This breaks the latest date record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki Island by a full month!!

I found it among a small flock of Common Snipe. It was not a typical Pin-tailed Snipe individual, and at first I wavered between that and Swinhoe's Snipe, but after watching for a while I became certain it was Pin-tailed. I stuck it out for about an hour and managed to get photos of the tail feathers as documentary evidence.

It is an exceptionally Swinhoe's-like individual, which makes it all the more interesting. This is definitely a Pin-tailed Snipe I won't forget in a hurry. ^^

The previous late record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki was an adult on 18 October, so this is a substantial update to the record. ^^

Incidentally, the earliest record is a juvenile in late February. That individual may well have been wintering, though.

A Crested Serpent Eagle was eating a toxic Cane Toad. Below I reproduce the article I wrote on Crested Serpent Eagle venom resistance, published in the newspaper on 19 July.

Crested Serpent Eagle's Hidden Ability — A Remarkable Coincidence

The Crested Serpent Eagle, found in Japan only on Ishigaki and Iriomote islands, is known to prey on the toxic Cane Toad. A research team led by Arisa Tobe of Kyoto University has used genetic analysis to show that the eagle may carry resistance to the toad's venom. The birds have harboured a venom-resistance gene mutation for tens of thousands — possibly hundreds of thousands — of years, meaning the "hidden ability" was already in place long before Cane Toads were introduced to Ishigaki Island. The findings were published on 14 July in the scientific journal BMC Ecology and Evolution.

No Symptoms

Cane Toads were introduced to Ishigaki Island around 1978 to control sugarcane pests. They secrete a potent cardiotoxic steroid, bufadienolide, from their skin — a toxin that can stop the heart. There are confirmed cases of the native Sakishima Rat Snake dying after eating one. The Crested Serpent Eagle, on the other hand, shows no ill effects even after consuming the toad's highly toxic skin. Local birdwatchers had long noticed this, but no scientific explanation had been established.

A Gene Mutation?

The research team analysed tissue samples from 24 Crested Serpent Eagles that had died from accidents or illness between 2020 and 2023. Focusing on an enzyme responsible for ion transport across cell membranes — the target of the toxin — they discovered an amino-acid substitution in a key region associated with venom resistance, known as the Q111E mutation. This mutation appears to prevent the toad's toxin from binding to the enzyme, neutralising its effects. Similar mutations have been found in snakes that prey on toads and in birds that eat toxic butterflies, and the finding is regarded as an example of convergent evolution — the process by which unrelated lineages independently arrive at similar traits through different evolutionary paths in different places.

An Ancient Defence

Strikingly, Crested Serpent Eagles on Iriomote Island — where Cane Toads have not established — and even a subspecies of Crested Serpent Eagle on the distant Indonesian island of Simeulue carry the same resistance gene. Genetic analysis suggests the trait has been preserved since around the time the Crested Serpent Eagle diverged as a species, long before any alien species was introduced. Tobe of Kyoto University's Wildlife Research Center explains: "The venom resistance of the Crested Serpent Eagle is not a recent adaptation to environmental change, but an ancient trait inherited from its ancestors — one that has, by coincidence, also helped to mitigate the physiological impact of an invasive species. It is a rare example of that."

Other Raptors Too

The study also confirmed similar resistance gene mutations in snake eagles closely related to the Crested Serpent Eagle. There are reports that the Black-chested Snake Eagle in South Africa showed no health problems after being fed toxic toads in captivity for 12 months, suggesting this ability may be characteristic of the group as a whole. Meanwhile, on Japan's Ogasawara Islands, Eastern Buzzards have been recorded preying on the same Cane Toad, but no clear venom-resistance mutation was found in their genes, pointing to the possibility that they cope through a different mechanism.

A New Perspective for Conservation

The study also found that the Crested Serpent Eagle populations on Ishigaki and Iriomote islands are genetically distinct. Despite a separation of only about 20 kilometres, movement of individuals between the two islands appears to be almost nonexistent — a finding the team says "suggests that the Iriomote and Ishigaki populations should be considered independent conservation units." The research demonstrates that an organism's "hidden abilities" may play an important role in responding to environmental change. While the findings offer a significant new perspective for biodiversity conservation, Tobe also sounds a note of caution: "The fact that the eagle is making use of the invasive species does not mean the invasive species problem can be ignored. Once the Crested Serpent Eagle is preying on them, the toads are being incorporated into the ecosystem, and there is a risk of further disrupting the overall balance." As the global impact of invasive species on ecosystems becomes an ever greater concern, this discovery — shining a light on the unexpected adaptive capacity of native species — underscores both the depth of evolutionary processes and the complexity of conservation strategy.