First Japanese Record — Savanna Nightjar!!
Friends on Okinawa's main island contacted me to say a Savanna Nightjar had turned up, so I made a quick dash to see it. I finished covering my company's relay-race event at full speed, jumped on the last ANA flight, and landed at Naha Airport. Takeshita-kun, who had first spotted the Savanna Nightjar, came to meet me, and together with a young businessman just back from Europe we rushed to the site in Yomitan.
Takeshita-kun and a crowd of other Okinawa acquaintances had gathered, and the Savanna Nightjar was found almost as soon as the search began. Congratulating myself as usual on my good bird luck, I thought, "this is easy" — and the three of us took a relaxed attitude, figuring we had plenty of time until the first flight out in the morning and could take a good long look after everyone else had gone home.
Then came the moment to get serious. I took over driving from the jet-lagged young businessman and made circuits of the farmland at the spot. We were overconfident, and time just slipped by without any sign of the bird. Before I knew it, it was 6 a.m. — time to head for the airport. Incredibly, after those first two brief views, the bird never reappeared, and the whirlwind trip was over.
Unfortunately I got no photographs this time, but I did manage to see its compact, charming little shape. ^^
Seeing the location in person, I think there is every chance of finding one in the Yaeyamas too. I hope to track one down on Ishigaki Island before long. ^^
Large-tailed Nightjar — a first record for Japan!! I wasn't able to get a photo myself, so Takeshita-kun kindly provided one!!
This is the Barred Buttonquail I mistook for the Large-tailed Nightjar. ^^; For some reason it was in the middle of the road late at night.