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

A Long-eared Owl seen right in front of me. At its feet you can see a half-eaten mouse.

After a while the Long-eared Owl flew off with the mouse still clutched in its talons, disappearing once again into the dark night.

A female Falcated Duck that decided to stay behind alone.

It kept following the Eurasian Coot like this the whole time.

This Eurasian Coot had very ragged feathers. I wondered if it could actually migrate in that condition.

Adult Grey-headed Lapwing. About half into summer plumage.

This is the posture they take when a Peregrine Falcon appears.

The White Wagtail with a white supercilium would not move from the grass.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail. Patches of yellow are starting to come through here and there.

White Wagtails were present in various stages of moult, showing a rich variety of plumages.

There were about ten Buff-bellied Pipits as well, but they kept a low profile — when they were on the ground I could only pick out the nearest individuals, but when something startled them into flight the numbers became clear.

A single Long-toed Stint was foraging alongside the wagtails.

Common Snipe foraging in a rush paddy. The bird visible in the background is a Long-toed Stint.

A few individuals were also seen standing motionless in the grass.

Adult male. Mid-moult from winter plumage to summer plumage.

Juvenile. The crest is short and the face is brown. The brown feather edges are almost entirely worn away.

It was trembling its feet rapidly in the water and along the paddy ridges to flush insects from the soil and catch them.

Numbers are still small, but Wood Sandpipers also appear to be stopping over on migration.

Dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard. Hunting from a favourite perch. The closest I've ever managed to get.

The Naumann's Thrush is an uncommon winter visitor to the Okinawa main island, but during the spring migration season it becomes a little easier to see alongside Dusky Thrushes. I saw Naumann's Thrush and Dusky Thrush at the same spot two years ago as well.

It looked to have just finished eating prey — there was dried blood on the bill.