Bird Reports List--Wild bird photography and birdwatching on Okinawa Main Island and the Yaeyama Islands (Ishigaki Island, Iriomote Island, Taketomi Island, and more)

This is day 2 of the 1st Ishigaki Snipe Camp, and the final day. I would have liked to start at first light, but with children to look after, we got going at 9 a.m.

A Javan Pond Heron greeted us at a nearby paddy — the fourth individual on Ishigaki this season, and the fifth of the season counting the first record for Yonaguni Island.

Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe were in the same paddy, but the light was badly against us and the grass was tall, so we moved early to the spot that typically holds the most snipe on the island and offers the best views.

We worked through several more sites after that, squeezing every last minute out of the final day right up until participants had to leave for their flights. ^^

On day 1 we concentrated on Pin-tailed Snipe, but on day 2 we had a bit more breathing room and made a point of photographing Swinhoe's Snipe tail feathers as well. The sideshow is here.

I took the liberty of organizing the 1st Ishigaki Island Snipe Camp, complete with a complimentary invitation to Shimasoba-so.

For this inaugural event I was joined by a contributor who writes the field identification articles on snipe for BIRDER magazine. The Pin-tailed Snipes and Swinhoe's Snipes of Ishigaki seemed to hold genuine interest even for a professional eye. During the camp I received a direct lecture on migration timing and moult characteristics of Latham's Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe from the mainland — extremely educational. As someone who writes about identification, the way they put the distinguishing features into words was precise and impressive.

The results were excellent. We observed large numbers of Pin-tailed Snipe and the so-called western-type Swinhoe's Snipe that are commonly found in the Nansei Islands, including both adults and juveniles. Despite spending nearly all our time on snipe, the by-catch was good too: 2 Javan Pond Herons, the season's first juvenile Common Greenshank and juvenile Green Sandpiper, juvenile Red-necked Stints, and a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

On day one I met the participants at the airport at around 1:30 p.m. and had the first Pin-tailed Snipe in the bag just after 2:00 p.m. We watched until 6:00 p.m. I am posting photos of the 10 Pin-tailed Snipes we managed to photograph. Day 2 and the bonus post are covered in separate articles.

I intend to keep running snipe camps in the future. Announcements will appear here on the blog and on social media. The planned timing is around late August, when both adults and juveniles are present and moult variation is at its richest. I would also like to hold one during the spring migration (early to mid-April), when other birds, waders and plovers are enjoyable too, if there is enough interest.