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

The very first Swinhoe's Snipe of the training camp encountered in conditions like this…. ^^; A valuable adult.

Second individual — a juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

Another juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe. Finding them steadily. ^^

Adult Swinhoe's Snipe. The scapulars have already moulted into winter plumage.

Juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe. The fifth Swinhoe's Snipe of the day.

Juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe. As with Pintail Snipe, juveniles far outnumber adults.

Extremely distant juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe. The most common plumage type among autumn juveniles on Ishigaki-jima.

The eighth Swinhoe's Snipe on the first day. Another juvenile.

The closest Swinhoe's Snipe of the first day. A juvenile. It was a particularly small and charming individual even within the flock. There was another bird that looked so similar I thought they might be siblings.

Same individual as above. Most birds that day were too busy foraging to preen much, but I managed to get a view of the tail feathers.

Same individual as above. A beautiful bird with fresh juvenile plumage — moult not progressed at all.

This was the tenth Pin-tailed Snipe of the first day, the last individual of the session. We wrapped up at 6:00 p.m. because there was a barbecue get-together at my place afterwards.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile in the distance. Swinhoe's outnumbered Pin-tailed on the day, but since I was focused on finding Pin-tailed, photos of Swinhoe's ended up being an afterthought… ^^;

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile. I really love the plumage on this type — it reminds me of a Solitary Snipe. This type is uncommon. There's a video below as well.

Same individual as above. No moult in the primaries at all.

Same individual as above. It showed me its tail feathers too. Can you make out those needle-like outer tail feathers?

Same individual as above. It was on alert because a Common Moorhen had approached, and it spread its tail right out for me. The outer tail feathers of Pin-tailed Snipe are only visible when spread this wide. When they're not visible during normal preening, that's the kind of thing that makes you think 'possible Pin-tailed'… ^^;

Extremely distant, but this is an adult Pin-tailed Snipe.

Same individual as above. A blurry shot, but the primary moult is just about visible. It looks like the primaries have been replaced except for two or three old feathers remaining on the outer edge.

Adult Pin-tailed Snipe resting on a paddy bund. Scapulars already moulted into winter plumage. One new feather visible among the tertials.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile. Are the scapulars missing?

Same individual as above.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile preening.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult. Moult well advanced on the scapulars, tertials, and so on.

The tail feathers of Swinhoe's Snipe are easy to see even during ordinary preening. On the final day, observation ended just after 4:00 p.m. due to my return flight. This individual was the last snipe of the trip.

A Javan Pond-Heron that stayed for several days.

This is the fourth Javan Pond-Heron of the season.

The first Common Greenshank juvenile of the season.

Common Greenshank moulting from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

The first Green Sandpiper juvenile of the season.

The first Red-necked Stint juveniles of the season, a flock of ten including adults.

The first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper of the season. About two non-breeding scapulars are coming in.

A Sharp-tailed Sandpiper that was with the individual above. A few non-breeding feathers are also showing on this one.

A Greater Painted-snipe parent and chicks. There were two chicks, but they were on alert and tucked themselves under the parent, out of sight.

Black-winged Stilt moulting into first-winter plumage.

Black-winged Stilt, adult female in non-breeding plumage.

Marsh Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage.

Common Redshank in first-winter plumage.