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

Eurasian Skylarks singing high overhead were conspicuous too, but this individual was walking around on the ground.

A flock of a dozen or so Water Pipits appeared to be moving around within the same area.

A Water Pipit in summer plumage.

It was distant, but I was able to pick out one Chestnut-eared Bunting.

It seems one Meadow Bunting was still lingering as well.

A small flock of a few Oriental Greenfinches was flying around the farmland.

White Wagtails were here and there too.

Unlike Ishigaki and Okinawa Island, I couldn't find any subspecies other than the White Wagtail.

Into March, Pied Avocets are turning up at various locations around Ishigaki-jima.

Oriental Pratincoles have arrived. A small flock was resting in the farmland.

Common Greenshank in breeding plumage. Confirmed a small flock in a paddy field.

Four Spotted Redshanks are still present. They are mid-way through the transition from winter to summer plumage, and the black is becoming more noticeable.

Left to right: Common Greenshank, Spotted Redshank, Pied Avocet.

A Dunlin has also arrived. One bird came down into the paddies.

There are three Javan Pond Herons in the same spot, but one of them is very wary and hard to photograph. The other two come out obligingly.

A different individual from the one above. The plumage colour on this one is paler.

A young Black-faced Spoonbill. It was feeding on snails — something like pond snails — in a paddy field.

First-winter plumage still makes up the majority, but breeding plumage is beginning to show on some individuals.

A different individual from the one above. This bird is also still far from breeding plumage.

A male White-faced Wagtail. It looked tired, so it may have just arrived on migration.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail moving from first-winter to breeding plumage. Individuals wintering on Ishigaki-jima are almost all juveniles.

A Red-throated Pipit coming into breeding plumage.

It was a flock of around 30 Red-throated Pipits, and most individuals were at roughly this stage of moult.