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

Garganey, juvenile male. Fairly approachable.

Common Teal juvenile, associating with the Garganey.

A female Tufted Duck arrived alone. From here numbers will build steadily, with several hundred wintering on the reservoir.

A Common Snipe that refused to come out from behind the grass.

Common Snipe, juvenile.

Also a Common Snipe juvenile. A small flock of a few birds is in the paddy fields around the island.

Green Sandpiper in winter plumage.

Common Sandpiper keeps a low profile and there are few chances to observe or photograph it. It doesn't form flocks, but the population is reasonably present.

Black-winged Stilt, adult male.

Black-winged Stilt, female, first-winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, adult in winter plumage.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

Adult Whiskered Tern in the process of moulting into winter plumage.

An adult as well. In the process of moulting into winter plumage.

A juvenile Pin-tailed Snipe. This might turn out to be my last Pin-tailed Snipe of the season.

A Swinhoe's Snipe well advanced in its moult into winter plumage.

At this time of year, almost all the snipe on Ishigaki Island are Common Snipe.

Wood Sandpiper in winter plumage. A few individuals are still lingering.

Common Greenshank in winter plumage. Only a few remaining here as well.

Pacific Golden Plover juvenile. Both juveniles and adults are present on the island, but all five birds in this flock were juveniles.

First-winter Eastern Yellow Wagtail — when it popped into my binoculars I was startled for a moment, thinking it was some unfamiliar warbler.

Gray-faced Buzzard, male. Probably second-winter.

Same individual as above.

Gray-faced Buzzard, juvenile.

A small flock of about ten Red-throated Pipits arrived. One or two Buff-bellied Pipits appeared to be mixed in, but I couldn't get a photo.

A flock of several Dusky Warblers arrived together. Dusky Warblers that have just come through tend to move around in small groups in paddy-field habitat like this, but they gradually disperse and begin establishing winter territories centred on scattered scrub.

On my way home from work I spotted a Chinese Pond Heron.

An adult Pacific Golden Plover. In the process of moulting into winter plumage.

A male Grey-faced Buzzard. Thought to be second-winter.

A Grey-faced Buzzard circling with a farm in the background.

I missed the peak hours, but I did manage to see kettles of several dozen raptors a number of times. ^^

A Pin-tailed Snipe finally squeezed out after scanning through dozens of snipe.

While watching a group of around ten Swinhoe's Snipes, a snipe appeared in the grass. It was a typical Pin-tailed Snipe juvenile, so I followed it with binoculars hoping to get a look at the tail feathers — and it bathed rather sooner than I expected. ^^

Same individual as above. Wing-flapping after bathing.

The needle-like tail feathers are also visible during preening.

A different Pin-tailed Snipe individual. Also a juvenile, and it was together with the bird above. They look like typical examples of a similar type, so they may be siblings. I would have liked to show a variety of Pin-tailed Snipe types, but these two were the only Pin-tailed Snipes this time.

Same individual as above. Preening in the grass.

Swinhoe's Snipe adult. The only adult of the day.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Same individual as above.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Same individual as above.

By this time of year, Swinhoe's Snipe are almost all juveniles.

Same individual as above.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe resting in the grass.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe that showed little wariness.

An adult Common Snipe.

First juvenile Grey-tailed Tattler of the season.

Also the first Red-necked Stint of the season — a juvenile.

Also the first Great Knot of the season. It was a juvenile.

Juvenile Common Greenshanks have been increasing too.

A Ruddy-breasted Crake appeared while I was watching snipe.

White-winged Tern juvenile. Perhaps due to the lack of typhoons, no large flocks have appeared this season.

Little Stint juvenile.

An unwary Common Snipe adult.

This Swinhoe's Snipe appeared to have lost the sight in its left eye.

Juvenile Common Snipes have started to show up as well.

Swinhoe's Snipe (left) and Common Snipe. You can clearly see the size difference.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

The only Pin-tailed Snipe of the day.