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

I haven't been able to identify individuals, so I can't say whether it's the same bird as last year, but it entered the same tree hollow again this year.

A Ruddy Kingfisher with little wariness. Appears to be a female. A louse fly is visible around the neck area.

A Curlew Sandpiper that walked right up in front of me. It fell asleep shortly after.

Same individual as above. Moulting from first-winter into summer plumage.

An adult Grey-tailed Tattler running along the water's edge in search of prey.

Grey-tailed Tattler moulting from first-winter into summer plumage. After arriving, it called repeatedly — "pyuee, pyuee".

A Grey-tailed Tattler catching a crab at the water's edge. An individual with a noticeably late moult.

An adult Grey-tailed Tattler catching a crab in a tidal pool.

Adult Terek Sandpiper. Moulting from winter into summer plumage.

A Terek Sandpiper looking worn out.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in summer plumage.

Pacific Reef Heron, white morph.

A Pacific Reef Heron paired with the individual above.

When I arrived on site first thing in the morning, there were around 20 cars already there for the Long-billed Dowitcher. They were lined up along a narrow farm track and looked likely to cause problems for the local farmers, so I stayed off the track and took just a few shots from a long distance. As a result, the corrugated-iron wave sheeting along the field bank made a solid appearance in the frame… ^^;

No matter what angle I tried, the corrugated-iron wave sheeting ended up in the background with the Long-billed Dowitcher.

A Spotted Redshank in jet-black breeding plumage. On Ishigaki-jima in autumn it's almost always first-winter birds, so this was something I'd long wanted to see.

I kept off the farm track for this one too and shot from a distance. The corrugated iron stayed out of frame, but it was just so far away… ^^;

This Bar-tailed Godwit turned up while I was searching for Spoon-billed Sandpiper. There were about six in total.

All the snipe were Common Snipe.

Also a Common Snipe. I was hoping to find a Latham's Snipe while I was at it, but no luck….

Grey-headed Lapwing chick.

A Grey-headed Lapwing chick fleeing under its parent's belly after being startled by a crow.

A flock of around 60 Dunlin and Red-necked Stint combined. No Little Stints mixed in.

There were plenty of Greater Scaup in the bay — a species treated as a rarity in Okinawa.

The Glossy Ibis has now been on Ishigaki-jima for one month.

Two Glossy Ibises moving around together. Hoping for breeding.

Ryukyu Kingfishers keep on increasing.

The usual Common Night Heron, well used to people, on the usual lawn.

A beautiful male Brown Shrike.

A male Black-tailed Godwit moving into breeding plumage.

It seemed to get along well with the Marsh Sandpiper and was always moving around with it.

A Common Moorhen fleeing in defeat after losing a territorial dispute.

A female Black-winged Stilt. I thought the count had dropped to zero a few days ago, but numbers are up again.

The heat haze off the ground on this sunny day makes for difficult viewing, but here is a Kentish Plover chick — probably just two or three days since hatching.

A female Ryukyu Scops Owl tilting her head and sizing me up. Based on identifying features such as the mark on her bill, she is the same individual as the female seen perched at the nest tree together with the male the other day.

Same individual as above. A calm bird that shows no fear of people whatsoever.