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

Eurasian Skylarks singing high overhead were conspicuous too, but this individual was walking around on the ground.

A flock of a dozen or so Water Pipits appeared to be moving around within the same area.

A Water Pipit in summer plumage.

It was distant, but I was able to pick out one Chestnut-eared Bunting.

It seems one Meadow Bunting was still lingering as well.

A small flock of a few Oriental Greenfinches was flying around the farmland.

White Wagtails were here and there too.

Unlike Ishigaki and Okinawa Island, I couldn't find any subspecies other than the White Wagtail.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher.

It hadn't been long since it arrived on migration, but it was already digging out a nest hole. Since the tree was a Ryukyu pine, there's a good chance it will give up partway through…

A Slaty-legged Crake foraging in a scrubby woodland bordering farmland. There was also a Pale-capped Pigeon.

A young Purple Heron attacking a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Video below.

A young Eurasian Spoonbill. It was walking through the paddies, picking off small molluscs.

Black-faced Spoonbill (front) and Eurasian Spoonbill. Both are young birds.

A male Falcated Duck, in mid-transition from juvenile plumage to first breeding plumage.

Four Little Whimbrels in a sugarcane field. They were distant at first, but by watching quietly from the car they gradually came closer.

Front-on view of a Little Whimbrel. Utterly charming. ^^

It spread its wings for us, just briefly.

At first they were this far away, and the sugarcane was taller than the Little Whimbrels, making them hard to see.

Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki-jima are winding down for the season, but I managed to find at least one.

Pied Avocet — three birds at several locations.

Swinhoe's Snipe were still present in good numbers.

A different individual.

A female Greater Painted-snipe. It is the only snipe that breeds on Ishigaki-jima. The breeding season has already begun.

Freshwater waders are scarce this season, but Marsh Sandpipers are as reliable as ever.

Wood Sandpipers in summer plumage. Quite large numbers turn up every year, but this spring they were few.

Common Greenshank also seemed considerably scarcer than in previous years.