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

It's a hectic schedule at year-end, but I happened to pass nearby during work so I stopped to check on the Common Hoopoe. It was foraging in its usual spot. There are a lot of feral cats around, so I worry about it coming to harm.

In the paddies the Pied Avocet was still present. There were also Long-toed Stints, Wood Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts, and Common Greenshanks.

In the evening I checked for owls for the first time in a while. No Long-eared Owl or Short-eared Owl found. Ryukyu Scops Owls were fairly numerous. At this time of year moult is complete and they are in fresh winter plumage — well worth a look.

Before heading home to Nagoya I went for one last look at the Collared Kingfisher for 2024. Temperatures have dropped and crabs — its main prey — seem to be less available; its ranging area has expanded considerably.

The Common Hoopoe was still present too, but my camera was already packed in the carry-on bag, so no photos this time.

There was also a strangely pale Chinese Pond Heron. Looking closely, the median coverts on the left wing are white. Three Chinese Pond Herons are wintering in the same area.