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

The eclipse was visible all over Japan, but on Ishigaki more than 90% of the sun was covered, and many people watched with great interest. I'm told it was the first time in 372 years that the summer solstice and an eclipse coincided, so it was a precious experience.

On Ishigaki the eclipse began at 15:55:20 and ended at 18:25:29. Maximum eclipse was at 17:16:23, but at that very moment thick clouds drifted in and hid the sun... I pushed the ISO to its maximum and managed to get a shot, but it was 17:16:33, about 10 seconds after maximum.

With 90% of the sun hidden, it did get dark around us, and the cicadas stopped singing. I was surrounded by mountains, so I hoped to hear a scops owl start calling, but it didn't happen.

After watching the eclipse with friends, I ate at my regular gyoza place and, while I was at it, went to see the Sagaribana too. ^^

The Ruddy Kingfisher breeding I'm watching at several sites seems to be going well at each one, and at two sites I could even confirm food being carried in.

On Ishigaki, once July begins there is a run of fledglings: not only Ruddy Kingfishers, but also scops owls, boobooks and Black-winged Kites.

A very tame Ruddy Kingfisher in my neighborhood was bathing.

I also found the fifth Northern Boobook nest of the season. Next month, cute chicks will probably fledge. ^^

I am currently watching 3 Ruddy Kingfisher nests, 3 scops owl nests and 5 boobook nests. At one of the boobook nests there is no sign of the parents, and it may have been ruined by the heavy rain the other day.

I switched my camera gear to SONY and had been torn between an original-brand flash and a third-party one, but I went with the well-reviewed Godox. Specifically I bought the V860II, which has a lithium-ion battery and fast charging, and the Xpro commander. I immediately tried them on a Ryukyu Scops Owl and a Ruddy Kingfisher at night. It was my first night birdwatching on Ishigaki in a while. ^^

TTL worked well too, and I could shoot without thinking about exposure at all, which was very convenient. It has a powerful guide number of 60, but the battery seems like it will last quite a long time. I can't go back to flashes that use dry-cell batteries like Eneloop. ^^

I went to the main island of Okinawa with my family for the first time in a while on some errands, and did some birding while I was there. In Yanbaru I was able to see Ryukyu Scops Owl, Okinawa Woodpecker, Okinawa Robin, Okinawa Rail and others.

I found a Japanese Scops Owl soon after I started, but could not get a photo. That day both the Japanese Scops Owl and the Oriental Scops Owl were hard to find, and I saw each of them only once.

The bayberry trees were heavy with fruit, and around them I saw a total of 6 Okinawa Woodpeckers. Branches and leaves got in the way here too and I could not get a photo, but I did see them as a family, paired up.

Walking through the forest I could hear Okinawa Robins singing from all around, but the time of day was bad and I got a clear view of only 2 birds.

Ryukyu Northern Boobooks were right in the middle of raising young, and I could see several pairs.

On the way back I stopped at Kouri Island, where Black-naped Terns and Roseate Terns were nesting in colonies on the nearby reefs raising their chicks. It was too hot to feel like taking photos... ^^;