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

The second Pied Avocet of the season.

This is the first Curlew Sandpiper of the season. It is coming into breeding plumage.

Four Red-necked Stints in the same paddy field as the Curlew Sandpiper.

Numbers are not large on Ishigaki-jima, but they pass through every year during the migration season.

The reddish breeding plumage is conspicuous around the breast.

Sanderlings still in full winter plumage. On the Okinawa main island they winter in flocks, but on Ishigaki-jima only small numbers are seen during the migration season.

A Whimbrel was in the mangrove area.

Common Snipe are plentiful, but Swinhoe's Snipe and Pin-tailed Snipe will be next month. Something to look forward to.

Citrine Wagtail moulting from first-winter to summer plumage. The following day, another individual was found at the same spot.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Transitioning into summer plumage.

Same individual as above. The bluish-grey back of the Eastern Yellow Wagtail is really beautiful.

(Yellow-browed) Yellow Wagtail transitioning from first-winter to summer plumage.

The background for Javan Pond Heron shots is usually brown, but when the backdrop is attractive I tend to fire off more frames. ^^;

Three Javan Pond Herons were walking through the grass, catching earthworms.

The beautiful setting is one thing, but being able to shoot from a low angle is great too.

With a bit of luck you can observe all three at once. Each individual is subtly different in colour.

A beautiful Long-tailed Shrike. It was not particularly wary, and I was able to observe it up close at leisure.

It caught some kind of bee.

Long-tailed Shrike from behind. The evening light brings out its beauty.

Seen from the front, the black mask around the eyes of the Long-tailed Shrike looks just like Zorro. ^^

No matter how many times I see it, it's a fine bird. ^^

A Brown Shrike sharing the same area as the Long-tailed Shrike was constantly outmatched in territorial disputes due to the size difference.