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

Poised and clearly ready to fly.

When placed on the ground it walked several metres before stopping.

After a little while, watched over by the rescue workers, officials, and press, it flew off strongly.

Lately, for some reason, I've ended up directing things on site — the direction of flight, the positioning of the media and so on — but this time it flew exactly the course I'd predicted, so I just about managed to save face… ^^;

Three Pied Avocets delighting visitors to the island.

The first Bar-tailed Godwit of the season was a first-winter bird.

Common Greenshank, first-winter.

Common Sandpiper.

Green Sandpiper.

Dunlin.

Black-winged Stilt.

Common Snipe.

Common Snipe.

Common Snipe.

Crested Serpent Eagle.

Crested Serpent Eagle.

Black-headed Gull, first-winter.

Mallard × domestic duck? hybrid.

I had been hearing Pale Thrush calling since around the end of last month, but this day was my first confirmed sighting of the season.

Citrine Wagtail, first-winter.

The same individual as above, from the front.

A different Citrine Wagtail, also first-winter.

The same individual as above, from the front.

Black-tailed Godwit, first-winter. It was following the Common Greenshanks around.

Whimbrel, juvenile.

Common Redshank.

Green Sandpiper.

Common Shelduck.

The number of Eurasian Coots is increasing day by day.

A Black-winged Kite juvenile with zero wariness. Given the location and timing, it may be the individual that was being fed in mid-air by a parent bird previously.

Female Peregrine Falcon. Used to be called the subspecies Siberian Peregrine, but it has been lumped into the subspecies calidus.

Juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. It looked annoyed at being harassed by a pair of Peregrine Falcons.

Adult male Brown Shrike. A very beautiful individual.

Two Tundra Swans. These individuals moved over from Iriomote Island. They have been moving between the dam lake, the coast, and the rice paddies.

A flock of Northern Lapwings arrived — about 10 birds, all juveniles.

Adult winter-plumage Marsh Sandpiper.

The first Tufted Ducks of the season. They were always moving around as a pair.

Male Northern Shoveler. Possibly the most numerous duck on Ishigaki Island.

A juvenile Upland Buzzard appeared in the distance.

A second Upland Buzzard also showed up. This one was far away too. The two birds were several hundred metres apart and showed no sign of interacting with each other.

A Common Buzzard, right between the two Upland Buzzards. A month ago on a work trip to Yonaguni Island I found a Steppe Buzzard, but this time there was none.

A few Little Buntings were sheltering from the wind.

A Pale Thrush with almost no wariness at all.

A flock of about 30 White's Thrushes had moved into the farmland.

Among the flock of 30 White's Thrushes there were also a few Pale Thrushes mixed in.

A Dusky Thrush at a ranch. At this time of year only small numbers have been recorded on Ishigaki Island, but there were plenty on Yonaguni Island.

A Red-throated Pipit still retaining some summer plumage on the face.

On this individual, the reddish colour on the face has almost completely faded.

Juvenile (Yellow-browed) Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Almost all the Eastern Yellow Wagtails were juveniles.

A juvenile Black-tailed Gull eating a Common Sandpiper. First-winter plumage.

The moult was more advanced on this individual than the one above. Black-tailed Gull, first-winter.

Black-headed Gull, adult winter. There were four of them.

A male Daurian Redstart was at the boat-haul-out area in the harbour. It seemed to be foraging — though I wonder what it was eating.

A juvenile Upland Buzzard perched at the top of a windbreak.

When it was startled and lost its balance, the features distinctive of Upland Buzzard were clearly visible.

An Upland Buzzard from a different area. Also a juvenile. This Ryukyu Pine seems to be its roost.

Same individual as above. In flight, the size typical of Upland Buzzard is striking.

Grey-faced Buzzard, adult male.

Same individual as above. I feel that the number of Grey-faced Buzzards wintering on Ishigaki Island is decreasing year by year.

A Eurasian Hoopoe foraging at the base of a tree planted inside a housing complex.

When residents passed by it fled up into the tree, but after a while it came back down and resumed its hearty feeding.

A Eurasian Hoopoe with little wariness. There is a fair amount of foot traffic, but no birders come, so it is never chased off and is well into wintering mode.

The prey item the Hoopoe was eating here was, again, cockroaches.

An adult male Peregrine Falcon with a large Intermediate Egret it had caught.

Just as it had nearly finished eating, a passing vehicle startled it into flight and the prey disintegrated in the air….

A flock of 47 Common Snipe. All of them Common Snipe, even with that many. At this time of year, any newly arriving snipe are all Common Snipe.

A Eurasian Hoopoe in wintering mode, searching for food at its usual spot.

A Pied Avocet also continuing a long stay.

An adult Ryukyu Scops Owl in beautiful fresh plumage after completing its moult.

Same individual as above. It caught an insect that had been attracted by a car's lights and flew off somewhere.

The last Collared Kingfisher of the year. This happy blue bird drew many birdwatchers to Ishigaki Island. Moult appears to have begun slightly, with fresh bright feathers coming in on the head. I hope it stays until the plumage is fully renewed.

A Chinese Pond Heron with only the left wing coverts white. Hard to tell whether the feathers have dropped out, are dishevelled, or this is partial albinism.