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

I had a work trip to Yonaguni Island, so I did some birdwatching in my free time. I got bird information from someone staying long-term on Yonaguni, but it seems I arrived right in the gap between waves — the birds typical of Yonaguni had already moved through. I did manage to see a Blue Rock Thrush that had been present for about three weeks. ^^

An adult male Blue Rock Thrush. It has been staying for quite a long time — about three weeks at this point.

I made my third trip to Yonaguni Island this month. Small passerines were the main attraction: White Wagtail, Eastern Yellow Wagtail, Little Bunting, Daurian Redstart, and Brown Shrike among others.

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

The third Common Hoopoe of the season has arrived, following last week's bird. This individual showed no wariness at all — when a car passed nearby it flew off only a short distance. Reports of arrivals have also come in from other islands, and it looks like this is a good year for Common Hoopoe.

Temperatures are rising and spring migration is beginning. A mixed flock of Taiwan Wagtail, White Wagtail, and White Wagtail arrived in the rice paddies.

Among the waders, wintering birds — Common Snipe, Common Redshank, and Wood Sandpiper — have been joined by northbound migrants, making things a little livelier.

Resident birds — Crested Serpent Eagle, Purple Heron, and Cinnamon Bittern — were all active in the run-up to the breeding season.

Discovered what is the third Eurasian Hoopoe of the season on Ishigaki Island.

A Hen Harrier was hunting right in front of me. I could not tell what it was after, but startled Common Pheasants kept flushing repeatedly and the harrier did not seem to catch anything… ^^; My daughter, who was watching with me, was thrilled — when the Hen Harrier banked sharply she could actually hear the wind cutting through its wings. ^^

In the channels there were wintering Black-faced Spoonbills, in the paddies several Chinese Pond Herons, and we had Saunders's Gulls and Black-headed Gulls flying together — all in all a fun day of birdwatching for the kids.

A Hen Harrier quartering the rice paddies in search of prey.

This breaks the latest date record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki Island by a full month!!

I found it among a small flock of Common Snipe. It was not a typical Pin-tailed Snipe individual, and at first I wavered between that and Swinhoe's Snipe, but after watching for a while I became certain it was Pin-tailed. I stuck it out for about an hour and managed to get photos of the tail feathers as documentary evidence.

It is an exceptionally Swinhoe's-like individual, which makes it all the more interesting. This is definitely a Pin-tailed Snipe I won't forget in a hurry. ^^

The previous late record for Pin-tailed Snipe on Ishigaki was an adult on 18 October, so this is a substantial update to the record. ^^

Incidentally, the earliest record is a juvenile in late February. That individual may well have been wintering, though.

Pin-tailed Snipe, first-winter plumage.

A work trip to Yonaguni Island gave me a little time for birding. I had hoped for rarities like the Chestnut-winged Cuckoo and Grey-faced Buzzard from the previous year, but it didn't quite work out that way. Even so, I got to see a flock of Eurasian Siskins — a species you rarely encounter on Ishigaki — so it was an enjoyable trip.

My first Naumann's Thrush of the season turned out to be on Yonaguni Island.

I did some birdwatching during free time on a work trip to Yonaguni Island.

The timing was good — in a short while I was able to see Oriental Plover, Black Redstart, Citrine Wagtail, Common Hoopoe, Pin-tailed Snipe, and Swinhoe's Snipe. It was all thanks to the senior birders staying on the island!!

Seven Large Sand Plovers arrived early in the morning at the go-to spot on Yonaguni Island. I got the message while I was at work, so I was fidgeting.

I tracked down the second-ever Ring-necked Duck for Okinawa Prefecture among a flock of 600 Tufted Ducks. The distance was over 200 metres and branches and leaves limited the view, but after searching for about an hour I managed to find it. Once I knew which area it was floating in, I didn't lose it again and was able to watch it for over an hour.

Ring-necked Duck, male breeding plumage. Following a record on Miyako Island in 2023, this became the second record in the prefecture — a valuable sighting.

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.

A bonus from the 2nd Ishigaki Snipe Camp: a Citrine Wagtail turned up — and a strikingly beautiful adult male in summer plumage at that. Juveniles appear every year, but adults are uncommon, so this was a real treat.

It was associating with a flock of Taiwan White Wagtails and Grey Wagtails, though it seemed the Grey Wagtails and the Citrine Wagtail didn't get on — I watched the Citrine Wagtail get chased off several times.

The main post from this snipe camp features large numbers of Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe, so please have a look at that too. The 3rd session is planned for late August. In autumn both Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe are present in good numbers, and it's great fun watching juveniles alongside adults and comparing moult stages between the two species.

A male Citrine Wagtail in breeding plumage. That vivid yellow is stunning.

Olive-backed Pipits have been wintering at several sites since last year, but they are hard to photograph. This day I found them by call — six birds had come down onto a lawn. Among the many small birds that dart around constantly, the Olive-backed Pipit's unhurried movements are a real pleasure to watch.

Nearby was a Dusky Thrush. This winter Dusky Thrushes, Pale Thrushes, and Brown-headed Thrushes have all been very scarce. Driving the forest roads I can hear them calling from the undergrowth, but almost none are coming out onto farmland. Some winters are full of Naumann's Thrushes, but there seems to be a year-to-year cycle driven by something or other.

In the rice paddies, flocks of several dozen Eastern Yellow Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits. Among a group of around fifteen White Wagtails there was also a leucopsis White Wagtail. This season leucopsis birds are scarce and ocularis birds are plentiful.

Temminck's Stints, Common Greenshanks, Wood Sandpipers, and Little Ringed Plovers are also present here and there.

A Tree Pipit I finally managed to photograph. There are several around my house, but they are so wary I haven't been able to get a shot.

Little Buntings are wintering here, but they bury themselves in the grass and are hard to photograph. Their call notes can be heard everywhere.

Red-throated Pipits also tend to stay hidden, but this flock came out into open ground and was easy to observe. The birds were in various stages of moult, which made for a good mix.

Wagtails included White Wagtail, Taiwanese White Wagtail, Eastern Yellow Wagtail and Grey Wagtail all together.

A fair number of Little Buntings are wintering in the rice paddies on the island, but they're difficult to photograph.

Within a mixed flock of around 100 White Wagtails, Eastern Yellow Wagtails, and Red-throated Pipits, I found one individual that stood out from the rest.

Aside from being at a different stage of moult compared with the surrounding (Blyth's) Eastern Yellow Wagtails, the bird's bright blue-grey head, broad and long supercilium, white below the eye, and white throat suggest it could be Western Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla flava beema ) or Russian Yellow Wagtail ( Motacilla flava flava ).

Incidentally, some taxonomic treatments regard Western Yellow Wagtail as a species separate from Eastern Yellow Wagtail, in which case Russian Yellow Wagtail would be a subspecies of Western Yellow Wagtail.

However, since this individual is in first-winter plumage, moult will need to progress a bit further before anything conclusive can be said. Picking out a bird like this from within a huge wagtail flock is its own kind of fun.

Within the White Wagtail flock, alongside the White Wagtails proper, there were also Taiwanese White Wagtails and White-faced White Wagtails.

An individual that looks distinctly odd — probably a Western Yellow Wagtail or an Eastern Yellow Wagtail. That said, there are cases where first-winter Citrine Wagtails moulting into summer plumage also show white below the eye.

Wishing everyone a happy new year.

The new year got off to a rough start — the entire family came down with COVID-19 right at the beginning of the holidays. We couldn't go anywhere, and I spent the time in bed until the 8th. ^^

My first birding of the year was on the 9th. Overwintering since last year: Common Crane, Ruddy Shelduck, Common Shelduck, Tundra Swan, Korean Kestrel, Grey-faced Buzzard, Eastern Marsh Harrier, Hen Harrier, thrushes, wagtails, Amur Stonechat, Chinese Pond Heron, and four species of starling.

For New Year's, you can't leave out a juvenile Crested Serpent Eagle — the bird celebrated in the Okinawan song "Washi nu Tui-bushi."

1時間ほどの隙間時間でキガシラセキレイ、タイワンハクセキレイ、ツメナガセキレイを確認できました。2日ほど前から悪天候が続いており、さまざまな鳥が渡りの途中に石垣島に舞い降りている感じです。

Citrine Wagtail moulting from first-winter to summer plumage. The following day, another individual was found at the same spot.

先日からのメジロガモのオスとメスは滞在中。オナガガモも数羽入っていました。

ベニバトも各所で確認。例年なら稲刈りはとっくに終わっているのですが、今季から多くの農家が新型コロナの影響で食用米を飼料用米に転換した影響で田んぼにはまだ稲があります。ベニバトが稲の中にはいってしまい探しづらい状況です。

タイワンハクセキレイを複数羽確認。すべて幼鳥でした。

ジャワアカガシラサギとアカガシラサギは同じ田んぼに長逗留中。サンカノゴイも入りましたが、タイミングが悪く、見ることはかないませんでした。

Ferruginous Duck, juvenile male.

Pied Avocet in the rice fields.

小学生の野鳥観察会の取材をしたついでに鳥見。

カンムリワシ、サシバ、ウミネコの飛翔と愛想のいいアカガシラサギやタイワンハクセキレイ、沖縄では珍しいマガモ、越冬シマアカモズ、アカハラなど見られました。^^

An adult female Grey-faced Buzzard flying over farmland.

ハクセキレイ数十羽のうち、3分の1ほどがホオジロハクセキレイでした。その中にタイワンハクセキレイが2羽。ツメナガセキレイやキセキレイ、ムネアカタヒバリ、ヒバリなども合わせて相当数が群れを形成しています。日々、増減があるので入れ替わりもあるようです。

Eastern Yellow Wagtail, first-winter plumage.

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.