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

The autumn migration of sandpipers and plovers is almost over, and the once lively paddies have become a little lonely, but Wood Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Common Redshank, Black-winged Stilt, Common Snipe, Little Ringed Plover and others are still staying here and there.

Whiskered Terns have also decreased, with only small flocks of a few birds at several spots.

It was World Migratory Bird Day, so I took my son to the migratory bird observation point at Banna Park to see the Grey-faced Buzzard migration. It goes without saying that my rowdy three-year-old would make a racket, so we arrived around 5 p.m., near the end. Reports said many were flying over Miyako Island yesterday, and a lot of spectators had turned out. A lot, though, was nine people including us...

I was told 700 Grey-faced Buzzards had already flown past. After waiting a while looking up at the sky, a kettle of about 30 raptors formed over the ridge to the east.

My son, as expected, was running around the observation deck making a huge fuss... This is Ishigaki Island in Okinawa, so nobody complains. ^^

It looks rainy on Sunday so observation will probably be difficult, but you can enjoy the Grey-faced Buzzard migration for the rest of this month. The Grey-faced Buzzard migration is the culmination of the autumn migration, and with it the migration on Ishigaki is over for this autumn. I want to keep watching carefully to the very end!!

The dark morph Grey-faced Buzzard that has wintered on Ishigaki Island two years in a row since it was a juvenile has not shown up yet. I'm hoping it comes again this year.

Yesterday's four Red Collared Doves were still here this morning. The Chinese Pond Heron is also still staying.

While I was watching the Red Collared Doves, an Oriental Reed Warbler appeared. It seems a fair number have arrived, but I rarely get a chance to see one, so I'm glad.

The Red Collared Dove season has arrived on Ishigaki Island. I confirmed four Red Collared Doves in a rice paddy. They will keep increasing from here, and once the rice harvest starts they will be easier to photograph.

A Lapland Longspur also turned up, but I was at work when I got a message from the first finder, "Ishigaki-jima BIRD Kansatsu". I rushed over after finishing work but only caught a brief glimpse of it. The weather is bad tonight, so I'm hoping it stays.

This year Lapland Longspurs have been confirmed on Okinawa Island, Aguni Island, Yonaguni Island and Ishigaki Island, so this may be a good year for Lapland Longspurs in Okinawa.

There was a Greater White-fronted Goose in a paddy, my first of the season. It showed no wariness at all, but it seems to have an injured right eye.

The Eurasian Teal was floating in a flooded paddy. A Little Grebe was nearby too. Little Grebes also breed on Ishigaki, but their numbers rise in winter, so some must be arriving from somewhere.

Most of the snipe are now Common Snipe. Some will probably overwinter.

Eastern Yellow Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits are increasing along the paddy banks.