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

With no one around, a Ruddy Kingfisher resting at its leisure.

A male Crested Serpent Eagle along the roadside. Traffic accidents are a concern, but vehicle numbers on Ishigaki Island are down due to COVID-19.

Crested Serpent Eagle shot handheld at 840mm with a shutter speed of 1/15. Sony's image stabilisation is impressive.

This one was shot at ISO 3200. Heavily cropped, but the noise is barely noticeable.

This one is a distant Crested Serpent Eagle, cropped drastically.

A Buff-bellied Pipit in light rain.

A different individual Buff-bellied Pipit from the one above.

Black-faced Spoonbill in summer plumage. In the background, a group of Eastern Spot-billed Ducks.

Also in the rain, a Ryukyu Green Pigeon perched on a distant shrub.

A male Peregrine Falcon that failed in its hunt. The feathers are quite wet from the heavy rain that had just passed. All the other falcons and raptors had long since headed north toward their breeding grounds — for a male, this one is taking its time.

Black-tailed Godwit male moulting into summer plumage.

First Eurasian Curlew of the season. The Far Eastern Curlew from the other day was at the same spot.

Marsh Sandpiper, first-summer plumage.

This is the best I could manage of the Curlew Sandpiper…. Believed to be a different individual from the one the other day.

While looking for snipe, a female Greater Painted-snipe turned up. Painted-snipe are always like this…. ^^;

Oriental Pratincole in summer plumage. After being caught in a downpour, it shook its body vigorously to shed the water.

The individual on the right has just a hint of summer plumage coming through, but is essentially a Grey Plover in winter plumage.

A flock of a dozen or so Terek Sandpipers arrived. First photos of the season.

A flock of around 20 Grey-tailed Tattlers. Every individual is in the process of moulting into summer plumage.

Common Sandpiper transitioning to first-summer plumage.

A group of about ten Sharp-tailed Sandpipers had come down into the rice paddies.

Black-faced Spoonbill in breeding plumage. The crest has grown out and breeding coloration has appeared on the chest — a beautiful sight.

Chinese Pond Heron in breeding plumage. No breeding coloration showing yet. This season Chinese Pond Herons are being observed in good numbers.

Eastern Cattle Egret in breeding plumage. No breeding coloration on the face or bill yet. There were still many individuals remaining in winter plumage.

Little Egret with the crest just beginning to grow out. No breeding coloration showing yet.

The Intermediate Egret has fine breeding plumes out, but the eye colour is still far from breeding condition.

The Great Egret is still in full winter plumage.

A Japanese Night Heron emerging from deep shadow. A beautiful individual.

From the front.

A Japanese Night Heron that came close enough to fill the 600mm frame.

Japanese Night Heron from behind. Compared to the Malayan Night Heron, whose crest extends down to the back, the crest of the Japanese Night Heron is barely noticeable.

This one is a Malayan Night Heron. The large black crest is prominent.

A Malayan Night Heron that has caught a Ryukyu tree frog.

Malayan Night Heron from behind.

This one is a Japanese Night Heron from behind.

The bird was too close, so I zoomed out to get the shot — Japanese Night Heron.

A close-up of Japanese Night Heron. What a fine bird.

The Japanese Night Heron also appears to be showing breeding coloration.

A Japanese Night Heron that kept walking back and forth in front of me for a good while — great entertainment.

In the evening the Ryukyu Kingfisher seemed to be moving around actively; I came across many individuals along forest roads and in parks.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in breeding plumage. It caught a small earthworm-like prey item.

A new group of four Sharp-tailed Sandpipers has arrived.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher.

A Ruddy Kingfisher that perched on a branch right in front of me.

A male Ruddy Kingfisher singing.

A Ruddy Kingfisher perched on a Mucuna vine. A very Okinawan scene.

Another Ruddy Kingfisher, also believed to be a male.

A female Crested Serpent Eagle. She was calling in a wheedling way, begging the male to bring her food.

Male Crested Serpent Eagle — the partner of the female above. The underparts of the male appear more greyish compared to the female.