The Pheasant-tailed Jacana has now been here a week. It is less wary than when it was first found, making observation easier. A Crested Serpent Eagle was nearby, but the jacana showed no sign of concern.
Over the week it stayed, it gradually lost its wariness of people and was relaxed about foraging in the open.
The first Pheasant-tailed Jacana of the season has arrived. It moves through the rice plants and is hard to spot, but it has been coming out regularly to flooded patches. This individual is quite wary.
Black-naped Terns have also moved closer to the coast. Colony formation has begun.
A Pheasant-tailed Jacana in the paddy fields. When I lost sight of it, it was very hard to find again, hidden among the rice plants.
The Pheasant-tailed Jacana usually turns up in June, but this season it was confirmed a little earlier than usual. The individual was very wary of crows and flew off every time one passed nearby.
At the baseball field, every time the Malayan Night Heron caught prey, a young Crested Serpent Eagle would steal it. Moving to a different spot would seem the obvious solution, but the pair of Malayan Night Herons appeared determined to stay at that feeding spot — they kept returning to feed despite being robbed repeatedly.
A Pheasant-tailed Jacana startled into the air by a crow. It appeared to be a young bird in first-summer plumage.
The third Pheasant-tailed Jacana of the season has arrived. Multiple individuals have been confirmed on Okinawa Island as well. This bird showed the most advanced transition to summer plumage of any I have seen so far. It is not at all wary and easy to observe.
Oriental Pratincoles and Greater Painted-snipes are also appearing in the same paddy. Cinnamon Bittern was confirmed by call only.
A Pheasant-tailed Jacana flapping its wings after bathing. It appears to be moulting into adult summer plumage.
I spotted the second Pheasant-tailed Jacana of the season while out birding with my daughter. ^^ The bird was some distance away, so I showed her on the camera monitor — she was delighted: "So cute!!" The individual from a few days ago was in transition to first-summer plumage, but this one appeared to be an adult. The video has the sound of my daughter breathing through her nose. ^^;
The Ryukyu Scops Owl on watch duty was perched in a lower tree than usual. I expect the chicks will fledge around the end of this month.
I found a new Ruddy Kingfisher nest — it looked as though they were still digging it out. In the video you can hear the male and female calling back and forth as they excavate the nest hole.
The second Pheasant-tailed Jacana of the season. It appeared to stay for only one day.
The June regular, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, has arrived. Birds have also come in to the Okinawa main island at the same time, but both individuals appear to be young birds. I am looking forward to adult summer-plumage birds arriving in due course.
I photographed the Ruddy Kingfisher visible from my living room for the first time in a while. Its call is distinctive enough for individual identification. It has been coming for three years running. When crows approach it chases them off, so there is probably a nest nearby.
Within a radius of a few tens of metres from my home, around three pairs of Ruddy Kingfisher have arrived. One pair's nest was destroyed in the recent heavy rain. The season is still young, so they will likely rebuild somewhere.
A Ruddy Kingfisher that has taken a liking to the top of a plastic greenhouse. This is the Ruddy Kingfisher I can see from my living room. ^^
The Grey-headed Swamphen staying on Ishigaki has had a Hen Harrier turning up at its paddy field for the past few days, causing havoc. Several friends have come to Ishigaki to see the Swamphen, but it has become wary and is showing poorly, so they are having a hard time.
A Pheasant-tailed Jacana is also in residence and going about its business peacefully. I had noted Garganey several times over the past two weeks or so, but this time I finally managed to get it on camera.
I also recorded my first Greater White-fronted Goose and White-faced Wagtail of the season.
The paddies are lively, with Ruff, Dunlin, Common Greenshank, Marsh Sandpiper, Long-toed Stint, Red-necked Stint, Common Snipe, and Black-winged Stilt, as well as Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, Amur Stonechat, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Red-throated Pipit, and Little Bunting.
A completely unwariness Hen Harrier juvenile. It was an extremely aggressive hunter, and the upper surface of its flight feathers was stained with mud.
I have found a Grey-headed Swamphen — a first record!! There were apparently three records on the mainland in the 1970s and one on Okinawa Island in 1995, but all have been ruled as escapes, so there is no accepted record. There is therefore a strong possibility this will become the first accepted national record after further review.
A planned assignment was cancelled, so I reluctantly stopped by the paddies — and found it. At first I thought it was a Watercock, but when I put binoculars on it, question marks started spinning through my head. "Wait, a Takahē?" "No, Takahē can't fly." "Could this be a Grey-headed Swamphen!!!!!!" — and the enormity of it became real.
The genus Porphyrio has several members worldwide; they were formerly treated as subspecies, but after splitting the IOC list now recognises at least seven species. Among them, this bird struck me as closest to the Philippine Swamphen.
In the 2023 eighth edition of the Check-List of Japanese Birds it is listed as a species under consideration. I would like to take this opportunity to write up a report and have it elevated from that status.
When a bird you hadn't even considered turns up, you have no idea what you're looking at…. ^^;
Day three of the Pheasant-tailed Jacana's stay. After the rain cleared, Ruddy Kingfishers and Crested Serpent Eagles were out and active.
With rain coming and going, the Ruddy Kingfisher was actively foraging.
One Pheasant-tailed Jacana arrived. Summer records of Pheasant-tailed Jacana fall roughly between late May and the end of June.
A Red Collared Dove also turned up — numbers have been low this season. Two years ago was a banner year, with flocks of twenty-plus birds coming through, but last autumn and this season have been quiet.
The Whiskered Tern peak seems to have passed, but birds are still trickling through. An out-of-season Black-headed Gull was also noted. It appears to be a different individual from last week's bird.
Pheasant-tailed Jacana, first-summer plumage.
The Pheasant-tailed Jacana found on 12 October is still present, six days on. A tractor came through to work the field but the bird seemed largely unbothered and kept foraging.
The two Lesser White-fronted Geese are also still here — today is day ten. They continue to associate with the Taiga Bean Goose as before. Twelve Greater White-fronted Geese also arrived and briefly joined the group, but they eventually parted ways and are keeping to themselves.
Juvenile Pheasant-tailed Jacana. It showed no fear of the tractor and was snatching prey turned up by the fieldwork.
A juvenile Pheasant-tailed Jacana dropped into a paddy field. It appeared to be feeding on small freshwater snails. In a normal year they turn up between late October and early November, so this one is a little early.
Pheasant-tailed Jacana moulting from juvenile into first-winter plumage.
「そろそろですねぇ」などと友人と話していた翌日にレンカクが出ました。石垣島はこの時季がレンカクの季節。沖縄本島でも確認されているようです。
レンカクは休耕田を歩き回りながら小さな巻貝やヤゴなどを捕食しているようでした。
A Pheasant-tailed Jacana in flight. It was being chased by a crow. When it flew, it called with a plaintive "kuu" cry.
先月、現れたレンカク はまだ滞在中です。1週間の滞在はレンカクにしては長いですね。
11月に入るとすぐに現れるオニアジサシは親子で数日前から滞在中。
A juvenile Pheasant-tailed Jacana. Completely unafraid.
先月からのレンカク はまだ滞在していました。相変わらず警戒心のない個体です。
ジャワアカガシラサギと入れ替わりにアカガシラサギが増えてきました。近年の石垣島の恒例行事になりつつあります。
カモも増えてきました。コガモ、ヒドリガモ、ハシビロガモ、オナガガモがメインでたまにシマアジも現れます。
Pheasant-tailed Jacana, juvenile — present since last month.
今月2羽目となるレンカクが現れました。1週間ほど前に出た1羽目は名古屋に帰省していて見逃していましたが、今回は見ることができました。この時期現れるのはほとんど幼鳥です。
自宅前の畑からカンムリワシの鳴き声がするので外へ出てみるとカンムリワシの成鳥とサシバの幼鳥2羽が三竦になっていました。最終的にはサシバの幼鳥が移動しました。
Pheasant-tailed Jacana moulting from juvenile plumage into first-winter plumage.
レンカクは10月26日 より滞在中。警戒心のあまりない個体です。
クロツラヘラサギも散発的に渡ってきます。
今季初のオオバンを3羽確認しました。全国的に増えていますが、最近は沖縄でも越夏個体がいます。
先日の目を負傷している個体 とは別のマガンが田んぼに入りました。警戒心は多少あります。
カモ類はマガモ、ハシビロガモ、ヒドリガモが増えてきました。
How much longer will the Pheasant-tailed Jacana stay?
今季初のレンカクが現れました。警戒心の薄い個体です。ヒドリガモも今季初で2羽が田んぼに飛来しました。
アカガシラサギは長いこと滞在している個体で 先日は翼を痛めていた ので心配していましたが、飛べるまでに回復していました。
タゲリは田んぼ2カ所に8羽。すべて幼鳥の群れでした。
Pheasant-tailed Jacana, juvenile — too close to shoot comfortably. Mid-moult into first-winter plumage. Jacanas in autumn are almost all juveniles.
2日前に入ったサカツラガン と 10月末に入ったレンカク は順調に滞在中です。
今季初のタゲリは早朝に20羽ほど入ったそうですが、私が訪れた昼ごろには4羽だけになっていました。全て幼鳥。
All three Swan Geese are still doing well. I doubt overwintering will be easy for them — I wonder how long they'll stay.
昨日見つけた田んぼのレンカク2羽は遠すぎたので、本日、再度撮影し直してきました。警戒心はそれほど強くないので、車からじっと観察していると近くまで寄ってきてくれました。草むらの間を歩きながら小さな貝類や虫を捕まえているようでした。今季9羽目のレンカクとなりました。
レンカクを観察していると大きな白い影が上空から降りてきました。クロツラヘラサギです。田んぼをマイペースで歩き回りながらしゃもじのようなくちばしを左右に振り、水生生物を捕まえていました。
同じ田んぼには、越冬モードのウズラシギが1羽とハマシギが十数羽滞在中です。
Pheasant-tailed Jacana, juvenile. Moulting into first-winter plumage.