Ruddy Kingfisher, Ashy Drongo, Ruddy Shelduck, Oriental Pratincole and more (video)
Ruddy Kingfisher numbers have been building up. The first call of the season came a little earlier than usual, but I had been away from the island on a family trip at the end of March, so I only just managed to get photographs. These days a bird is calling loudly around the house from early morning — at around 6 a.m. the Ruddy Kingfisher wakes me up.
The Ashy Drongo has been wintering at the same spot since around New Year, a stay of roughly four months now. That is quite a long wintering record for Ishigaki Island.
A single Ruddy Shelduck turned up in the rice paddies. Last winter one appeared briefly at the dam but I could not get a proper look, so this was my first good view in a long time. It really is a beautiful bird.
Other spring migrants are arriving one after another: Oriental Pratincole, Common Snipe, Common Greenshank, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet and more.
The Ryukyu Ruddy Kingfisher arrived about a week earlier than usual this season — calls were already audible around 23 March. Numbers picked up toward the end of March. My first photos weren't until 6 April, a little later than usual, partly because I was away from the island on a trip.
The Ashy Drongo that has been wintering on Ishigaki Island for a record-length stay. This photo was taken on 3 April, but it was still being seen on the 9th. Just how long will this Ashy Drongo stay?
The Ruddy Shelduck has nearly completed its moult from juvenile plumage into first breeding plumage. This was its third day of the stay.
A flock of a dozen or so Oriental Pratincoles is staying in a rice paddy. I expect breeding will be confirmed again this season.
A Chestnut-cheeked Starling that came to the car park at my workplace. They come to eat the fruit of Murraya paniculata. During the winter, White-shouldered Starlings, White-cheeked Starlings, and Asian Glossy Starlings also turned up regularly for the same berries. On Ishigaki, Chestnut-cheeked Starlings feel more like a spring bird than a wintering one.
There was also a pair of Northern Pintail. They are probably birds moving through on spring migration.
There was a flock of 25 Little Ringed Plovers. I heard there had been a White-rumped Sandpiper among them, but by the time I arrived it was Little Ringed Plovers only.
A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. It looks like it managed to catch something — the crop is bulging.
A female Ryukyu Night Heron. She is hunting for earthworms on a lawn.
The male, paired with the individual above.