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

A textbook individual — identifiable as Pin-tailed Snipe at a glance.

Same individual as above.

This is a Swinhoe's Snipe. A juvenile.

Same individual as above.

This is also a juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

This is a Common Snipe. Numbers had been building for several days, but work kept me too busy to get out and see them.

Common Snipe (two birds in the foreground) and Swinhoe's Snipe.

How the tail feathers of Pin-tailed Snipe appear. The look changes depending on the angle. For reference.

How the tail feathers of Swinhoe's Snipe appear. Depending on the angle, they are often mistaken for Pin-tailed Snipe.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Long-toed Stint, flushed by the arrival of a Common Kestrel.

They circled a few times and came back down to the same paddy field.

A juvenile Little Tern had caught a dragonfly.

A Black-faced Spoonbill has been staying here for the past few days.

Chinese Sparrowhawk, juvenile. I also picked out several adults soaring.

My first Common Kestrel of the season. It was flying along the cliffs facing the sea.

A few Oriental Dollarbird juveniles confirmed. All were juveniles.

Isabelline Shrike were found in a variety of habitats — farmland, residential areas, the harbour, forest tracks and more.

Subspecies such as Isabelline Shrike and Chinese Grey Shrike turn up, but the subtle differences make identification tricky, especially for females and juveniles.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher were coming into Yonaguni Island in considerable numbers.

I also heard Arctic Warbler calls. Numbers are still low, but wintering birds will be increasing from now on.

Found a leucistic Eastern Yellow Wagtail. It was in a flock of "Siberian Thrush"-type Eastern Yellow Wagtails, so it's probably that subspecies. When I first spotted it I thought it might be a crazy rare subspecies. ^^;

Pacific Golden Plovers were also in, with multiple flocks on farmland and grassland.

A single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper mixed in with a flock of Pacific Golden Plovers. It looked quite exhausted.

Black-winged Stilt at the reservoir. There are few water sources on Yonaguni Island, and various shorebird species had gathered here.

Whiskered Tern at the reservoir.

Whiskered Terns could also be observed in grasslands and similar areas.

Encountered small flocks of Common Emerald Dove several times. They are very wary, so photography is a challenge.

This Common Emerald Dove was alone, so I was able to photograph it at close range.

Common Kingfisher at the reservoir. I wonder whether it breeds on Yonaguni Island?

Common Myna numbers are increasing year by year.

This Mallard was observed at the same reservoir last year as well. It may be spending the entire year at this pond, unable to migrate due to some kind of trouble.

Two Javan Pond Herons.

Same Javan Pond Herons, but the colouring on the upperparts is quite different. Could it be a juvenile versus adult difference?

An adult Eastern Yellow Wagtail of the white-supercilium type, transitioning into winter plumage.

A juvenile Eastern Yellow Wagtail, also beginning to moult into first-winter plumage.

The first Dunlin of the season was a lone juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Both Pin-tailed Snipe juveniles. Juveniles make up the majority of Pin-tailed Snipe at this time of year.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile. Swinhoe's Snipe numbers will be increasing from here on.

Common Redshank, juvenile.

Wood Sandpiper, juvenile. Juveniles make up most of the Wood Sandpiper flocks.

Long-toed Stint numbers are also mostly juveniles.

Red-necked Stint (foreground) and Little Ringed Plover.

A flock of 50 Pacific Golden Plovers had come down onto farmland.

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.