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

A Pin-tailed Snipe among the rice stalks. A little wary of me.

This one was moving through the rice stalks while feeding. It wasn't very wary, but the rice has grown tall and getting a clear shot is quite difficult.

This is most likely a Pin-tailed Snipe, but it stayed frozen and wouldn't show its full body. The face looks right for Pin-tailed Snipe.

Greater Painted-snipe, male and chick.

I was able to confirm two chicks.

Common Redshank moulting from first-winter to summer plumage.

Same as above — first-winter moulting into summer plumage.

A flock of a dozen or so Marsh Sandpipers came through.

The Long-toed Stint is fully in breeding plumage.

A Grey-headed Lapwing — a rare bird for Okinawa. Moulting from first-winter into breeding plumage. It's a resident on the mainland, but where do the individuals that occasionally turn up in Okinawa come from, and where are they headed?

Pectoral Sandpiper in breeding plumage. Small flocks of a few birds can be seen at coastal sites as well.

Pin-tailed Snipe confirmed for the first time in a while. ^^

The same individual as above, from the opposite side. Common Snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe and Pin-tailed Snipe — three snipe species are passing through.

Chinese Pond Heron in summer plumage. The overwintering birds are still in winter plumage, but migrants moult early.

Curlew Sandpiper, adult. Changing into summer plumage.

Curlew Sandpiper moulting from winter to summer plumage.

Greater Painted-snipe, male. The bird behind is the female.

Brown Shrikes are still present at various spots around the island, with multiple individuals. Some were subsong-calling.

First Black-tailed Godwit of the season. An adult male, starting to come into breeding plumage.

A Marsh Sandpiper that landed together with the Black-tailed Godwit. Almost fully into first-summer plumage.

This individual was separate from the flock above. Also in first-summer plumage.

Wood Sandpiper, first-winter transitioning to first-summer plumage.

Greater Painted-snipe, adult female. When her mate approached, she spread her wings several times. Some kind of signal?

The male paired with the bird above. The only snipe breeding on Ishigaki Island.

Greater Painted-snipe, female (foreground) and male.

A male Greater Painted-snipe, trotting along behind the female.

Swinhoe's Snipe. There is also one snipe in the foreground.

Common Snipe. Very wary — this was the best I could get. ^^;

First Little Tern of the season. It appears to be in breeding plumage apart from some retained outer primaries.

Lesser Sand Plover and Greater Sand Plover.

A flagged Lesser Sand Plover. Likely the individual that has been present for the past three days.

Red-necked Stint moulting into summer plumage.

Far Eastern Curlew, adult. The bill looks short for its size — perhaps a male?

It landed right in front of me but flew off almost immediately.

Adult Red Knot. Mid-molt from winter to summer plumage.

Great Knot, first-winter to summer plumage.

Adult female Bar-tailed Godwit.

Bar-tailed Godwit, male. Moulting from winter to summer plumage.

An adult Far Eastern Curlew was eating a snapping shrimp.

Adult Far Eastern Curlew. A little summer plumage coming in. It was probing its bill into the burrows of Ghost Crabs or Horn-eyed Ghost Crabs on the sandy beach.

Whimbrel, first-winter.

Grey Plover, first-winter.

Grey Plover, adult winter.

Adult Grey-tailed Tattler. Moulting into summer plumage.

Grey-tailed Tattler, first-winter to summer plumage.

Adult male Ruddy Turnstone.

Adult Great Knot, winter plumage.

Adult Lesser Sand Plover. Moulting into summer plumage.

Adult Common Greenshank. Well into summer plumage now.

Adult summer-plumage Ruddy Turnstone.

Bar-tailed Godwit, female, winter plumage.

Adult Far Eastern Curlew.

Many Pacific Golden Plovers in summer plumage are being seen.

Left to right: Dunlin, Lesser Sand Plover, Great Knot.

A Common Greenshank transitioning into summer plumage.

Bar-tailed Godwit in flight. They were flying around a lot that day. Eager to move on, perhaps?

A Little Ringed Plover with a necrotic right foot.

Oriental Pratincole in almost full breeding plumage.

Dunlin, adult. Transitioning from winter to breeding plumage.

Bar-tailed Godwit in winter plumage.

A flock of Grey-tailed Tattlers.

Lesser Sand Plover, first-winter transitioning to breeding plumage.

Both Bar-tailed Godwits are adults in winter plumage. Grey-tailed Tattlers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Pacific Golden Plovers around them.

A Common Greenshank that caught a goby. It was running back and forth along the water's edge in search of fish.

A Lesser Sand Plover with a flag.

A Bar-tailed Godwit with rings. The flag reads "CZS" and the metal ring could only be partially read as "0737529". The lower mandible appears to be missing a tip — I worry whether it can feed properly.

Walking through the paddies, gobbling up apple snails one after another. A great ally of the farmers. ^^

A Glossy Ibis peering out from between the rice stalks.

First Common Redshank of the season. Molting from first-winter to first-summer plumage.

Pure white Indian Peafowl. They are found in large numbers on Ishigaki Island, but are an introduced species.