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

Male Kentish Plover in breeding plumage. Beautiful. The breeding population in Okinawa is considerably paler.

Same individual as above. The breast-band looks like this.

First Whiskered Tern of the season. Just a hint of summer plumage showing.

A juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill. Going back and forth between the paddies and the dam.

Wood Sandpipers up slightly in number.

Black-winged Stilts also in the early stages of migration.

Little Ringed Plover is the most numerous species in the paddies.

A small flock of Long-toed Stints. Numbers should keep climbing. Looking forward to seeing them in summer plumage soon.

Adult female Bull-headed Shrike.

A pair of Peregrine Falcons has been staying for a while. The male was perched nearby too, but it was skittish and flew off.

A Crested Serpent Eagle with a blind left eye. It has somehow made it through a hard winter and is holding on.

An Ishigaki Tit that was raising chicks kept moving around near the nest while giving alarm calls.

A male Ryukyu Kingfisher. It looked a little tired, as though it had just arrived on migration.

A weary-looking Eurasian Hoopoe. It barely moved even as cars and motorbikes passed right in front of it.

This Eurasian Hoopoe was in a sugarcane field. As usual, it was catching cockroaches.

A Eurasian Hoopoe in front of a café. The customers were surprised by the unfamiliar bird.

Adult male Ryukyu Narcissus Flycatcher. This individual wasn't singing, but it was moving and foraging together with a female as a pair.

A Ruddy Kingfisher observed at just five metres away. The spot seemed to be its regular feeding ground.

A Ruddy Kingfisher perched on a vine hanging like a swing. This individual had already paired up.

A Eurasian Hoopoe that looked a little tired — perhaps it had just arrived.

A Eurasian Hoopoe that caught a cockroach. Cockroaches are so synonymous with Hoopoes on Ishigaki that you could almost say that's all they eat here.

This season was a bumper year for Eurasian Hoopoes on Ishigaki Island — I counted several dozen individuals… ^^;

A Ruddy Kingfisher taking on a Anoplophora malasiaca.

Same individual as above. Like the Hoopoe, it has been delighting visitors at the same spot.

A particularly unflappable Ruddy Kingfisher. It perched about three metres away.

A male and female Mandarin Duck. They've been together for a few days now — perhaps a pair?

The Common Redshanks that wintered here are beginning to come into summer plumage.

The male on the right holds the territory; the female on the left is "Micchan," who has been in wildlife rehabilitation before. He just made a pitiful cry and was no match for her.

A Sakishima rat snake lies at their feet. Shortly after, the adult male on the right grabbed the snake and flew off.

Five Swinhoe's Snipes and one Pin-tailed Snipe.

Pin-tailed Snipe.

Swinhoe's Snipe.

And a Ryukyu Kingfisher while I'm at it.

A typical Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki Island in spring.

There were 13 snipe in total, more than half of which were Pin-tailed Snipes.

Same individual as above.

This one is also a Pin-tailed Snipe.

Same individual as above.

Pin-tailed Snipe again.

Same individual as above.

This type is common too. Pin-tailed Snipe.

Three Pin-tailed Snipes.

Pin-tailed Snipe in the distance. The back pattern says Pin-tailed Snipe. ^^

Same individual as above.

A plump Swinhoe's Snipe.

This one is also Swinhoe's Snipe.

Swinhoe's Snipe preening.

It was probing the ground repeatedly in search of food. After a stay of a few days, it will move on toward its breeding grounds.

In the morning it was actively foraging and preening — a pleasure to watch.

Pin-tailed Snipe.

A Swinhoe's Snipe stretching.

A male Citrine Wagtail in breeding plumage. That vivid yellow is stunning.

It rained on and off, but photos taken in that kind of weather really capture the feel of migration on a remote island.

An adult male Eastern Yellow Wagtail in breeding plumage.

Also an adult male Eastern Yellow Wagtail, though not quite in full breeding plumage yet.

A Ruddy Kingfisher near home. Last year I was still seeing it into September, so this is our first reunion in half a year.

Driving along a farm track, a Ryukyu Sparrowhawk overtook me from behind. Searching around, I found the male perched on a power line. It seemed to be targeting sparrows in the grass, but crows kept getting in the way.

A Purple Heron wandered over while I was watching the snipe. It keeps flushing them, which is a real nuisance.

Three Black-faced Spoonbills arrived at two locations.

The Brown Hawk-Owl is back for this season. This is a male.

The Ruddy Kingfisher near home. The same individual as last year.

Also a Ruddy Kingfisher, at a spot close to home.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle hatched last year. A few adult-type feathers are just starting to come in.

Pin-tailed Snipe. Frozen in this position. ^^;

The Common Redshank has largely come into breeding plumage now.

The Marsh Sandpiper has also almost completed its moult into breeding plumage.

The Black-tailed Godwit is still very much in winter plumage.

The Pectoral Sandpiper had almost completely changed into breeding plumage.

Long-toed Stint in breeding plumage. Arrived in a group of several birds.

This Long-toed Stint still shows a lot of winter plumage.

Marsh Sandpiper in breeding plumage — really beautiful.

Five Greenshanks together. Each one at a different stage of moult, which makes for an interesting comparison.

Common Redshank in breeding plumage.

Green Sandpiper in breeding plumage. One of my favourite calls among the sandpipers. ^^

Wood Sandpiper also in mid-moult to breeding plumage.

Black-winged Stilt in breeding plumage, male. Around this time of year the breast takes on a pinkish hue, adding to their elegance.

Pin-tailed Snipe. It would not come out into the open at all.

A Swinhoe's Snipe in the same spot as the Pin-tailed Snipe above.

First Striated Heron of the season. In transition from juvenile to first-summer plumage.

Eurasian Spoonbill, adult. An oddly pale individual — the bill and all.

Cattle Egret in breeding colours.

A Ruddy Kingfisher along the prefectural road. I hope they stay clear of the traffic.

Ruddy Kingfisher, male.

It was actively foraging in the rain.

A Ruddy Kingfisher with no fear of people.

A Ruddy Kingfisher excavating a nest hole in a Livistona palm. The wood is hard, so it may give up partway through.

A Rufous-necked Woodrail that passed by while I was watching the Ruddy Kingfisher build its nest.

A Black Drongo perched right in front of me. You can also see the small white spot at the base of the bill.

Two Black Drongos. Three together on the same perch was not to be.

The Black Drongo is jet black, but the wings carry a slight metallic sheen — beautiful.

Perched nimbly on a slender branch.

A juvenile Black-winged Kite. Still showing a good deal of juvenile plumage.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. Born last year, it managed to get through the winter. A few adult feathers are just beginning to show.

A young male Hen Harrier. It was quartering the pasture in search of prey.

The moult is progressing; grey, male-type feathers are coming in on the head.

A Black Drongo after a downpour. It sat motionless on a branch tip — apparently drying its feathers.

A male Pale-vented Pigeon picking food off the ground.

In the middle of the downpour, it seemed to know exactly which branch would keep it out of the rain.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher near my home. Completely unfazed even when villagers passed below. ^^;

It had several favourite perches, and after the rain cleared it was actively taking prey.

A Crested Serpent Eagle on the forest road. Blood-sucking insects were swarming around its face and it looked none too pleased.

White-winged Terns appearing sporadically as passage birds. More individuals in summer plumage now.

A flock of ten Common Greenshanks came down into the paddies during the downpour. As soon as the rain stopped they took off and moved on.