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

A Ryukyu Ruddy Kingfisher on the way home from work. One of three individuals I saw.

The Ruddy Kingfisher near my house has started digging out a nest hole.

A Ryukyu Flycatcher that had been squabbling with a neighbour from an adjoining territory.

The Crested Serpent Eagle is in breeding season too. Encounters will become fewer from now through summer.

The Ryukyu Ruddy Kingfisher arrived about a week earlier than usual this season — calls were already audible around 23 March. Numbers picked up toward the end of March. My first photos weren't until 6 April, a little later than usual, partly because I was away from the island on a trip.

The Ashy Drongo that has been wintering on Ishigaki Island for a record-length stay. This photo was taken on 3 April, but it was still being seen on the 9th. Just how long will this Ashy Drongo stay?

The Ruddy Shelduck has nearly completed its moult from juvenile plumage into first breeding plumage. This was its third day of the stay.

A flock of a dozen or so Oriental Pratincoles is staying in a rice paddy. I expect breeding will be confirmed again this season.

A Chestnut-cheeked Starling that came to the car park at my workplace. They come to eat the fruit of Murraya paniculata. During the winter, White-shouldered Starlings, White-cheeked Starlings, and Asian Glossy Starlings also turned up regularly for the same berries. On Ishigaki, Chestnut-cheeked Starlings feel more like a spring bird than a wintering one.

There was also a pair of Northern Pintail. They are probably birds moving through on spring migration.

There was a flock of 25 Little Ringed Plovers. I heard there had been a White-rumped Sandpiper among them, but by the time I arrived it was Little Ringed Plovers only.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. It looks like it managed to catch something — the crop is bulging.

A female Ryukyu Night Heron. She is hunting for earthworms on a lawn.

The male, paired with the individual above.

A Eurasian Hoopoe showing no wariness at all. This season it was all relaxed birds.

A single Pied Avocet turned up. Also a very relaxed individual.

A flock of 60 Pacific Golden Plovers came down onto a pasture. A flock of any bird is a good sight.

While I was watching the Pacific Golden Plover flock, Oriental Pratincoles dropped in.

コチドリも飛来していました。

There was a mixed flock of three subspecies of White Wagtail. This is a male leucopsis.

A few ocularis were also mixed in.

Just this one yarrellii.

A Red-throated Pipit against the backdrop of the Kuroshio Current.

There were fewer Red-throated Pipits than on the previous visit.

A flock of around 30 Little Buntings confirmed.

Just one Daurian Redstart. It was in the same grassland as the Little Buntings.

An Brown Shrike with Tindabana — one of Yonaguni Island's most iconic scenic spots — in the background.

There were plenty of Brown Shrikes around the pastures and hayfields.

A Eurasian Sparrowhawk was chasing White Wagtails around.

A few Grey-faced Buzzards as well. Some were riding thermals, circling as they gained altitude. Nearly time for the northward migration.

A Common Kestrel, showing no wariness, appeared to have caught a Patanga japonica — Japan's largest grasshopper. As Patanga japonica overwinter as adults, it was already a large individual to prey on.

Three Northern Lapwings at a materials yard. They were still there the next day, but by the third day they had moved on.

Two Common Snipe are staying in the waterway at Hikawa.

A pair of Eurasian Teal was in the same waterway as the Common Snipe.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. It is within the territory of an adult pair and gets chased off every time it is spotted, yet it stubbornly stays put.

Common Starling numbers have gradually been dropping. This individual was on its own.

Several Northern Lapwings flew in to the cattle shed.

A few Common Greenshanks had come down into the rice paddies.

Among the Brown Shrikes wintering on the island, more individuals have begun moving on.

Common Snipe wintering along the river. A small flock of several birds.

Some individuals are showing advanced moult.

Three Common Redshanks that wintered here. They should be leaving soon.

A Long-toed Stint arrived.

Two Red-necked Stints arrived.