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

A male Ring-necked Duck. I never expected to see a North American duck in Aichi Prefecture. The bird was about 200 metres away, though…

An individual thought to be a hybrid between Falcated Duck and Eurasian Wigeon.

It was associating with a flock of Eurasian Wigeons.

A female Smew.

Great Crested Grebe in winter plumage.

An adult male Gadwall.

Male and female Eurasian Teal.

There were quite a few Dusky Thrushes.

A male Falcated Duck. Mid-moult from juvenile to first breeding plumage.

A female Gadwall. It was flocking with the Falcated Ducks above.

A wintering Common Snipe. It has become quite accustomed to people during its stay on Ishigaki Island — as you can see, it doesn't budge even when walkers pass by.

A Common Snipe on migration. Quite a distance away, but look at that tension.

A Greater Painted-snipe in the grass. It has been in the same spot for several days.

At the start of the breeding season, the Rwandan Night-Heron — wait, the Malayan Night Heron — is developing its nuptial colours, and the face is beginning to turn blue.

A White Wagtail with a black-eared face pattern. There is a faint eye stripe, so it may be a hybrid.

A male White Wagtail.

A female White Wagtail.

An adult Dusky Thrush. I thought what remains around the central tail feathers might be juvenile plumage, but apparently not.

Dusky Thrush, first-winter plumage.

A flock of Black-winged Stilts.

A flock of about 100 Eastern Cattle Egrets arrived.

A Grey Heron on migration. The bill and legs are showing breeding colour.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle released after receiving treatment.

It is early in the breeding season and the Crested Serpent Eagles are active. An individual watching for prey from a branch.

This one came down to the roadside to look for prey. I worry about it getting hit by a vehicle.

That day I spotted 6 individual Crested Serpent Eagles after driving just a short distance along the farmland roads.

A Javan Pond Heron in a field. It appears to be changing into breeding plumage.

This Javan Pond Heron was somewhat more wary than usual, so I observed from a distance.

A Ferruginous Duck that wintered here. It will probably depart soon.

Same individual as above. It was quite wary when it first arrived, but now look at it.

Greater Sand Plover, first-winter.

Common Greenshank numbers are increasing along the coast and in the rice paddies.

A Grey Plover that wintered here. A few summer-plumage feathers are visible. They are not very common on Ishigaki-jima, but this year a dozen or so individuals wintered.

Kentish Plover, first-winter.

A small flock of Pacific Golden Plovers in the distance.

Red-necked Stint, winter plumage.

Wintering Common Snipe.

Spotted Redshanks in a drainage channel. Two birds arrived.

Moulting from first-winter to first-summer plumage.

Four Common Snipe. There were more than ten in a single paddy field. They appear to be on passage.

The Wood Sandpiper numbers keep going up and down.

Black-winged Stilt, adult male. A flock of about 20 overwintering along the canal.

Little Ringed Plovers on migration are also active, with numbers on the increase.

Female Siberian Stonechat. Passerine migration has started to pick up, just a little.

An Osprey eating a fish in a field. It was a hot day and heat shimmer was rising.

A beautiful Long-tailed Shrike. It was not particularly wary, and I was able to observe it up close at leisure.

It caught some kind of bee.

Long-tailed Shrike from behind. The evening light brings out its beauty.

Seen from the front, the black mask around the eyes of the Long-tailed Shrike looks just like Zorro. ^^

No matter how many times I see it, it's a fine bird. ^^

A Brown Shrike sharing the same area as the Long-tailed Shrike was constantly outmatched in territorial disputes due to the size difference.

The background for Javan Pond Heron shots is usually brown, but when the backdrop is attractive I tend to fire off more frames. ^^;

Three Javan Pond Herons were walking through the grass, catching earthworms.

The beautiful setting is one thing, but being able to shoot from a low angle is great too.

With a bit of luck you can observe all three at once. Each individual is subtly different in colour.

Citrine Wagtail moulting from first-winter to summer plumage. The following day, another individual was found at the same spot.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Transitioning into summer plumage.

Same individual as above. The bluish-grey back of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail is really beautiful.

(Yellow-browed) Yellow Wagtail transitioning from first-winter to summer plumage.

The second Pied Avocet of the season.

This is the first Curlew Sandpiper of the season. It is coming into breeding plumage.

Four Red-necked Stints in the same paddy field as the Curlew Sandpiper.

Numbers are not large on Ishigaki-jima, but they pass through every year during the migration season.

The reddish breeding plumage is conspicuous around the breast.

Sanderlings still in full winter plumage. On the Okinawa main island they winter in flocks, but on Ishigaki-jima only small numbers are seen during the migration season.

A Whimbrel was in the mangrove area.

Common Snipe are plentiful, but Swinhoe's Snipe and Pin-tailed Snipe will be next month. Something to look forward to.

First-winter plumage still makes up the majority, but breeding plumage is beginning to show on some individuals.

A different individual from the one above. This bird is also still far from breeding plumage.

A male White-faced Wagtail. It looked tired, so it may have just arrived on migration.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail moving from first-winter to breeding plumage. Individuals wintering on Ishigaki-jima are almost all juveniles.

A Red-throated Pipit coming into breeding plumage.

It was a flock of around 30 Red-throated Pipits, and most individuals were at roughly this stage of moult.

There are three Javan Pond Herons in the same spot, but one of them is very wary and hard to photograph. The other two come out obligingly.

A different individual from the one above. The plumage colour on this one is paler.

A young Black-faced Spoonbill. It was feeding on snails — something like pond snails — in a paddy field.

Into March, Pied Avocets are turning up at various locations around Ishigaki-jima.

Oriental Pratincoles have arrived. A small flock was resting in the farmland.

Common Greenshank in breeding plumage. Confirmed a small flock in a paddy field.

Four Spotted Redshanks are still present. They are mid-way through the transition from winter to summer plumage, and the black is becoming more noticeable.

Left to right: Common Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Pied Avocet.

A Dunlin has also arrived. One bird came down into the paddies.