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

The male on the right holds the territory; the female on the left is "Micchan," who has been in wildlife rehabilitation before. He just made a pitiful cry and was no match for her.

A Sakishima rat snake lies at their feet. Shortly after, the adult male on the right grabbed the snake and flew off.

A Eurasian Hoopoe that looked a little tired — perhaps it had just arrived.

A Eurasian Hoopoe that caught a cockroach. Cockroaches are so synonymous with Hoopoes on Ishigaki that you could almost say that's all they eat here.

This season was a bumper year for Eurasian Hoopoes on Ishigaki Island — I counted several dozen individuals… ^^;

A Ruddy Kingfisher taking on a Anoplophora malasiaca.

Same individual as above. Like the Hoopoe, it has been delighting visitors at the same spot.

A particularly unflappable Ruddy Kingfisher. It perched about three metres away.

A male and female Mandarin Duck. They've been together for a few days now — perhaps a pair?

The Common Redshanks that wintered here are beginning to come into summer plumage.

A Ruddy Kingfisher observed at just five metres away. The spot seemed to be its regular feeding ground.

A Ruddy Kingfisher perched on a vine hanging like a swing. This individual had already paired up.

A male Ryukyu Kingfisher. It looked a little tired, as though it had just arrived on migration.

A weary-looking Eurasian Hoopoe. It barely moved even as cars and motorbikes passed right in front of it.

This Eurasian Hoopoe was in a sugarcane field. As usual, it was catching cockroaches.

A Eurasian Hoopoe in front of a café. The customers were surprised by the unfamiliar bird.

Adult male Ryukyu Narcissus Flycatcher. This individual wasn't singing, but it was moving and foraging together with a female as a pair.

Male Kentish Plover in breeding plumage. Beautiful. The breeding population in Okinawa is considerably paler.

Same individual as above. The breast-band looks like this.

First Whiskered Tern of the season. Just a hint of summer plumage showing.

A juvenile Eurasian Spoonbill. Going back and forth between the paddies and the dam.

Wood Sandpipers up slightly in number.

Black-winged Stilts also in the early stages of migration.

Little Ringed Plover is the most numerous species in the paddies.

A small flock of Long-toed Stints. Numbers should keep climbing. Looking forward to seeing them in summer plumage soon.

Adult female Bull-headed Shrike.

A pair of Peregrine Falcons has been staying for a while. The male was perched nearby too, but it was skittish and flew off.

A Crested Serpent Eagle with a blind left eye. It has somehow made it through a hard winter and is holding on.

An Ishigaki Tit that was raising chicks kept moving around near the nest while giving alarm calls.