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

Watching from a distance, the parent landed on a tree right in front of me. Ruddy Kingfishers are so wary — it was over in an instant.

A Ruddy Kingfisher looking toward the nest. Female, maybe.

It feels like the first real shot of a Ruddy Kingfisher I've gotten in a while. That's how wary the Ruddy Kingfishers on the Okinawa mainland are. Completely different from the Yaeyamas.

A Ruddy Kingfisher chick that had fallen outside the nest.

If it stays still it blends right into the ground and is easy to miss. The breast feathers are quite well grown in already.

Of the three chicks returned to the nest yesterday, two were still inside.

While the chicks were still in the nest, I estimated today would be around fledging time, but from the look of things it seems a few more days are needed.

Hard to tell from the photo, but the second and third chicks were also rescued safely.

Just before fledging, these pin feathers burst open and the plumage emerges from inside. I wonder if it's a mechanism to keep the feathers clean while still in the nest.

A Ruddy Kingfisher chick that fell into the pond and climbed back out on its own. The water's edge is right at the bottom of the frame.

Just the other day a friend and I were saying, "If those chicks fledge, they'll probably fall straight into the pond" — "But they can swim, so it should be fine." I never imagined one would fall in before fledging at all… ^^;

The chick returned to the nest. Normally you can see the chicks poking out from the entrance, each trying to be first to get food from the parent, but they seemed quite shaken and were pressing themselves against the wall inside the nest.

A large hole gaping open on the opposite side from the entrance — straight through to the other side. I wonder what made a hole this big.

A parent Ruddy Kingfisher bringing prey. Extremely wary — I shot from quite a distance, hidden in the undergrowth. On top of that, the backlight made conditions poor. ^^;

There were 4 chicks. Fledging is expected in 4–5 days.

The image quality is poor — distant, dark, and backlit, a triple handicap — so I can't make out what prey it has brought.

At the pond, a Common Kingfisher was moving back and forth in front of the Ruddy Kingfisher's nest hole. It may be nesting somewhere nearby as well.

Grey Plovers were constantly squabbling over the driftwood. ^^;

Dunlins were perched peacefully on the driftwood.

I wonder if the Grey Plover's moult starts in two places at once?

That day it was a spring tide, and the water rose quickly, eventually submerging the driftwood. The Grey Plovers were competing for spots right to the end.

Debris washed in by the Kyushu heavy-rain disaster covered the tidal flat. In the background, heavy machinery removing the debris is visible.

This Ryukyu Scops Owl appears to have lost the feathers on its head and face some time ago. Perhaps it also lost one eye at that time. The wing coverts are also in disarray.

The left side is particularly bad — you can even see the ear. It was a painful sight. The eye will probably never recover, but the feathers will grow back.