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

Pied Avocet, first-summer plumage.

I thought the two were feeding contentedly side by side, but occasional squabbles broke out.

Pied Avocet and Black-winged Stilt. Both in first-summer plumage.

There was one Greater Sand Plover among a flock of Lesser Sand Plovers.

A dozen or so Pacific Golden Plovers are also staying. Non-breeding individuals, perhaps?

Lesser Sand Plovers seem to be present year-round, with numbers fluctuating.

Grey-tailed Tattler, first-summer plumage.

Ryukyu Swallows perched on driftwood. A few would occasionally come down onto the sandy beach.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl standing guard at the nest. Two or so chicks fledge here every year.

A Brown Hawk-Owl sitting in the nest with its wings just visible. The male standing watch on a nearby branch was visible only by his tail feathers. ^^; Three chicks fledge from this one every year.

An eggshell that had fallen below the Brown Hawk-Owl's nest. It looks as though hatching was only very recent.

Three Oriental Pratincole chicks and a parent.

The outside world is full of dangers, so they spent most of their time sheltering under the parent's belly.

An Oriental Pratincole that has brought food to the chicks.

It delivered a large grasshopper. The chick swallowed it without any trouble.

A different Oriental Pratincole individual. This one appeared to be preparing to breed.

Two Chinese Egrets. Pushed off their feeding ground by the high tide, they were getting along together on a rock.

They kept a little distance from each other at times, but on the whole things were peaceful. Once the tide went out and feeding time began, however, squabbles were constant… ^^;

The two birds stayed for two days, but a few days later another Chinese Egret arrived.

A Pacific Reef Heron was nearby as well.

Around ten or so Black-naped Terns arrived. They are already pairing up.

A pair of Black-naped Terns.

When Black-naped Terns and Roseate Terns show up, I get the feeling that summer has truly arrived on Ishigaki Island.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher. This is the individual I see every day on my commute. It's along a busy prefectural road, so I worry about it being hit by traffic.

A Ruddy Kingfisher in the scrubby woodland adjoining my new home. The moment it coughed up a pellet.

Also seen every day near the new house — a Emerald Dove. A male.

A young Black-winged Kite. Some juvenile feathers remain.

A Whistling Green Pigeon perched on a dead tree. They tend to appear on dead trees and power lines when it rains.

A White-winged Tern in summer plumage flying around a pasture.

It was wheeling sharply to snatch grasshoppers and other prey.

This season I lost count of how many White-winged Terns I photographed — that many individuals were seen.

Oriental Plover and Ruddy Turnstone. The spring migration is over and the coast has gone quiet, but the autumn migration will begin in July.