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

A Oriental Pratincole in mostly summer plumage, though the wing coverts are still in winter plumage. I happened to catch a large flock arriving from over the sea.

An Oriental Pratincole wheeling around right in front of me.

This Oriental Pratincole has a flower chafer in its bill.

Also in summer plumage except for the wing coverts.

A male Pale-capped Pigeon. Noticeably smaller than an Oriental Turtle Dove — at least two sizes down.

A female Pale-capped Pigeon. There were four birds in total — one male and three females.

An adult Glossy Ibis. It had been two years since my last encounter.

The individual on the left appears to be a young Glossy Ibis — old feathers are visible and the face looks juvenile.

A Black-winged Kite is flying overhead on alert.

Nineteen Glossy Ibis in the frame.

They were foraging together, walking in the same direction as a group. Hard to believe this is Japan… ^^;

They seemed unbothered even with someone working the fields nearby.

Photographed a Daurian Starling from the parking lot at work. It comes almost every day to eat the berries on the garden trees.

The Tundra Swan moved between paddy fields and stayed for three months.

Northern Pintails are no longer on the island, but for some reason this individual has been moving around with Eastern Spot-billed Ducks.

A White-breasted Waterhen with chicks.

The parent bird picks aquatic creatures lurking in the waterway and feeds them to the chicks.

There were six chicks, though they don't show in the photo.

A Black-winged Kite found near my house. Hoping they will breed.

This Black-winged Kite also appears to have started breeding.

A singing Ryukyu Flycatcher.

A Ryukyu Flycatcher that has noticed me and is on alert.

A female Ryukyu Sparrowhawk giving an alarm call toward a crow. She has a healed fracture on her left leg, so she is the same individual as last year and the year before.

A male Ryukyu Scops Owl is peering out from the nest hole. A female was perched close by.

The female paired with the male above. She was standing quietly near the nest hole where the male was calling. Perhaps she is sizing up his song. ^^

A distant Pied Avocet.

A young Black-faced Spoonbill.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle on a sprinkler in a sugarcane field.

This juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle was found while I was checking on Ryukyu Scops Owl breeding.

A Western Osprey that comes to bathe in the same paddy field almost every evening.