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

Grey-faced Buzzard photographed from farmland. Miyako-jima has no hills, so kettles of raptors could be watched from farmland and residential areas alike.

A kettle of several tens of birds formed at low altitude. Things seem quite different here from Ishigaki-jima.

View from the survey site on Irabu-jima. No hills.

The tsunami evacuation facility that serves as a base for Grey-faced Buzzard surveys.

First-winter male Blue-and-white Flycatcher.

Adult Grey-streaked Flycatcher. An individual with no wariness — it didn't flee even when vehicles passed close by.

Male Garganey. All in eclipse.

Male Garganey. The one in the middle is a juvenile; the others are in eclipse.

First-winter male White-faced Wagtail.

First-winter Eastern Yellow Wagtail.

Adult Whiskered Tern. Moulting into winter plumage.

A lone juvenile Whiskered Tern.

A flock of Black-winged Stilts, made up of adults and juveniles.

White-winged Tern, juvenile. The third bird this season.

Whiskered Tern, juvenile.

Whiskered Tern, adult winter plumage.

Ruff, juvenile female.

Among the snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe are being replaced almost entirely by Common Snipe and numbers are down.

A Swinhoe's Snipe in the distance. It may look like a Pin-tailed Snipe, but the moult stage, feather pattern and facial expression identify it as Swinhoe's Snipe.

The snipe in the paddies are almost all Common Snipe. In the paddies of this area, only the two Swinhoe's Snipe above were found among 40 snipe.

Long-toed Stint, adult (left), and Red-necked Stint, juvenile.

Wood Sandpiper, the most numerous species here.

Common Greenshank, winter plumage.

Black-winged Stilt, juvenile. It is retaining a lot of juvenile feathers for this time of year.

Temminck's Stint, juvenile. There were three birds.

Greenshank, Common Redshank, and Grey-tailed Tattler — a traffic light.

Adult Red-necked Stint. Among mostly juveniles, there was just one adult.

Adult Pacific Golden Plover.

First Garganey of the season. Likely a male in eclipse.

A few more Eurasian Teal than before.

A Dusky Warbler in the shrubbery around the fields. I could hear several calling, and while watching I had one appear right in front of me. Too close to focus….

Several Zitting Cisticolas had gathered.

Barn Swallows wheeling above the paddies. Their job is to make the snipe fan their tail feathers. ^^

Adult female Chinese Sparrowhawk. The weather has been poor and many birds unable to cross are staying on the island.

Adult male Chinese Sparrowhawk.

Buff-bellied Pipit, first-winter.

Same individual as above. The field marks of Buff-bellied Pipit show up well.

Same individual as above. From behind.

A second Buff-bellied Pipit. Also in first-winter plumage. It was associating with the individual above.

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

Chinese Sparrowhawk, adult male.

Grey-streaked Flycatcher, adult.

White-cheeked Starlings came in large flocks to parks in town and similar spots.

Common Snipe numbers have been increasing.

The Crested Serpent Eagle has entered its easier-to-observe season.