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

The Collared Kingfisher, which had not been seen for over a month, has returned to Ishigaki Island.

It dived from its perch toward a crab — and missed.

A Collared Kingfisher flying around right in front of me.

A large driftwood branch that had washed ashore a few days earlier had become a perch for the Collared Kingfisher.

The first Pied Avocet of the season. This individual has zero wariness — almost too close to deal with.

The first Broad-billed Sandpiper of the season.

The first Curlew Sandpiper of the season.

The Sharp-tailed Sandpipers had increased in number.

A flock of eight Pacific Golden Plovers arrived. I've seen lone birds at odd times of year, but as a spring migrant this counts as my first record of the season.

Little Stints arrived too. First of the season.

It was perching on a branch looking tired, but after a while it came down to the ground and started searching for food. It caught a cockroach.

It rested and fed on large numbers of insects and arthropods.

A Eurasian Hoopoe on the lawn is a staple sight on Ishigaki Island. This individual was fairly wary.

Two Curlew Sandpipers confirmed.

A single Pied Avocet flew in.

A Bar-tailed Godwit — a species that tends to pass straight through Ishigaki on fine days thanks to its strong flight — was also resting among a flock of Black-winged Stilts in the rice paddies.

Black-winged Stilts in impressive numbers: over 400. The sight of them in flight was breathtaking.

Over 200 Wood Sandpipers arrived as well.

A group of ten-odd Pectoral Sandpipers.

Common Greenshank and Marsh Sandpiper (left) also came down on the island.

A few Swinhoe's Snipe — first of the season — confirmed.

Perhaps out of exhaustion, nearly every individual I found was sitting still.

Around ten Pacific Golden Plovers confirmed.

The Oriental Pratincoles looked utterly exhausted.

A small group of a few Temminck's Stints arrived.

Barn Swallows were wheeling in flocks at low altitude.

Two male Garganeys arrived. Several more appeared to have come in at another site as well.

The Striated Heron that has been staying since last autumn has finally started to moult.

A few Grey Plovers were on the sandy beach.

There were no Lesser Sand Plovers that day — nothing but Greater Sand Plovers.

A Greater Sand Plover in active moult.

A dark-morph Pacific Reef Heron. It was being chased around by a white-morph individual.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle hatched last year. It has been holding territory in this area since around the end of the year. Sometimes chased off by adults, but it always comes back — a bold individual. ^^

A Crested Serpent Eagle on a forest road. A female with no wariness of people.

A Hen Harrier that overwintered. I forgot to raise the camera's ISO and ended up with something that looks like a panned shot… ^^;

A Grey-faced Buzzard that successfully overwintered in front of my house. It arrived as a juvenile this time, so if nothing untoward happens, it should return to the same spot as an adult this autumn.

This Grey-faced Buzzard overwintered in a sugarcane field near my house. Also a juvenile.

A flock of Whistling Green Pigeons photographed from my living room. About ten birds come every day to eat mulberries.

A Whistling Green Pigeon that flew toward me. They hit the living-room window glass roughly once a year. I wonder if they strike it even with the blind down because the outside scenery is reflected in it?

Seven Large Sand Plovers arrived early in the morning at the go-to spot on Yonaguni Island. I got the message while I was at work, so I was fidgeting.

I enjoyed close-range views of a Large Sand Plover. A male coming into summer plumage.

Scratching its head.

Is this one a female?

There were seven Large Sand Plovers in total, but getting five into a single frame was the best I could manage.

A Daurian Redstart — recorded on Ishigaki Island only about twice in the past.

Same individual as above. It was moving between a ranch and the hedges of a private house. This female was at Hikawa, but apparently a male was also present at Sonai. I was given directions but couldn't find it….

There were four Citrine Wagtails on the island. A good spring migration here is heaven, but a bad one is hell. The old hands stay about a month every year, so they seem to have experienced both. ^^;

Four Eurasian Hoopoes confirmed. Nobody gave them a second glance….

A suspicious-looking pipit in the distance. The image quality is poor due to atmospheric shimmer, but I believe it is a Australasian Pipit.

I heard a call and went looking — found one Olive-backed Pipit.

The Eastern Yellow Wagtail seemed to be on bad terms with the Citrine Wagtail.

A Sykes's Wagtail with a noticeably narrow supercilium. The breeding plumage is beautiful.

The Grey Wagtail was also in breeding plumage and was singing from time to time.

There was a Black-faced Bunting and a Siberian Bunting, but the Citrine Wagtail kept chasing them around, so I only managed to photograph the Black-faced Bunting.

Yellow-breasted Buntings arrived in a small flock.

A Swinhoe's Snipe in the rice paddies.

Here, a Swinhoe's Snipe on the footpath. There's a real sense of migration about it — nice.

A Pin-tailed Snipe on the lawn.

A few Red-necked Stints arrived together.

The Eastern Cattle Egret is also beautiful in breeding plumage.

Great Knots arrived in a small flock.

About a dozen Pacific Golden Plovers.

A few Sanderlings have been staying.

The most numerous is the Ruddy Turnstone.

There was a Black-tailed Gull with an injured wing. Migration looks tough for that one.

While watching the waders and plovers, a flock of around 100 Sykes's Wagtails arrived from overhead. A few (Yellow-browed) Citrine Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits were mixed in as well.

Scanning the paddy bunds with binoculars, I spotted a Pin-tailed Snipe!!

It being a lifer, I did my usual stalker routine and confirmed the tail feathers. It took about an hour before I could get a shot.

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

Pin-tailed Snipe (below) and Swinhoe's Snipe.

The most common snipe is the Common Snipe.

A Ruddy Kingfisher near home. Looks like the same individual as last year.

A Emerald Dove also viewable near home. For this time of year, it was oddly a juvenile. Strange, given that breeding hasn't even started yet….

Same individual as above. No wariness at all, so I was able to observe it up close.

A Collared Kingfisher with a muddy belly from catching prey.

It was regurgitating a pellet.

A Little Whimbrel I noticed by its call while driving slowly through the sugarcane fields. It's a spot where Little Whimbrel turn up every year.

Summer plumage is already coming through on the wing coverts, too.

A Oriental Pratincole that had just arrived.

Snipe numbers are low this season; I only confirmed a few Swinhoe's Snipe.

Also Swinhoe's Snipe. A flock of three.

A solitary Common Snipe.

A flock of around ten Chestnut-cheeked Starlings, with one White-shouldered Starling and three White-cheeked Starlings mixed in.

The only Pin-tailed Snipe of the day. A beautiful individual — I knew what it was the moment it came into the binoculars.

A rather wary Swinhoe's Snipe. There were a few more in the distance.

A Common Snipe on full alert….

With Collared Kingfishers it's a quick look, a quick shot, and done.

It was only a brief observation session, but they were feeding actively.

According to the two participants, Crested Kingfishers can be seen along rivers in urban areas of Hokkaido. Here, Collared Kingfishers can be seen at a river mouth in the middle of town. ^^

I also confirmed several Ruddy Kingfishers.

A few Oriental Pratincoles were looking like they were suffering from the heat.

A Marsh Sandpiper in breeding plumage. Beautiful.

The Common Greenshanks are mostly in breeding plumage as well.

A male Ryukyu Minivet— I often see it flying about actively.

A female Ryukyu Minivet. She was following the male around.

A male (left) and female Ryukyu Minivet. I wonder if they will nest somewhere around here.

A Chinese Pond Heron that has been staying since last autumn. The moult is progressing.

A Cattle Egret caught a frog. Also present are Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, and Grey Heron.

Two Swinhoe's Snipe, apparently stopping over mid-migration.

Also what appears to be a Swinhoe's Snipe on migration. This individual was quite wary.

A Common Snipe that flew in and landed. I could only get the upper half in the frame… ^^;

Also a Common Snipe. Appears to be a migrant passing through.

White-breasted Waterhen are active too, with birds calling back and forth during the breeding season.

Several hundred wintered here, but at this time of year only a handful of Tufted Ducks remain.

This Tufted Duck may be injured — it has been seen along the same bank for several days.

The wintering Eurasian Coots are also down to just a few.

A male Ryukyu Ruddy Kingfisher. Its bill has wood chips on it from digging out a nest hole.

Same individual as above. Stunning.

Ryukyu Kingfisher, female. Paired with the individual above.

A Bar-tailed Godwit in summer plumage that suddenly dropped in alongside Black-winged Stilts and Black-tailed Godwits near the end of a shorebird search. Looking sharp in that summer plumage.

A Pectoral Sandpiper among a flock of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. It flew into my binoculars while I was watching Pin-tailed Snipe.

I also came across a Little Stint — not often seen in large numbers on Ishigaki.

On the coast, a Curlew Sandpiper in summer plumage.

In the rice paddies, a Curlew Sandpiper mid-way through its moult into summer plumage.

A Broad-billed Sandpiper was in the same paddy.

A dream combination came together: Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, and Little Stint, left to right.

A Common Greenshank also moving into beautiful summer plumage.

Three Common Redshanks arrived. Some birds overwinter here, but these are part of the passage.

Grey-tailed Tattler in fresh summer plumage — as good as it gets.

The third Pin-tailed Snipe of the season.

Long-toed Stints on the thin side too. A bit worrying.

Wood Sandpipers past their peak, lingering in small scattered numbers.

Black-winged Stilt, adult male in summer plumage. The large flock has gone; around ten birds are staying on, cycling through.

Black-winged Stilt, first-summer plumage.

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers in summer plumage. Small flocks of a few birds turning up at several spots.

A Marsh Sandpiper looking tired — perhaps just arrived. Beautiful summer plumage.

Black-tailed Godwits also moving into summer plumage. Large waders won't come down to the island unless the weather turns rough…

A few Great Knots on the coast.

About ten Terek Sandpipers arrived.

The Common Sandpiper is always alone even during migration season. Does it not migrate in flocks?

Ruddy Turnstones are present year-round, so I cannot tell whether they are migrants or winterers, but their numbers do fluctuate.

Greater Sand Plover numbers have dropped.

As Greater Sand Plovers have declined, Lesser Sand Plovers have increased in number.

The second Chinese Egret of the season. It was showing its familiar behaviour of chasing fish at the water's edge.

Three Black-faced Spoonbills are staying. Apparently there were as many as five at one point.

A female Ryukyu Striated Heron. Neck stretched, keeping watch on its surroundings. Lip-licking is a characteristic behaviour of the Ryukyu Striated Heron — I wonder what it means.

A Ryukyu Striated Heron in among the dried grass.

A lone female Eurasian Teal left behind by the migrating flock. Nearby was a single male Northern Shoveler.

A Japanese Paradise Flycatcher pair moving around together. They will probably build a nest somewhere in this area.

A Ruddy Kingfisher nest-building. It was excavating a hole in the nest tree of a Ryukyu Scops Owl — I am curious to see how things develop.

Towards evening a Brown Hawk-Owl hunting along the forest road. The female of the pair was also nearby.

Same individual as above. Flying insects are completely invisible to the human eye in these conditions, but the Brown Hawk-Owl clearly has no such problem — it was making successful catches one after another.

An individual presumed to be a Steppe Buzzard. It looked thoroughly fed up with being harassed by crows in the rain.

A Brown Shrike still lingering. They typically stay on until after Golden Week.