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

A Caspian Tern that caught a fish. It swallows it while flying around.

A Caspian Tern skimming the water surface.

One Black-headed Gull. I expect the numbers will increase a bit more.

Caspian Tern and Black-headed Gull.

This Caspian Tern has four primary feathers still to replace in its moult.

The wind direction was bad, and every plunge-dive was facing away from me. The hunt was successful — it has a fish in its bill.

Swallowed in one gulp while still in flight.

Five Caspian Terns and one Black-headed Gull. The sixth Caspian Tern was flying around and I couldn't get a shot with all six together.

An Osprey also came by from time to time and caught fish.

A Striated Heron that successfully caught a fish.

A noticeably strongly brown-tinged Striated Heron.

Red-throated Pipits on the grass of the baseball field.

There were about ten Red-throated Pipits.

A Far Eastern Curlew that had been present for several days.

A Grey-tailed Tattler got a fiddler crab.

Lesser Sand Plover. The bill looks large and it has a Greater Sand Plover feel, but there are quite a few Lesser Sand Plovers like this in Okinawa.

Seven Dunlins at Sankaku-ike.

There were a juvenile male and female Ruff at Sankaku-ike.

Five Dunlins at Gushi tidal flat.

Just one Whimbrel.

A few Grey Plovers.

The Red-footed Falcon returning to its favourite perch with a large grasshopper in its grip.

Early morning allows shooting in good light.

A flock of about ten Grey-faced Buzzards arrived and gradually dispersed, landing in the farmland around the area.

Common Kestrel. It hovered right in front of me several times.

Apparently it flew around nearby after I left. This shot was taken from some distance.

Adult male (left) and juvenile Red-footed Falcon.

Adult male Red-footed Falcon looking relaxed in the morning sun.

They were hard to see in the heavy rain the other day, but this morning I got a good look at this beautiful bird.

From around 8:30 a.m. it became active, hovering over the pasture in search of prey.

The underwing of the Red-footed Falcon looks as though it has been painted in two halves — black and white. The juvenile, by contrast, had a black-and-white mottled pattern.

While hovering — its specialty — it seems to be scanning the area for prey. Prey includes grasshoppers and mice.

The upperparts of the adult male Red-footed Falcon are entirely blue-grey.

A few Oriental Pratincoles in the sugarcane fields. They are presumably heading further south on migration.

Striated Heron at Gushi tidal flat. This is the first time I've seen a Striated Heron here.

Four Eurasian Coots had come to the river mouth. They were busily pecking at leaves.