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

The first Black-faced Spoonbill of the season arrived. It was an easy bird to watch, showing no wariness at all.

The Javan Pond Heron appears to have moved on after staying about a week.

The first Dunlin of the season seemed to have an injured wing. Doesn't look like a fracture, so hopefully it heals.

A male Emerald Dove I run into near the house every day. Possibly in the middle of raising chicks — it was feeding intently.

Finally got confirmation. Pin-tailed Snipe, adult. DCA (Definitive Alternate plumage).

Also a Pin-tailed Snipe adult. Molt state: DCA.

Pin-tailed Snipe, adult. DCA.

Common Greenshank, adult. DCA.

First Marsh Sandpiper of the season as well. DPB (Definitive Prebasic molt).

First Common Redshank of the season too. DPB. There were juveniles as well, but I couldn't get a shot. ^^;

Long-toed Stint. DCA.

Black-winged Stilt, adult female. DCA.

A White-winged Tern was flying alone over the rice paddies, but after a while it gained altitude and disappeared.

This Ruddy Kingfisher was still feeding its fledgling. The adult was relaxed, but the fledgling was an extremely wary individual.

Another very relaxed Ruddy Kingfisher. An individual that doesn't care even when people walk by below. ^^

Also a Crested Serpent Eagle living in Banna Park. Completely unbothered by people.

Among the wagtails, the first to arrive on Ishigaki Island is the Grey Wagtail, followed by the Eastern Yellow Wagtail and then the White Wagtail.

A House Sparrow that fledged from a nest box hanging on the wall of my house.

最初に見つけたジャワアカガシラサギ。あまり警戒心のない個体でした。

上のジャワアカガシラサギを見ていたら飛び出してきたもう一羽のジャワアカガシラサギ。こちらは警戒心が強めでした。

最近、よく遭遇するリュウキュウヨシゴイのオス。

今季初のリュウキュウヨシゴイの幼鳥。

ムラサキサギも幼鳥を確認。

雨が降ってくるとハリオシギの成鳥が現れました。

セイタカシギの幼鳥を今季初の確認。

Javan Pond Heron in winter plumage. Two birds have been present for the past few days.

A Chinese Pond Heron has also arrived, associating with the Javan Pond Herons.

Cinnamon Bittern, adult male.

Purple Heron, adult. At first I thought it had caught a black rat, but on closer inspection it looks like a species of musk shrew.

Pin-tailed Snipe, adult. Moult stage: DPB.

Distant, but this is also a Pin-tailed Snipe.

First Swinhoe's Snipe of the season. Moult stage: DPB.

Same individual as above. I get the impression that Swinhoe's Snipe has tail feathers nearly as narrow as Pin-tailed Snipe.

A Pin-tailed Snipe at relatively close range.

Same individual as above. The progress of the moult is apparent.

A Pin-tailed Snipe looking tired — it may have just arrived.

Same individual as above.

This Swinhoe's Snipe has been present for the past few days.

This Swinhoe's Snipe looks exhausted — perhaps it arrived the previous night.

This Pin-tailed Snipe has also been here for the past few days.

Swinhoe's Snipe are gradually increasing in number.

While I was watching the snipe, a Javan Pond Heron came down and landed.

A Chinese Pond Heron that arrived together with the Javan Pond Herons.

Grey Herons also arrived a few days ago and numbers are slowly building.

First juvenile Wood Sandpiper of the season. Only one individual confirmed, but numbers will keep climbing from here.

Long-toed Stint juvenile. More than half the Long-toed Stints in the flock are juveniles. Numbers are expected to increase further.

Common Redshank juvenile. The first juveniles of the season are often Common Redshanks. This season too, I had one about two weeks ago.

Purple Heron breeds on Ishigaki Island. At this time of year, juveniles can be seen in rice paddies here and there.

Black-faced Spoonbill, an immature individual.

A few Marsh Sandpipers have also arrived. Moult stages vary; this individual is in winter plumage as far as I can see.

This individual still retains a lot of summer plumage.

Still much summer plumage remaining, but winter plumage is coming in.

Common Redshank adult. Just barely into winter plumage.

Wood Sandpiper still in summer plumage as well.

Black-winged Stilt, female.

Swinhoe's Snipe on a distant paddy bank.

Same individual as above.

A Swinhoe's Snipe that was too close.

This one is also a Swinhoe's Snipe.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe. Among the snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe have become predominant.

Only one Pin-tailed Snipe on this day.

Pacific Golden Plovers are being seen more often now in rice paddies and fields.

The long-awaited juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe has appeared. Beautiful. ^^

Same individual as above. It flew toward me. The tail feathers are clearly visible.

Same individual as above. A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe landing while showing off its tail feathers as if putting on a display.

A Pin-tailed Snipe that has been staying for the past several days. A small individual — rather charming.

The snipe are now almost entirely Swinhoe's Snipe. There should be a second wave after this, so I expect numbers of both adults and juveniles to increase.

There was a flock of about ten Pacific Golden Plovers in the paddy fields. Most individuals appeared to be in the process of moulting into winter plumage.

Of the two Javan Pond Herons present, this is the less wary one.

There are flocks of Long-toed Stints numbering in the tens, but most are now juveniles. Breeding appears to have gone well.

Arrived at the paddy field with the highest snipe count this season. The first bird I could observe was a pale-looking adult Swinhoe's Snipe.

A Pin-tailed Snipe that was associating with the Swinhoe's Snipe in the field above. Also an adult.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe that was in the same flock. An adult.

Moving to the next paddy, the first bird I found was a solitary juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

The next find was a juvenile Pin-tailed Snipe — the finest-looking individual of the day. We could observe it at close range, and everyone in the car got quite excited. ^^

An adult Swinhoe's Snipe that was together with the Pin-tailed Snipe above.

Evening observation in driving rain. Managed to get a close look at an adult Pin-tailed Snipe.

Also an adult Pin-tailed Snipe. It was in the same flock as the individual above.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe. It looked like an interesting individual and I really wanted to get a good look, but it was too wary to come out of the grass.

An adult Swinhoe's Snipe. The wind and rain were fierce, and this was the last bird of the day's field camp. We ended the evening at an izakaya in the typhoon, talking snipe over drinks. ^^

Day two of snipe camp. Snipe encounters were few this day, so we enjoyed some non-snipe birding in the morning. This individual is a juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe found in the afternoon.

An adult Pin-tailed Snipe that was associating with the Swinhoe's Snipe above.

Three Javan Pond Herons confirmed during the Ishigaki Island snipe camp.

A different individual Javan Pond Heron from the one above.

Yet another Javan Pond Heron. In recent years, sightings of Javan Pond Heron on Ishigaki Island have been increasing. It has also become a regular pattern for Javan Pond Herons to arrive first, with Chinese Pond Herons turning up some time later.

An adult Malayan Night Heron in a dim forest. A beautiful individual.

Two young Black-faced Spoonbills.

Most have moved on after breeding, but a few Roseate Terns were still present.

One Roseate Tern fledgling also confirmed.

A few Black-naped Terns were present as well. Two fledglings confirmed here.

A flock of around 40 Greater Crested Terns, with a few fledglings mixed in.

A Greater Crested Tern diving steeply after prey.

A Greater Crested Tern with a kuruma prawn.

Moving to the river mouth, I found a small flock of adult Greater Sand Plovers.

I heard that a Tibetan Sand Plover had turned up on Okinawa-hontō, so I looked for one on Ishigaki-jima as well — no luck. This is an adult Greater Sand Plover.

My first Eurasian Whimbrels of the season — a small flock of six, all adults.

A few Grey-tailed Tattlers confirmed as well. All were adults.

Multiple adult Terek Sandpipers observed.

A pale Sharp-tailed Sandpiper found. Whether it is simply faded or a buff variant, I'm not sure.

The first Temminck's Stint of the season arrived alone.

The first Black-tailed Godwit of the season was a juvenile — a solo arrival.

Red-necked Stints are increasing. Juveniles don't seem to have arrived yet; all flocks I checked were adults only.