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

A Ruddy Kingfisher near my home. It was in the middle of nest-building.

Another Ruddy Kingfisher close to home. The female is in the foreground, the male behind.

The male of the pair above.

The same pair as above. The female is on top, the male below.

An adult male Ryukyu Pygmy Falcon.

This individual was completely unconcerned — it didn't mind even when a motorbike passed underneath.

A Crested Serpent Eagle on a forest road. Bloodsucking insects were swarming around its face and it looked thoroughly annoyed.

A Crested Serpent Eagle on farmland. It seemed to be waiting for prey to flush from a sugarcane field being worked nearby.

A Pin-tailed Snipe foraging along a paddy bund, mixed in with several Swinhoe's Snipe.

Same individual as above. Startled by a crow.

Several Swinhoe's Snipe confirmed. Individuals appear to be changing over.

A Swinhoe's Snipe seen at relatively close range.

It was distant and wouldn't show itself any better than this, but still clearly identifiable as a Pin-tailed Snipe.

This individual, too, wouldn't show any more of itself….

A Pin-tailed Snipe that has been present for the past few days.

There were three Broad-billed Sandpipers. Much of the winter plumage still remains.

The Little Stint was still present.

A Long-toed Stint moving into breeding plumage.

A Temminck's Stint that has partially moulted into breeding plumage.

A Temminck's Stint with an injured left foot.

A male Black-winged Stilt in breeding plumage. The flock seems to be turning over day by day.

A male Ryukyu Yellow Bittern in breeding plumage. Active now that the breeding season has begun.

While watching snipe, White-breasted Waterhens and Common Moorhens keep flushing them aggressively. ^^;

A (Yellow-browed) Eastern Yellow Wagtail in breeding plumage. Numbers are dropping as they continue moving north.

There is no brownish tinge, and it looks quite different from the Pacific Golden Plovers I usually see. It has a definite American Golden Plover feel to it.

The PP appeared to be showing four feathers at all times.

Compared to the other Pacific Golden Plovers, this is how it looks. The primary projection stands out next to the surrounding birds. Very American Golden Plover-like.

It has probably been a few days since hatching. It is endearing to watch the chicks following their parent around.

Whenever the parent caught food, the chicks all jostled to be first in line begging for it.

It did not seem particularly wary of people and came towards me. When an Intermediate Egret or a Common Moorhen approached, it tucked its chicks underneath its belly. Black-winged Kites, crows and Japanese Sparrowhawks also showed up, so there was no room for complacency.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher sang at close range on a forest track. I was able to record fine detail in the recording.

A Ruddy Kingfisher in the park. A female individual.

The male of the pair with the one above. Neither the male nor the female of this pair shows any wariness.

A Ruddy Kingfisher on a forest track. This individual also showed little wariness.

This is a Ruddy Kingfisher I encountered on foot. It bred in the same spot last year as well, and is noticeably accustomed to people.

A Ruddy Kingfisher nesting in the garden two houses down from my home. It is perched on my neighbour's roof.

My acquaintance with this Ryukyu Scops Owl has been going on for quite a while now.

Ryukyu Scops Owls have begun breeding at several locations. At the earliest sites, chicks have already hatched. This was also an early-breeding pair last year — perhaps there are individual differences in timing.

It appears the Brown Hawk-Owls have also begun incubating. This pair has successfully bred for several consecutive years.

A male Ryukyu Sparrowhawk in the rice paddies. At this time of year males are often seen, but females are incubating and rarely show themselves.

A Ryukyu Night Heron that has pulled out an earthworm.

Same individual as above. The Ryukyu Night Herons living in the park are used to people and walk right toward you.

A neighborhood Ryukyu Night Heron. It lives close to the settlement, so this one is also used to people.

White-breasted Waterhen breeding too. I expect to encounter adults with chicks before long.

An Ishigaki Bulbul bringing food. Some pairs are still building nests while others already have hatched chicks.

A male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. He seemed to still be unpaired, moving through the woodland while singing.

A male Brown Hawk-Owl (left) and female in the background. This pair's nest changes location every year — the nesting tree has been cut down and so on.

A Brown Hawk-Owl that has used the same nesting tree for several consecutive years. This is the male. This year a Ruddy Kingfisher ended up building a nest right next door… ^^;

A Ryukyu Scops Owl that has also bred successfully for several years running. Practically perches on your hand. ^^;

A female Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. The male was in the thicket. The two were moving around calling back and forth to each other. Perhaps they were looking for a place to build a nest.

A Ruddy Kingfisher that was near the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher.

The pair whose nest was destroyed by a typhoon two years ago and were rescued. I never found where they nested last year. Where will they build this year?

An out-of-season Pin-tailed Snipe. Almost fully in summer plumage.

When I found it, it looked like this — a bit tense. It had that Pin-tailed Snipe feel about it even before I got the binoculars on it. ^^

Common Greenshank, first-summer plumage.

A male Black-winged Stilt, adult summer plumage. This individual has what looks like a healed fracture around the base of the left leg.

A female Black-winged Stilt, adult summer plumage.

A female Black-winged Stilt, first-summer plumage.

A male Black-winged Stilt, first-summer plumage.

A Common Moorhen incubating eggs. It had built its nest beside a farm road with heavy foot traffic from walkers and others.