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

Dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. Last year one stayed through March. Hopefully this year's bird will do the same.

A Grey-faced Buzzard — the black morph — seen perfectly side-on. Striking, isn't it. ^^

Daurian Starling, male.

Daurian Starling, female. The flock that day numbered in the teens.

Bathing before going to roost.

There were plenty of Little Buntings, but twigs kept getting in the way for photos.

A single Masked Bunting among a flock of Little Buntings.

My first Naumann's Thrush confirmed this season.

Pale Thrushes, which started turning up in greater numbers a few days ago. I hear their calls often, but this is my first time photographing one this season.

Red-flanked Bluetail, male, first-winter plumage.

Daurian Redstart, female. Both males and females were present in good numbers.

Siberian Stonechat, male, winter plumage.

Siberian Stonechat, female, first-winter plumage.

Buff-bellied Pipit found on the evening of the first day. It was forming a large flock together with Red-throated Pipits.

The majority were Buff-bellied Pipits, though a few Red-throated Pipits were mixed in.

The next day, Buff-bellied Pipits at the same spot. The flock had dispersed over a wide area.

White Wagtail, male, first-winter plumage. You'd think they'd get along, being both white birds, but it was squabbling with a Kentish Plover.

A ridiculously distant Tufted Duck. Tufted Duck is a rarity in Okinawa. ^^

There were two female Mandarin Ducks, but these were also far away….

Common Buzzard, juvenile. Three individuals confirmed. There have been a lot of Common Buzzards on Ishigaki this year — Yonaguni may be the same.

Black-headed Gull, second-winter plumage. It was bathing in a rice paddy.

Brown Shrikes were plentiful. I searched for other shrike species, but every one turned out to be a Brown Shrike.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle — the 14th of the season. I called my mentor, who surveys juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle numbers, straight away.

The crest was raised by the wind. I'd like to get closer for a shot, but apparently local birders and rental-car tourists have driven into the paddies here a combined four times, and the landowner is angry and not letting anyone in. ^^; Please be careful if you're visiting. If you wander in without knowing, you'll get a very scary earful in Yaeyama dialect.

My first Swinhoe's Snipe in a while.

A few Buff-bellied Pipits had joined a flock of Eastern Yellow Wagtails.

After waiting quietly, one came close.

White Wagtail, female, first-winter plumage. White Wagtails are scarce this year.

Photographed three Tufted Ducks at the sedimentation pond for the newspaper.

A Solitary Snipe puffed up.

Just as it puffed up, it gave itself a good shake. What a beautiful bird the Solitary Snipe is.

A Solitary Snipe startled by the shutter sound.

In this shot I was a bit further from the bird. This is what its normal body shape looks like.

At first it was like this — extremely alert even seen through gaps in the grass.

Common Snipe is a fine bird too, but next to the beauty of a Solitary Snipe…

There was also a female Ryukyu Little Bittern.

Yellow Wagtail, first-winter. One slightly olive-tinged feather is showing on the shoulder.

Same individual as above. Watching from behind, several olive-tinged feathers are visible. The uppertail coverts and undertail coverts at the base of the tail are also faintly olive-tinged.

A different Yellow Wagtail, also first-winter. The uppertail coverts and undertail coverts on this one show no colour.

Same individual as above. Seen from the front, juvenile feathers remain on the breast.