pipit.

It was moving through gaps in the grass and peering into cracks in the ground as it searched for small insects.

I thought I had a clean full-body shot, but grass was overlapping in the foreground. Still, the long, straight hind-claw — a key feature of the Buff-bellied Pipit — was visible. It helps with identification, though if you can see the claw clearly enough, you could probably identify the bird by other means too. ^^;

The majority of the flock is Red-throated Pipits.

A few Water Pipits were mixed in as well.

Yellow Wagtail (subspecies taivana), adult winter plumage. Around ten birds — juveniles and adults together — were moving as a group.

Common Blackbird, adult male. Hearing its call notes was a bonus.

A Common Blackbird perched in a mulberry tree. This individual is distinctive for the patch of leucistic feathers at the corner of the eye.

The least wary Black-winged Kite on Ishigaki Island. Almost every evening it appears on this utility pole. It is targeting the mice that turn up in the fields.

A Chinese Pond Heron on a long wintering stay. There is another wintering individual in the same area, but that one is far more wary.

A Crested Serpent Eagle eating some small prey.

An adult female Grey-faced Buzzard flying over farmland.

An adult female Crested Serpent Eagle taking flight after finishing a meal.

At the river mouth, a Black-tailed Gull — a scarce bird on Ishigaki.

Adult Black-tailed Gull. The head is turning white and the moult into summer plumage is already under way. The moult in Black-tailed Gull seems to be early.

A Chinese Pond Heron in the same paddy field as yesterday.

Taiwan Wagtail, first-winter.

An adult male Brown Shrike.

A female Brown Shrike, first-winter.

Mallard is scarce in Okinawa, but this season it has been recorded regularly on both Okinawa Island and Ishigaki.

An unwarry adult male Naumann's Thrush.

A neighbourhood Ryukyu Scops Owl that is completely habituated to people.

The pattern on this individual was so different from the Ryukyu Scops Owls I normally see that I tried whistling an imitation of the call to get a response, but there was none. I find myself wondering whether it is a Ryukyu Scops Owl, a mainland Eurasian Scops Owl, or perhaps some other subspecies.

Addendum, 25 January

Sharing information kindly provided by Mr. Haneya. Apparently the number of spots on the outer web of the primaries differs between Eurasian Scops Owl and Ryukyu Scops Owl. Checking the feather identification guide (Bun-ichi Sogo Shuppan), it is indeed the case that Ryukyu Scops Owl has the spots more densely arranged than Eurasian Scops Owl. This individual therefore appears to be one of the unusual variations within Ryukyu Scops Owl.

When I worked through some spots I don't usually cover on night walks, the density of Ryukyu Scops Owls was surprisingly high. I should add these to my night-walk route.

While searching for Eurasian Woodcock I found a Brown Hawk-Owl waiting for prey on the ground. I tried calling to check whether it was a Ryukyu Brown Hawk-Owl or a Brown Hawk-Owl, but got no response, so the subspecies remains unknown.

A female Common Blackbird pecking at Banyan fruit. It was selecting the fully ripe black ones to eat.

It would disappear into the Banyan as if startled, then pop back out again.

This one is also eating the blackened, ripe fruit.

A female Pale Thrush, first-winter.

A first-winter Pied Avocet, arriving alone.

This shrike was very wary, and I only just managed a shot of it perched at a distance. A type without white wing patches.

Chinese Pond Heron (right) and Purple Heron.

Medium Egret. Great Egrets rarely make it to Okinawa or Ishigaki Island.

Cattle Egret. Just a hint of breeding plumage coming in.

Ducks resting in a waterway. Common Teal and Eurasian Wigeon make up the majority.

Common Redshank, first-winter. A few birds were gathered in the usual spot.

Black-winged Stilt, female, first-winter.

Common Snipe in the distance. Around five birds were flocking together.

Crested Serpent Eagle, juvenile. Facing its first winter with little food, it seems a bit listless.

When frogs and other creatures were turned up from the soil during rice paddy puddling, it would swoop down and catch them.

Caught a frog. Prey this size gets swallowed whole.

Spotted prey and headed out again.

A female Crested Serpent Eagle known as "Point." She gets her name from a blemish on her right eye. Calling back and forth with her paired male.

The male paired with the 'point' bird above. Calling back and forth to each other.

A male Daurian Redstart beside the Point couple. It knows full well that the Crested Serpent Eagle won't attack.

A rare two-shot of a Crested Serpent Eagle and a Tundra Swan.

A Crested Serpent Eagle that caught a mouse in a meadow being mowed.

A Large-billed Crow came to try to steal it. ^^;