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.
There is still a Ruddy Kingfisher raising young. Fledging is expected tomorrow or the day after, but another typhoon is coming... ^^;
The parent shows the prey but won't give it to the chick — behaviour meant to encourage fledging. When they do this, the chick usually fledges that same day, but this one didn't seem ready.
Two pairs are nesting in the same park. Of the three chicks, two were taken by a snake, but the remaining one is growing well. The `Oriental Scops Owl with the dark eyes`_ also came out to a place where it can be seen, for the first time in a while. This pair may have fledged their young. ^^
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Unknown target name: "oriental scops owl with the dark eyes".
The dark-eyed Ryukyu Scops Owl, appearing for the first time in a while.
Two of the chicks were taken by a snake, but the remaining one is growing steadily. It should fledge within two or three days.
I tried remote shooting over wireless LAN using a 1D X and a mobile router, but the Ruddy Kingfisher, the whole point, came only twice, so the test was insufficient. It's a sauna this time of year, but sitting in the blind to shoot is definitely more fun. ^^;
I don't think there was much point in doing it at 200mm. If I do it, it should be a close-up wide-angle shot.
I can also control the focus remotely from my MacBook Air using EOS Utility 3, but the bird didn't come often enough for that to matter.
A typhoon arrived on the expected fledging day, so it fledged a day late. It was fully grown, so it flew really well. ^^;
I was in the blind from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and was able to see the youngest chick fledge. ^^
Once it's halfway out, it launches itself in one go.
First flight — success!! Landed neatly on a branch.
This one failed. It fell to the ground. ^^;
Large Brown Cicadas are a struggle even for the adults, but the chick manages to swallow one surprisingly well.
Today the feedings were much less frequent — perhaps to encourage fledging — just five times over six and a half hours.
Oriental Scops Owl chick-rearing had finished in most areas. At a pair still incubating, I found the male for the first time; until now I could only ever find the female ^^
A male Ryukyu Scops Owl looking quite dignified with his ear-tufts upright.