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

Black Stork, juvenile. My wife saw one last year but I missed it. This individual was not especially wary for a Black Stork, and we were able to photograph and observe it at close range.

It was startled into flight by a farm vehicle, but it was at close range. Birds of this size cover a lot of ground in a single flight. Last year's Black Stork was also moving back and forth between Ishigaki Island and Iriomote Island.

It relaxed and showed us some preening as well.

Tufted Duck, male. Molting from eclipse into breeding plumage.

Grey Plover, winter plumage.

Sanderling, winter plumage. They are less common on Ishigaki Island than on the Okinawa mainland.

Red-necked Stint in winter plumage. A few birds were on the shore.

Kentish Plover, male in winter plumage.

Slaty-breasted Rail, male. I placed a cardboard box on the ground with the flap slightly open, and after a while it came out, looking around warily.

The Slaty-breasted Rail was quite sensitive to the presence of crows, but this individual seemed little bothered by humans.

When I crouched down and watched quietly, it kept walking closer and closer to me. In the end it passed right between my legs and went back into the forest. What on earth was that about?

Ruddy Shelduck — juvenile (background) and adult.

This is the evening of the day before the photo above. At that point there was only the juvenile.

Eurasian Spoonbill, juvenile.

It was catching small fish, apparently mosquitofish, in a flooded paddy field.

Ryukyu Dwarf Bittern, juvenile. It chased off a Yellow Bittern… ^^;

Pied Avocets foraging together. The bird in the background is in first-winter plumage; the one in the foreground is an adult in winter plumage.

A Common Crane settling in comfortably at its favourite paddy field.

It seems the Eurasian Spoonbill has decided to winter here as well.

Northern Lapwings are numerous again this season, as they were last year. This individual was on its own, but elsewhere several flocks of more than ten or so birds are wintering.

A small group of Wood Sandpipers. They were bathing.

Common Redshank in first-winter plumage. Small flocks here and there.

Common Greenshank in first-winter plumage. Almost all the wintering birds are juveniles.

Green Sandpipers are scattered here and there as well.

A dozen or so Red-necked Stints on the shore.

Kentish Plovers, Sanderlings, and Lesser Sand Plovers — the wintering contingent.

A few Black-headed Gulls have arrived.

Rooks with not much wariness. Three birds, all juveniles. Moulting into first-winter plumage.

They had joined up with the Yaeyama endemic subspecies of Large-billed Crow.

Rook (left) and Large-billed Crow. The Rook is a size smaller than the Large-billed Crow, but the Yaeyama subspecies is a small one, so the two were nearly the same size.

White-browed Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

A Siberian Stonechat that has caught a spider.

Not in large numbers, but Siberian Stonechats trickle through Ishigaki-jima at a leisurely pace.

A Grey-lag Goose with no wariness at all, settled into wintering mode alongside a Bean Goose.

A Bean Goose always in the company of the Grey-lag Goose. For a while there were about 40 birds combined — Bean Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, and Lesser White-fronted Geese — but now it's just these two.

An adult Ruddy Shelduck. It has become a little less wary.

One juvenile (left) and two adult Ruddy Shelducks. There are two more elsewhere, making five Ruddy Shelducks on the island in all.

A juvenile Ruddy Shelduck flapping its wings.

Two Tundra Swans currently staying.

A male Gadwall.

A male Eurasian Wigeon.

A female Eurasian Wigeon.

A male Northern Shoveler.

Three Tufted Ducks at the settling pond. There are around 200 at the dam, though… ^^;

A dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard visiting for the fifth consecutive year. After a long while, I was finally able to photograph it in sunlight.

From behind. Still looks great, doesn't it.

A Grey-faced Buzzard contending with a Black-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. A female individual.

A Black-morph Grey-faced Buzzard showing aggression toward a Grey-faced Buzzard.

It was on alert with its back feathers raised and calling.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle near the Black-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. There seems to be no friction between them.

A juvenile Common Kestrel. At a glance I thought it might be a Lesser Kestrel, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

A juvenile Lesser Kestrel. Completely unafraid — I was able to observe it up close.

A male Common Kestrel. An individual with no wariness at all.

The most vividly coloured Naumann's Thrush of the day. An adult.

Naumann's Thrush, first-winter plumage.

This one has quite a smoky tone.

Pale Thrush, first-winter plumage.

Pale Thrush, adult winter plumage.

White's Thrush, first-winter plumage.

Korean Bush Warbler. It lurks in the kind of scrubby undergrowth you find anywhere. The call note carries well, but getting a clear view is another matter.

A Radde's Warbler photographed at relatively close range.

It appears to be eating something like a scale insect. It was also preying on spiders and small insects.

Judging by these tail feathers, I wonder if first-winter plumage is the right call.

A female Daurian Redstart. A small number are wintering on the island.

A female Siberian Stonechat. A small number are also wintering on the island.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, first-winter plumage. Adults are rarely seen.

Three Red-throated Pipits. Numbers are down this season.

The Ruddy Shelduck count reached a peak of five, but three are currently wintering.

Four Common Shelducks arrived, spread across two locations.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle seen reliably lately.

Adult Crested Serpent Eagle.

Adult Purple Heron.

A wintering Swinhoe's Snipe finally found after going through some 200 Common Snipe across multiple paddies. I was determined to find one before the year was out and searched single-mindedly — utterly exhausted by the end. ^^;

Common Snipe, first-winter plumage.

A flock of Common Snipe. On Ishigaki, flocks of 10 to 30 birds are wintering.

Male Greater Painted-snipe.

Multiple Eastern Marsh Harriers are wintering on the island this season, so encounters are frequent.

Two Tundra Swans also making a long stay. The individual on the right appears to have injured one leg.

Male Eurasian Wigeon, transitioning from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Adult female Eurasian Wigeon. Non-breeding plumage.

Adult male Eurasian Wigeon, moulting from eclipse into breeding plumage.

Adult female Northern Pintail. Non-breeding plumage.

Adult female Eurasian Teal.

Male Tufted Duck. First-year?

Common Redshank, first-winter plumage.

Dunlin, first-winter plumage.

Common Greenshank, first-winter plumage.

White-faced Plovers roosting in a flock.