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

A Ruddy Kingfisher from the neighbourhood. Moult is well advanced and the plumage looks ragged. September has arrived and departure is not far off. I went out to photograph it while it still looks lively, before it disappears.

From August onwards, singing becomes increasingly rare. They can still be seen throughout September, but by October most individuals have moved on to their wintering grounds.

A Emerald Dove appearing in the village. Almost no wariness at all.

An Emerald Dove eating fallen fruit of Okinawa mallotus on the pavement.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, adult. Transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult winter plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult. Transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult.

Three Javan Pond Herons are staying in the same rice field. They have also been recorded in other areas, and there seem to be a fair number on the island. On the Okinawa main island, arrivals have been confirmed in the north, central, and south. Their range appears to be expanding steadily eastward in recent years.

Ryukyu Striated Heron, male.

Two female Greater Painted-snipes were feeding in close proximity. No exclusion behaviour was observed.

A male Greater Painted-snipe incubating.

A Common Moorhen incubating in the same rice field as the Greater Painted-snipe above.

A chick of White-breasted Waterhen. Probably only a few days since hatching.

The parent bird, with no wariness at all, came right up in front of me with three chicks in tow.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, first-winter.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

The Kentish Plover was in transition from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

The white wing-bar of the Kentish Plover is conspicuous even in flight and helps with identification from Little Ringed Plover.

Little Ringed Plovers were staying in rice fields here and there.

Pacific Golden Plover, transitioning from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Common Greenshank is also changing into non-breeding plumage.

Marsh Sandpiper, transitioning from juvenile to first-winter plumage.

Black-winged Stilt, female in non-breeding plumage.

A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper, the first appearance this season. Adults were first recorded in July.

Wood Sandpiper in the process of changing into non-breeding plumage.

Wood Sandpipers staying in good numbers.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Same individual as above.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

The first Chinese Pond Heron of the season. It was eating a tadpole.

Three Javan Pond Herons made a long stay in the same paddy field as the Chinese Pond Heron.

Sykes's Wagtail, adult winter plumage.

White-breasted Waterhen, male (left) and female.

Crested Serpent Eagle, juvenile. When it spotted something in a roadside ditch it would swoop down — practising its hunting on its own.

Purple Heron, juvenile. Perhaps because this area wasn't hit by the typhoon, numbers seem high this year.

Purple Heron, adult.

Greater Painted-snipe, male parent with chicks just a few days after hatching.

Red-necked Stint, adult (left), and Long-toed Stint, juvenile.

Red-necked Stint, juvenile.

Terek Sandpiper, adult. Every now and then you get one that wanders into the paddies.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Nothing but Swinhoe's Snipe juveniles.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult. Birds in winter plumage are starting to appear.

Arctic Warbler makes an appearance. It stands out clearly — obviously different from the other Japanese leaf warblers.

A Dusky Warbler foraging as it moves along the tips of branches in a Cluster Fig tree.

A juvenile Chinese Sparrowhawk. I confirmed several individuals.

A juvenile Grey-streaked Flycatcher. Among the Muscicapa flycatchers, Grey-streaked appeared to be the most numerous, including both adults and juveniles.

An adult Brown-breasted Flycatcher. Found it on a dim forest road. Numbers were quite low.

A juvenile Dark-sided Flycatcher. This is the first time I've seen such fresh juvenile plumage.

A juvenile Blue-and-white Flycatcher. Rare on Ishigaki-jima, but on Yonaguni-jima I can reliably find them at this time of year.

A juvenile Oriental Dollarbird perched on a power line along the forest road.

Chestnut-cheeked Starlings were present in flocks — the largest had over 100 individuals, and there were several other groups of around 30.

An adult male Brown Shrike. Adult males tend to dominate in the early stages of migration.

An adult female Brown Shrike.

The first duck of the season was a Garganey.

The first Common Snipe of the season was a juvenile.

A Swinhoe's Snipe with tail feathers missing.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe in a waterway. Yonaguni-jima has few rice paddies, leaving the snipe with little suitable habitat.

A Swinhoe's Snipe resting in the shade of a parking lot streetlight.

Several Black-winged Stilts were in the grass.

A Common Sandpiper also foraging in the grass.

Pacific Golden Plovers resting on rocks along the quayside.

There were many Grey Wagtails along the forest road.

Large numbers of Citrine Wagtails have arrived in the pastures and cultivated fields.

The only Pin-tailed Snipe of the day was at the far end of the paddy field — a long way off….

A flock of Swinhoe's Snipe. All juveniles.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile. The scapulars appear to be moulting into winter plumage.

A large Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile. This one is still very much in juvenile plumage.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

A Common Moorhen closing in on a Swinhoe's Snipe.

A heavily worn Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Juvenile Red-necked Stints have finally started to come through.

Dunlin juvenile.

A Ruddy Kingfisher on the forest track. An unwarry individual — I suspect the same bird has been returning for several years running.

Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile.

Another Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile.

A Pin-tailed Snipe in the distance. Also a juvenile.

At this time of year it's all juveniles with Pin-tailed Snipe.

Yet another Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile.

A somewhat unusual Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile.

A Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile carefully pulling an earthworm out of the soil.

There are plenty of Swinhoe's Snipe around.

A Swinhoe's Snipe right in front of me. Too close — I froze.

Swinhoe's Snipes come in all sorts of types, which is interesting. ^^

Only juvenile Swinhoe's Snipes again…

A large-bodied Swinhoe's Snipe. Individuals with this kind of look are uncommon, but one shows up every year.

The first Temminck's Stint of the season was a juvenile.

Dunlin juvenile. The bill looks slightly shorter than usual.

Discovered a flock of Japanese Paradise Flycatchers beside the park car park.

This one is a male Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. I could occasionally hear it singing as well.

This flock of Japanese Paradise Flycatchers numbered close to ten birds.

They were moving around foraging inside a dim, scrubby woodland.

A Mallard turned up for some reason. Feels a little early…

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile. Even on Yonaguni Island, all I kept seeing were snipe.

This one is also a Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

A Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile that froze because I got too close.

Swinhoe's Snipes in the distance. They were all juveniles.

Among a flock of Swinhoe's Snipes, one lone adult Common Snipe.

Two Dunlins, both juveniles. There are almost no rice paddies on Yonaguni Island, and the second crop wasn't being grown this time either, so waders were scarce. In the irrigation channels there were Long-toed Stints, Black-winged Stilts, Red-necked Stints, and Little Ringed Plovers.

The first Common Greenshank of the season.

Five Ruffs arrived. Counting other paddies as well, around ten are currently staying. That's more than usual for this season.

Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe (left) and Swinhoe's Snipe. Both are the same individuals as above.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile. It's quite dark — perhaps the type commonly seen on the mainland?

A Swinhoe's Snipe that was associating with the individual above.

Common Snipe numbers are gradually increasing.

A Kentish Plover still present.

The Javan Pond Heron has been on a long stay since summer. At peak, three birds were present in rice paddies in the same area.

` Pin-tailed Snipe adult, missing its left foot, on a long stay since 22 August <https://shimasoba.com/blog/2525/>`__ .

Same individual as above. Moult has progressed considerably over about a month. Migrating without a foot carries real risks, so it may end up wintering here.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Same individual as above.

Another Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

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

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Also a Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile. There are so many different types — great fun.

Greater Painted-snipe, male (foreground) and female.

A female Greater Painted-snipe moved forward in response to the calls of another individual.

Juveniles make up the overwhelming majority of the Long-toed Stints.

The first Pacific Golden-Plover juvenile of the season.

White-winged Tern juvenile. Perhaps due to the lack of typhoons, no large flocks have appeared this season.

Little Stint juvenile.

An unwary Common Snipe adult.

This Swinhoe's Snipe appeared to have lost the sight in its left eye.

Juvenile Common Snipes have started to show up as well.

Swinhoe's Snipe (left) and Common Snipe. You can clearly see the size difference.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

The only Pin-tailed Snipe of the day.

A Pin-tailed Snipe finally squeezed out after scanning through dozens of snipe.

While watching a group of around ten Swinhoe's Snipes, a snipe appeared in the grass. It was a typical Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile, so I followed it with binoculars hoping to get a look at the tail feathers — and it bathed rather sooner than I expected. ^^

Same individual as above. Wing-flapping after bathing.

The needle-like tail feathers are also visible during preening.

A different Pin-tailed Snipe individual. Also a juvenile, and it was together with the bird above. They look like typical examples of a similar type, so they may be siblings. I would have liked to show a variety of Pin-tailed Snipe types, but these two were the only Pin-tailed Snipes this time.

Same individual as above. Preening in the grass.

Swinhoe's Snipe adult. The only adult of the day.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Same individual as above.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Same individual as above.

By this time of year, Swinhoe's Snipe are almost all juveniles.

Same individual as above.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe resting in the grass.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe that showed little wariness.

An adult Common Snipe.

First juvenile Grey-tailed Tattler of the season.

Also the first Red-necked Stint of the season — a juvenile.

Also the first Great Knot of the season. It was a juvenile.

Juvenile Common Greenshanks have been increasing too.

A Ruddy-breasted Crake appeared while I was watching snipe.