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

A Crested Serpent Eagle calmly lying in wait for prey in its usual territory.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle in the same area as the adult above. Every time the adult spots it, it gets an earful… ^^;

A Crested Serpent Eagle that holds territory in Banna Park. Most individuals here are used to people and have an easygoing temperament, but this one is a wary adult.

An adult Malayan Night Heron. Nuptial coloration is beginning to show.

A Malayan Night Heron hatched last year, in the process of moulting from juvenile to adult plumage.

A different individual from the one above. Moult progress differs noticeably.

A Chinese Pond Heron that has been lingering since last autumn. Still fully in winter plumage. About three birds are staying in the same paddy field, and none of them has advanced in moult.

Seven Bramblings arrived. The males had already changed into their beautiful summer plumage.

Hard to tell with the females, but are they also in summer plumage?

Four Garganey arrived at the paddy field. When Garganey appear, spring really feels close.

Wood Sandpipers heading north are starting to move through. Still only small flocks.

Common Greenshanks on passage are still few, but numbers are definitely picking up.

Wintering Common Snipe. Several birds are lingering in a small wetland.

As spring approaches, do they fill with energy and start fighting more?

Confirmed a Merlin — a scarce species in the Southwestern Islands.

Distant Siberian Stonechat, but in the small-bird world spring still seems a long way off.

Around six Garganey on the reservoir, moving around together with wintering Mallards, Eurasian Wigeons, and Northern Shovelers.

Several Dusky Thrushes perched in scrub along the coast.

A Common Blackbird turned up in a good patch of habitat. Looks like it may stay a while.

A flock of five Japanese Thrushes in a small grassland. Completely focused on foraging, not wary at all. Judging by how hungry they seem, they must have just arrived.

I was able to observe them up close at eye level.

I think a photo of Common Cranes with a pineapple field as the backdrop is something quite rare.

A Ryukyu Bittern appeared at the paddy bund.

A Purple Heron appeared right in front of the Ryukyu Bittern above.

A Common Snipe showing only its upper half.

From around late February, Common Ringed Plover arrivals have increased considerably. Already in summer plumage.

White Wagtails heading north are also passing through Ishigaki Island.

The overwintering Grey Wagtails are well into their moult, and have started gathering loosely in small groups. Migration must be approaching.

A Japanese Bush Warbler showing off its call notes and singing practice.

The regular Javan Pond Heron was in the regular paddy field.

A few Temminck's Stints arrived together. Still in winter plumage.

An overwintering Common Snipe.

Another overwintering Common Snipe.

A Eurasian Hoopoe with absolutely no wariness, delighting visiting birdwatchers.

An unusually wary individual for a Eurasian Hoopoe. In such cases it's best not to press too close.

A Eurasian Hoopoe foraging without any sign of concern as a lawnmower carrying a worker roared and trundled around nearby.

Same individual as above. The Eurasian Hoopoe found a spider in the freshly mown grass.

A Eurasian Hoopoe at a different location. This individual called with a "jaar, jaar" sound — a rare chance to hear it make something other than its usual "poo poo poo." It was a real shame I couldn't get it on video.

Four Common Snipe resting at the paddy bund.

A nearby Common Snipe apparently convinced it was hidden in the grass.

Another Common Snipe that had been hiding right alongside.

A Javan Pond Heron that has been staying since last autumn. Still in winter plumage, but I expect the moult will begin before long.

A pair of Crested Serpent Eagles. The male is on the left. The area where this pair lives is surrounded by farmland, so traffic accidents seem unlikely to be a concern.

The female of the same individual as above. The newly purchased FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS with the SEL14TC teleconverter attached produces sharp results even on distant subjects.

A Purple Heron showing just a hint of breeding plumage.

The first Common Greenshanks of the season — a few birds arrived.

A flock of more than 100 Eastern Yellow Wagtails resting in a sugarcane field. They looked as though they had just arrived.

A Black-winged Kite perched on a prominent dead branch, occasionally calling back and forth with another individual perched nearby.

The mate of the Black-winged Kite above. Telling the sexes apart in Black-winged Kites is tricky.

The first Fork-tailed Swift of the season.

They fly energetically over the paddies without any sign of fatigue — quite a contrast to the waders, which look utterly worn out from their long journey.

The first Sharp-tailed Sandpiper of the season. Extremely tired-looking — eyes closing, not moving at all — but one night's rest and they bounce back.

A solitary Common Redshank. It turned up in a paddy that hasn't been flooded over winter, so it's likely a spring passage bird.

The Common Redshank above foraging alongside several Black-winged Stilts.