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

While watching the Oriental Stork, a Black Bittern flew into view, so I searched for where it had landed — and a Baillon's Crake appeared. ^^; It was a wary individual that ducked straight into the grass at the slightest disturbance. The habitat looks good, so it might stick around.

The Oriental Stork was a ringed individual. ID number "J0701", apparently hatched on 31 March this year in Obama City, Fukui Prefecture. It had also been observed in Minamisatsuma City, Kagoshima Prefecture, a week earlier. It stayed on Ishigaki for several days before crossing to Iriomote.

Two Pied Avocets are still present. Whether they are part of the flock of eleven that arrived on 6 November is unknown.

Encounters with juvenile Crested Serpent Eagles have been increasing. On this day I found the previously recorded "No. 7" and a new individual. With the second-crop rice harvest now underway, it is becoming a good season to watch Crested Serpent Eagles. This season's sugarcane harvest is scheduled to start around 6 December.

First Gadwall and Eastern White Wagtail of the season confirmed.

Adult White-browed Crake. It seemed quite wary.

Two Black-faced Spoonbills are roaming and staying around the island. As it gradually starts to feel like autumn, Garganey, Eurasian Teal, Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Wigeon and Northern Pintail are also increasing.

Adult Black-faced Spoonbill.

I went birding on the side of a work trip to Okinawa Main Island to cover the general election. The confirmed result for Okinawa District 4 came in just after 11 p.m. I quickly wrote and filed the article, returned to the hotel for a shower, then arrived in Yambaru just after 3 a.m.

It was my first night search in Yambaru in nearly three years, but hitting two reliable spots I encountered three Ryukyu Scops Owls. I had forgotten my flash, so I managed to photograph them using the rental car's headlights and a handheld torch. Before 5 a.m. I caught a short nap in the car. On the way back I stopped at Kin and Awase Tidal Flats and saw Eurasian Curlew, Far Eastern Curlew, ducks, snipe and other waders.

I visited the usual spot where Ryukyu Scops Owls breed, and sure enough one was there. I was also able to hear the well-known descending call: "Wok, wok, wok, woh."

The wintering ducks of Ishigaki Island are all assembled. Six Greylag Geese, Taiga Bean Geese, and Greater Bean Geese have arrived; in the rice paddies the most numerous ducks are Eastern Spot-billed Ducks, Northern Shovelers, and Eurasian Wigeons, while a large flock of Tufted Ducks is on the reservoir. Mallards, Eurasian Teals, Northern Pintails, Gadwalls, and Falcated Ducks are also present. This season I am seeing Mallard × Eastern Spot-billed Duck hybrids frequently.

Update, 3 March 2024

The six Greylag Geese that were on Ishigaki Island until around the end of January were on Kume Island as of late February. I hear a Smew is also there; since the Greylag Geese on Ishigaki sometimes used the same reservoir as a Smew, that bird too may have moved from Ishigaki.

The Grey-lag Geese have been here since last year — a long stay. All five are present.

Two small Taiga Bean Geese together with Greater Bean Geese. They appear to be one of the smaller subspecies, but identification is difficult.

A small settling pond has Mandarin Duck, Tufted Duck, Eurasian Wigeon and others staying over. There was also an unidentified duck — I couldn't picture either parent for a hybrid, so domestic fowl may be mixed in.

An individual thought to be a Tundra Bean Goose, a smaller Bean Goose, and a Lesser White-fronted Goose.

A juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle, which has been hard to find reliably this season, was out in the farmland. A Common Kestrel that has been present for several days seems to have taken a liking to the pasture and was hunting in a relaxed manner.

The Javan Pond Heron has been staying a long time, but the recent pattern is for it to leave around March, before shifting into breeding plumage.

Six Pied Avocets are staying at four sites. How long will they stick around?

Juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle. I heard its call and went looking — and there it was.

Tufted Duck, Mallard, and Northern Pintail recorded for the first time this season. Northern Shoveler, Eurasian Wigeon, and Eurasian Teal are staying, though scattered. Lesser White-fronted Goose, Taiga Bean Goose, and Greater White-fronted Goose are also lingering.

Male Tufted Duck.

The first Pied Avocet, Spotted Redshank, Eurasian Wigeon, and Northern Shoveler of the season have arrived. I had been hearing Japanese Leaf Warbler by call for several days, but this time I finally managed a photograph.

Pin-tailed Snipe numbers have dropped; today I could only squeeze out a single bird. Swinhoe's Snipe are past their peak but still well represented. Common Snipe are increasing.

Pied Avocet, juvenile.

A Eurasian Spoonbill and Common Shelduck are staying in the rice fields. The Ruddy Shelducks were startled by a hunting dog, flew off and have not returned — they may have taken refuge somewhere around the dam.

Wintering Common Snipe are everywhere, but a wintering Swinhoe's Snipe has not been found since the end of the year…

Two Eurasian Spoonbills, moving back and forth between Anparu wetland and the rice fields.

At year-end, having coughed up blood to get all my copy filed before the end of the year, I squeezed in a short final birdwatch for 2022.

Entering December, Dusky Thrushes, Brown-headed Thrushes, and Pale Thrushes had increased sharply. Most of the Dusky Thrushes were Naumann's Thrushes, and the variation in plumage tones makes comparing them a pleasure in itself. Brown-headed and Pale Thrushes have also relaxed since shortly after arrival and are easier to observe.

Manchurian Bush Warblers and Dusky Warblers were calling from patches of scrub here and there, though slightly fewer than last year.

Daurian Redstart, Amur Stonechat, Red-throated Pipit, and Eastern Yellow Wagtail are also wintering.

In addition to the three Ruddy Shelduck already present, four Common Shelduck also arrived. Tundra Swans, Common Cranes, and Eurasian Spoonbills continue to stay on.

Among the ducks, Northern Shoveler were the most numerous, followed by Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, and Tufted Duck. Ferruginous Duck has not been confirmed this season.

Large numbers of Common Snipe are wintering; among roughly 200 counted across multiple paddies, there was one Swinhoe's Snipe.

Crested Serpent Eagles — both immatures and adults — have become easier to see. Road casualties will increase from here on, so care is needed when driving on Ishigaki Island and Iriomote Island.

The most vividly coloured Naumann's Thrush of the day. An adult.

The Greylag Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, and Tundra Swan are settling in for a long winter stay. Duck numbers are also increasing. Quite a few have turned up at the dam, but without a scope they're just too far away…

A Grey-lag Goose with no wariness at all, settled into wintering mode alongside a Bean Goose.

Temperatures have dropped and ducks are increasing. First Northern Shovelers and Eurasian Wigeons of the season confirmed. Northern Shovelers also arrived in July, but this will be the first as proper migrants.

The peak of wader migration has passed, but the paddies still hold Temminck's Stints, Red-necked Stints, Long-toed Stints, Swinhoe's Snipes, Common Snipes, Wood Sandpipers, Common Greenshanks and others.

First Northern Shoveler of the season. Juvenile male.

まだハリオシギいました。今季は、ハリオシギの最盛期に入院していたのでほとんど見られていませんでしたが、渡り終盤で見ることができました。^^

夏羽の真っ黒ツルシギも滞在中。夏羽のヒバリシギやウズラシギも増えてきました。

この時季には非常にめずらしいキンクロハジロとヒドリガモも複数で飛来しました。

A Pin-tailed Snipe wrestling with a worm on a paddy bund.

名古屋に行ったついでに鳥見を少々。クビワキンクロ、ヨシガモ×ヒドリガモの雑種が見られたのが最高でした!! それ以外も石垣島ではなかなか見ることのできないミコアイサやカンムリカイツブリなどを見ることができました。

A male Ring-necked Duck. I never expected to see a North American duck in Aichi Prefecture. The bird was about 200 metres away, though…

3羽いたメジロガモは1羽のみ確認。同じ池にオカヨシガモ、ハシビロガモ、ヒドリガモ、コガモ、カルガモなど。田んぼにはアカツクシガモやマガン、ヒシクイがいたりいなかったり。田んぼにいないときはどこに行っているんだろうか?

Female juvenile Ferruginous Duck.

12月5日から3日間滞在した後、行方不明になっていたアカツクシガモ がもどってきました。どこへ行っていたのでしょうね?

沈砂池にはメジロガモのオスとメスが逗留中。両方とも幼鳥です。

八重山はカモは少なめなのですが、それでもオナガガモやハシビロガモ、ヒドリガモ、コガモ、オカヨシガモなどが観察できます。カイツブリは石垣島で繁殖していのですが、冬になると越冬個体がやってきて一気に増えます。

ヨシゴイ、タシギ、ノビタキも観察できました。

The adult female Ruddy Shelduck back again in the same paddy field.

ソリハシセイタカシギはたまにいなくなりますが、1日もすれば元の田んぼに戻ってきます。この場所がよほど気に入ったようです。

メジロがもはメス幼鳥に加えてオスもやってきました。

ベニバトは複数個所に5羽を確認。今季の2期米は飼料用なので刈り取りが遅く、ベニバトが稲の中に入ってしまうと確認が難しいです。

クロツラヘラサギ、オオハシシギ、オグロシギは同じ田んぼで滞在中。どれも長期滞在ですが、オオハシシギの換羽の推移が特に気になりますね。

Pied Avocet, first-winter. Wary of a passing pedestrian.

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.

先日の個体 に続き、今季2羽目となるソリハシセイタカシギが飛来しました。オオハシシギとヒドリガモは今季初確認となりました。

今季2個体目のオグロシギも確認。田んぼにはアオアシシギやセイタカシギ、タカブシギ、タシギ、ハマシギ、クロハラアジサシなどが滞在中です。

A first-winter Pied Avocet, less wary than the individual from the other day.

シベリアハクセキレイ、タイワンハクセキレイ、ホオジロハクセキレイのハクセキレイ3亜種そろい踏みです。 先日のシベリアハクセキレイ に続き、今季2個体目。

今季は飽きるほど見ているベニバトですが、 先日見つけたいい感じに換羽中の個体 に続き、オスの幼羽から第1回冬羽へ移行中個体だったので押さえました。^^

カモも増えてきていますが今季は珍しいのはまだのようです。

First-winter White Wagtail with a beautiful bluish-grey back and grey rump — the Siberian form.