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

Black-winged Kite, juvenile. In contrast to the vivid red eyes of the adult, the juvenile's eyes are grey-brown.

The white feather edges typical of juveniles are prominent on the back, wing coverts, and elsewhere.

After staying with the parents for about a month and growing to around this size, they become capable of hunting on their own.

Oriental Pratincole chick. It can barely fly yet.

At around this stage they become able to fly, and when crows or other birds approach they call out in alarm.

The parent bird. Temperatures on Ishigaki Island exceeded 33°C, and heat haze made everything hazy. ^^;

A female Crimson Dove, also blurry from heat shimmer in the atmosphere.

It was bathing in a puddle in the rice fields.

A male Ryukyu Dwarf Bittern coming out of the bushes.

It noticed my presence and stretched its neck to check me out.

A juvenile Purple Heron. It has a different kind of beauty from the adult.

An individual that appears to be the parent of the juvenile above.

A Whiskered Tern with prey caught.

You can clearly see the moult progressing into winter plumage.

It was flying back and forth over the rice fields, scooping up prey from the water.

A male Greater Painted-snipe. I was looking for snipe, so it got my hopes up for nothing. ^^;

A Wood Sandpiper just barely still in late summer plumage.

A Common Redshank moulting from summer to winter plumage.

A Common Greenshank also transitioning to winter plumage.

Only one Long-toed Stint confirmed. Numbers will keep increasing from here.

A Kentish Plover in the process of changing from summer to winter plumage.

A Common Sandpiper also changing into winter plumage.

Little Ringed Plovers — a dozen or so arrived. Late summer plumage.

Black-winged Stilts in a small flock of several birds. Numbers will increase going forward.

A Grey Heron caught a fish that looked like a conger eel.

The second chick to fledge.

The eldest chick, which had fledged the day before.

The female parent, wings spread, looking hot.

And the male parent. Looks hot… ^^;

A male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. Paired with this female.

An Ishigaki Bulbul carrying food to the nest.