GUIDED BIRDWATCHING TOUR
We'll drive you around Ishigaki Island to wherever the birds are showing best that day. Observation is mostly from inside the vehicle, and we keep it to a maximum of 3 guests so everyone can take their time.
クロツラヘラサギとリュウキュウヨシゴイが同じ田んぼにいました。クロツラヘラサギはかなり長いこといます。このまま越冬するのでしょうか。
リュウキュウヨシゴイは、田んぼの茂みから出てきてはオタマジャクシを捕まえて、また同じ茂みにもどるという行動でした。
Juvenile Black-faced Spoonbill. The bird next to it is a Little Egret. The bokeh gets ugly with the 2× extender attached — what you'd call double-line bokeh, maybe?
Ryukyu Striated Heron. It was glowing beautifully in the evening light.
シギチの秋の渡りが始まっているようで、田んぼや海岸にぼちぼち姿が見られるようになりました。この日は、キョウジョシギやアカアシシギ、アオアシシギなどが渡ってきていました。アオサギも1羽だけいました。
Common Redshank at Ohama Beach.
Ruddy Turnstone at Ohama Beach as well.
A small flock of Black-winged Stilts was in the rice paddies.
A few Greenshanks had also come down to the rice paddies.
There were several dozen Wood Sandpipers.
Grey Herons had also come through to Ohama Beach.
潮が引いてくると、アジサシたちが水浴びのために宮良川河口に集まります。この日は、ベニアジサシ3羽とコアジサシ1羽、エリグロアジサシ10羽、クロハラアジサシ1羽が集まりました。
フラッグ付きのエリグロアジサシは山階鳥類研究所保全研究室鳥類標識センターに連絡したところ、2002年から2013年の間に、沖縄本島周辺で、合計323羽に装着して放鳥したもののうちの一羽と教えていただきました。また、沖縄本島以外でフラッグ付きのエリグロアジサシが観察されたのは今回が初めてだそうです。アルミリングの番号まで読めれば個体識別できるそうなんですが、残念ながらかなりの距離がありましたので、拡大しても判別不能です。
遠いのでロクヨンに2倍のエクステンダかませて1200mmでの撮影です。^^;
Roseate Tern courtship. The male is on the left and the female on the right.
Roseate Tern mating. I would have thought the breeding season was already in its final stages, but…
Black-naped Tern mating. The photo is blurry because they were far away and the heat haze was bad.
One individual with a flag band was mixed in among them. The corners of the flag are heavily worn and rounded, which apparently suggests it is likely an older bird.
Turbid water flowing in from the Miyara River means the surface isn't blue. ^^;
Some were also being scattered by a canoe tour.
A Black-bellied Tern in mid-moult from breeding to non-breeding plumage.
数日前、仕事中に見つけた、八重山農林高校の中庭で営巣するアオバズクが巣立ちました。^^ ヒナは1羽だけのようです。生徒に見せてあげたら「かわいー」って。
According to the school principal, it fledged yesterday. Apparently all three — parent and two chicks — were perched together the day before. ^^;
Female Brown Hawk-Owl.
Male Brown Hawk-Owl. At every pair I've seen, the male is noticeably smaller than the female.
ペアのうち1羽がカラスに殺され、片親で4羽のヒナを一生懸命に育てていた農園のアカショウビン。巣立ちの1週間ほど前に、4羽のうち3羽のヒナがカラスの餌食になりましたが、生き残った最後の1羽は本日無事に巣立ちました。
孵化後、18日で予定通りでした。
かわいいかわいいヒナの動画もあります。^^
A parent arriving with what looks like a cicada. The Ruddy Kingfishers here fly straight into the nest hole without perching anywhere first, so I was caught off guard many times. The orchard is well tended, so the background is beautiful too. ^^
A Ruddy Kingfisher chick peering out from a nest hole drilled into a Yaeyama palm. It fledged shortly after this, and perhaps because it was raised alone, its flight ability was remarkably strong — it flew nearly 40 metres in one go. ^^;
It perched on a palm frond. A Ruddy Kingfisher and a palm — that's Ishigaki Island for you. ^^
It tumbled off the palm frond. It's quite hard to spot against the dried palm leaves — almost the same colour.