Wintering Pin-tailed Snipe!! (video)
This breaks the latest date record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki Island by a full month!!
I found it among a small flock of Common Snipe. It was not a typical Pin-tailed Snipe individual, and at first I wavered between that and Swinhoe's Snipe, but after watching for a while I became certain it was Pin-tailed. I stuck it out for about an hour and managed to get photos of the tail feathers as documentary evidence.
It is an exceptionally Swinhoe's-like individual, which makes it all the more interesting. This is definitely a Pin-tailed Snipe I won't forget in a hurry. ^^
The previous late record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki was an adult on 18 October, so this is a substantial update to the record. ^^
Incidentally, the earliest record is a juvenile in late February. That individual may well have been wintering, though.
Pin-tailed Snipe, first-winter plumage.
This is how it looked when I found it. Bottom left is a Common Snipe.
A Pin-tailed Snipe that caught an earthworm.
Underwing and flanks of the Pin-tailed Snipe.
After nearly an hour of tracking, I finally got a clear view of the Pin-tailed Snipe's needle-like tail feathers. ^^
Common Snipe, first-winter plumage.
All Common Snipe.
Common Redshank, winter plumage.
Wood Sandpipers were numerous during the migration season, but their numbers thin out at this time of year.
Long-toed Stint, first-winter.
I see small flocks of Little Ringed Plovers here and there.
White Wagtail (ocularis), male, first-winter.
Taiwan Yellow Wagtail, first-winter.