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

A small flock of about ten Red-throated Pipits arrived. One or two Buff-bellied Pipits appeared to be mixed in, but I couldn't get a photo.

A flock of several Dusky Warblers arrived together. Dusky Warblers that have just come through tend to move around in small groups in paddy-field habitat like this, but they gradually disperse and begin establishing winter territories centred on scattered scrub.

On my way home from work I spotted a Chinese Pond Heron.

An adult Pacific Golden Plover. In the process of moulting into winter plumage.

A male Grey-faced Buzzard. Thought to be second-winter.

A Grey-faced Buzzard circling with a farm in the background.

I missed the peak hours, but I did manage to see kettles of several dozen raptors a number of times. ^^

A juvenile Pin-tailed Snipe. This might turn out to be my last Pin-tailed Snipe of the season.

A Swinhoe's Snipe well advanced in its moult into winter plumage.

At this time of year, almost all the snipe on Ishigaki Island are Common Snipe.

Wood Sandpiper in winter plumage. A few individuals are still lingering.

Common Greenshank in winter plumage. Only a few remaining here as well.

Pacific Golden Plover juvenile. Both juveniles and adults are present on the island, but all five birds in this flock were juveniles.

First-winter Eastern Yellow Wagtail — when it popped into my binoculars I was startled for a moment, thinking it was some unfamiliar warbler.

Gray-faced Buzzard, male. Probably second-winter.

Same individual as above.

Gray-faced Buzzard, juvenile.

Garganey, juvenile male. Fairly approachable.

Common Teal juvenile, associating with the Garganey.

A female Tufted Duck arrived alone. From here numbers will build steadily, with several hundred wintering on the reservoir.

A Common Snipe that refused to come out from behind the grass.

Common Snipe, juvenile.

Also a Common Snipe juvenile. A small flock of a few birds is in the paddy fields around the island.

Green Sandpiper in winter plumage.

Common Sandpiper keeps a low profile and there are few chances to observe or photograph it. It doesn't form flocks, but the population is reasonably present.

Black-winged Stilt, adult male.

Black-winged Stilt, female, first-winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, adult in winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

Adult Whiskered Tern in the process of moulting into winter plumage.

An adult as well. In the process of moulting into winter plumage.

A male Pale-backed Pigeon. Looking worn out after a spell of rough weather.

This is the female Pale-backed Pigeon. She was feeding on fallen rice grains in a paddy field.

The Pale-backed Pigeons were moving around together with Oriental Turtle Doves.

A wintering Common Kestrel. Soaked to the skin in the rain.

A soaking-wet Crested Serpent Eagle.

A juvenile Ruff. The autumn passage peak for Ruff this season was around mid-September, but this individual showed up more than a month late.

Little Grebe have also arrived to overwinter.

A wintering Eurasian Coot and a resident Common Moorhen feeding together peaceably on the pond.

Paddyfield Pipit seen again this season.

The Paddyfield Pipit, the most beautiful of the Anthus pipits, stands out well even from a distance.

The temperature was not high, but it was panting — apparently having just arrived.

While searching for Paddyfield Pipit, a crake appeared. The encounter lasted only a moment. ^^;

A Javan Pond Heron that has been present for three months. It will likely stay on through the winter.

A juvenile female Northern Shoveler.

A juvenile male Northern Shoveler.

Common Teal are now being seen regularly in paddies and settling ponds.

A Common Snipe in the undergrowth. All the snipe I found that day were Common Snipe, but with the rice and grass growing tall they are hard to pick out.