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

I spent the New Year holiday in Nagoya and managed about an hour of birdwatching. I had hoped to see a Japanese Wagtail, but unfortunately that didn't happen.

Before heading home to Nagoya I went for one last look at the Collared Kingfisher for 2024. Temperatures have dropped and crabs — its main prey — seem to be less available; its ranging area has expanded considerably.

The Common Hoopoe was still present too, but my camera was already packed in the carry-on bag, so no photos this time.

There was also a strangely pale Chinese Pond Heron. Looking closely, the median coverts on the left wing are white. Three Chinese Pond Herons are wintering in the same area.

It's a hectic schedule at year-end, but I happened to pass nearby during work so I stopped to check on the Common Hoopoe. It was foraging in its usual spot. There are a lot of feral cats around, so I worry about it coming to harm.

In the paddies the Pied Avocet was still present. There were also Long-toed Stints, Wood Sandpipers, Black-winged Stilts, and Common Greenshanks.

In the evening I checked for owls for the first time in a while. No Long-eared Owl or Short-eared Owl found. Ryukyu Scops Owls were fairly numerous. At this time of year moult is complete and they are in fresh winter plumage — well worth a look.

The Common Hoopoe that appeared on Christmas Eve is now on its third day. It shows no wariness and isn't being pestered by birders, so I have a feeling it will stick around.

The pair of Peregrine Falcons (former subspecies Siberian Peregrine) that wintered here last year are back again, terrorising the paddies and hunting Eurasian Coots and herons relentlessly. Eurasian Coots are well down on last year's numbers, and Eurasian Teal are completely absent. The Upland Buzzard wintering in the same area alongside the falcons may be a factor.

Common Snipe have moved in all over, including a flock of 47, but they are all Common Snipe.

I went back to see the Common Hoopoe I had found while working the day before, and it was still there. It is in a residential estate, but the bird is so unwary that it may well decide to stay.