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

The only Pin-tailed Snipe of the day was at the far end of the paddy field — a long way off….

A flock of Swinhoe's Snipe. All juveniles.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile. The scapulars appear to be moulting into winter plumage.

A large Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile. This one is still very much in juvenile plumage.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

Yet another Swinhoe's Snipe juvenile.

A Common Moorhen closing in on a Swinhoe's Snipe.

A heavily worn Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Juvenile Red-necked Stints have finally started to come through.

Dunlin juvenile.

Arctic Warbler makes an appearance. It stands out clearly — obviously different from the other Japanese leaf warblers.

A Dusky Warbler foraging as it moves along the tips of branches in a Cluster Fig tree.

A juvenile Chinese Sparrowhawk. I confirmed several individuals.

A juvenile Grey-streaked Flycatcher. Among the Muscicapa flycatchers, Grey-streaked appeared to be the most numerous, including both adults and juveniles.

An adult Brown-breasted Flycatcher. Found it on a dim forest road. Numbers were quite low.

A juvenile Dark-sided Flycatcher. This is the first time I've seen such fresh juvenile plumage.

A juvenile Blue-and-white Flycatcher. Rare on Ishigaki-jima, but on Yonaguni-jima I can reliably find them at this time of year.

A juvenile Oriental Dollarbird perched on a power line along the forest road.

Chestnut-cheeked Starlings were present in flocks — the largest had over 100 individuals, and there were several other groups of around 30.

An adult male Brown Shrike. Adult males tend to dominate in the early stages of migration.

An adult female Brown Shrike.

The first duck of the season was a Garganey.

The first Common Snipe of the season was a juvenile.

A Swinhoe's Snipe with tail feathers missing.

A juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe in a waterway. Yonaguni-jima has few rice paddies, leaving the snipe with little suitable habitat.

A Swinhoe's Snipe resting in the shade of a parking lot streetlight.

Several Black-winged Stilts were in the grass.

A Common Sandpiper also foraging in the grass.

Pacific Golden Plovers resting on rocks along the quayside.

There were many Grey Wagtails along the forest road.

Large numbers of Citrine Wagtails have arrived in the pastures and cultivated fields.

Crested Serpent Eagle, juvenile. When it spotted something in a roadside ditch it would swoop down — practising its hunting on its own.

Purple Heron, juvenile. Perhaps because this area wasn't hit by the typhoon, numbers seem high this year.

Purple Heron, adult.

Greater Painted-snipe, male parent with chicks just a few days after hatching.

Red-necked Stint, adult (left), and Long-toed Stint, juvenile.

Red-necked Stint, juvenile.

Terek Sandpiper, adult. Every now and then you get one that wanders into the paddies.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Another Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Nothing but Swinhoe's Snipe juveniles.

Swinhoe's Snipe, adult. Birds in winter plumage are starting to appear.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Same individual as above.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, first-winter.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Pin-tailed Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.

Swinhoe's Snipe, juvenile.