Last Birding of 2025 (video)
December was hectic with repeated work trips and preparations for Omoto526, a single-unit rental guesthouse opening very soon, so I barely managed to get out birding at all.
Instead, a Crested Serpent Eagle, a Common Kestrel and Olive-backed Pipits have started turning up in our garden. A Black-winged Kite appears morning and evening.
I'd like to take things more slowly and do some proper birdwatching next year — though who knows how that will go… ^^;
A Red-throated Pipit with a short tail. There were also several Citrine Wagtails in the same condition. Perhaps they were grabbed by the Eurasian Sparrowhawk that has been holding territory over this paddy.
A (Yellow-browed) Citrine Wagtail in first-winter plumage.
A superciliated Citrine Wagtail in first-winter plumage.
White Wagtails are scarce this season — a bit lonely.
A female Siberian Stonechat wintering alone.
Tree Pipits that can be watched from the living room. Several are present, but they are being spooked by a Black-winged Kite.
A Crested Serpent Eagle appeared in the garden. It seems interested in the frogs in the biotope pond. December is the peak breeding season for Ryukyu Green Tree Frogs, so they are calling even during the day.
The kids watching the Crested Serpent Eagle from the bedroom. ^^
A Common Kestrel also appeared in the same tree. It was targeting grasshoppers and the like.
A Common Kestrel perched on the security camera at Omoto526. It stayed through the night.
Omoto526, opening soon. Named after Mt. Omoto, the highest peak in the prefecture at 526 metres above sea level. Of course you can see Mt. Omoto from the lodge too. ^^