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

A White-winged Tern quartering over the taro fields in search of prey.

Skimming just low enough to keep its wings from hitting the ground.

Caught a grasshopper.

There are this many grasshoppers. The large green ones are adults; the small, mottled brown ones are nymphs.

White-winged Tern moulting from breeding to non-breeding plumage. An individual still retaining much of the breeding plumage.

A White-winged Tern that has largely moulted into non-breeding plumage. Only a few primaries of the breeding plumage remain.

I finally got to see a Black-winged Stilt in juvenile plumage. ^^

This Black-winged Stilt is moulting from first-summer into second-winter plumage.

Common Greenshank, winter plumage.

The ringed Common Redshank that returns every year didn't seem to have arrived yet. Both birds are moulting into first-winter plumage.

Long-toed Stint, juvenile plumage.

Pacific Golden Plover moulting from breeding to non-breeding plumage.

Swinhoe's Snipe with an earthworm it had just caught.

Swinhoe's Snipe on a field path. For some reason I could even see into its ear opening.

I had stopped the car to watch a distant snipe when I noticed a Swinhoe's Snipe frozen right in front of me. ^^;

Swinhoe's Snipe were everywhere throughout the paddies.

Dunlin, adult. Late summer plumage — looking rather ragged. The long journey must be tough.

Lesser Sand Plover, adult male. Transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Lesser Sand Plover, adult winter plumage.

Kentish Plover with a metal ring. Hard to tell whether it never had a flag or whether it came off somewhere along the way.

A Ruddy Turnstone that crossed right in front of me.

Pacific Golden Plover coming in to land.

Common Greenshank, summer to winter.

Grey-tailed Tattler, summer plumage.

Red-necked Stint, adult. Summer plumage → winter plumage.

Long-toed Stint, adult.

Flushed all at once by what appeared to be a Peregrine. Mixed in among the Pacific Golden Plover flock were Grey-tailed Tattler, Ruddy Turnstone, Lesser Sand Plover, Kentish Plover, and Red-necked Stint. The Red-necked Stint's small size really stands out. There's something endearing about such a tiny bird working so hard to keep up.

An adult Black-tailed Godwit that has taken a liking to this paddy field — now into its first week here.

On its fifth day here, the juvenile Ruff has moved to the same paddy field as the Black-tailed Godwit.

Juvenile Swinhoe's Snipe.

Adult Black-bellied Tern. Moulting into winter plumage.

Juvenile Black-bellied Tern. Moulting from juvenile into first-winter plumage.

Juvenile Common Redshank. Moving into first-winter plumage.

Adult Red-necked Stint. Transitioning from summer to winter plumage.

Juvenile Long-toed Stint.