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

Javan Pond Heron have increased, with 4 birds confirmed at 3 sites. They seem to be turning up steadily on Okinawa Island too, and have become a fixture of this time of year. I recorded the first juveniles of the season for Black-winged Stilt, Long-toed Stint, Wood Sandpiper, and Marsh Sandpiper. Both the variety and numbers of juveniles are growing day by day.

Two Javan Pond Herons. Not particularly wary — easy to observe.

Pin-tailed Snipe and Swinhoe's Snipe have finally arrived on Ishigaki Island. Juveniles should start coming in from here, and numbers are expected to keep climbing toward the peak in late August to early September. Something to look forward to.

The 5th Ishigaki Island Snipe Camp currently has one person signed up. There is room for one or two more, so if you feel like enduring the ordeal, please get in touch. ^^ You are also welcome to browse the past Ishigaki Island Snipe Camp reports.

Found an adult Pin-tailed Snipe among three snipe. We pulled the car up close, waited until their wariness eased, then began watching.

I visited Aichi Prefecture for an away Snipe Camp. Taking the shinkansen from Nagoya Station, I arrived in Toyohashi. On the first day, two powerful local helpers supported me, and I was finally able to observe the long-awaited Latham's Snipe — both adults and juveniles!!

On the second day I headed alone to Aisai City to search for Latham's Snipe. The lotus fields were thick with leaves and looked hard to work, so I covered the nearby paddy areas instead. Of four birds found, one could be observed well. On the third day I returned to the same spot and photographed one bird.

Wood Sandpiper, Greater Painted-snipe, and Little Ringed Plover were also present, though their numbers were overwhelmingly fewer than on Ishigaki Island.

I am now a little better prepared for the one-in-a-million chance of encountering Latham's Snipe on Ishigaki Island. ^^

An adult Latham's Snipe. I had a good, fairly close look at it.

On Ishigaki Island, the autumn wader passage is growing more active by the day, with both species and numbers on the rise.

In the paddies I recorded the first Curlew Sandpiper, Dunlin, and Long-toed Stint of the season. Little Ringed Plover juveniles have also arrived. Wood Sandpiper can be seen in flocks of several dozen birds across various paddy areas around the island. Common Greenshank are also passing through in good numbers. Four Whiskered Tern — the first of the season — had arrived as well.

The first Curlew Sandpiper of the season.

The Javan Pond Heron has arrived. Over the past ten years or so it has become a regular sight on Ishigaki Island and Okinawa Island. In recent years the pattern has become standard: Javan Pond Herons arrive first, followed by Chinese Pond Herons.

A Javan Pond Heron appearing alone. It was catching tadpoles and insects in the rice paddies.

Common Emerald Doves are approaching the end of the breeding season, and encounters are becoming more frequent. Northern Boobooks, Ryukyu Scops Owls, and Ruddy Kingfishers are fledging one after another.

I recorded my first Cinnamon Bittern and Purple Heron of the season, along with a juvenile Little Egret.

A Emerald Dove near home. A few juvenile feathers remain. Perhaps a second-calendar-year female.

The wader migration has started on Ishigaki Island. Along the coast, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Terek Sandpipers, Eurasian Whimbrels, and Greater Sand Plovers have appeared, while the paddyfields have received Common Greenshanks, Black-winged Stilts, Wood Sandpipers, Long-toed Stints, and Little Ringed Plovers. Numbers and species will keep building from here. With any luck, the snipe we have all been waiting for will show up in late August.

As the tide came close to high, Grey-tailed Tattlers and Terek Sandpipers gathered on the coastal rocks.

Breeding is progressing steadily for Ruddy Kingfisher, Ryukyu Scops Owl, Northern Boobook, and Japanese Sparrowhawk alike.

Two pairs of Ruddy Kingfishers breeding near home. This season's nests are out of sight from the house, so I can't tell exactly how things are going, but since they're carrying food I assume all is well.

The Oriental Pratincole colony was ploughed up, but birds that were already flying apparently managed to escape. A few pairs were still carrying food to chicks.

The Japanese Sparrowhawk breeding is also going well, and chicks were confirmed at one nest. The Common Emerald Doves are probably getting along fine too. The local Ruddy Kingfisher was seen carrying a large cicada, and I assumed it was for large chicks — but it ate the cicada itself. Some nests have already hatched, and on hot days the chicks poke their heads out.

A Collared Pratincole chick that cannot yet fly, being fed by one of the parents.

A check on breeding Ryukyu Scops Owls, Northern Boobooks, Ruddy Kingfishers, and Black-naped Terns in a different area of Ishigaki Island from last time. Everything appears to be progressing well.

The female is incubating, the male standing watch — a pair of Ryukyu Scops Owls. They took over the tree hollow where a Brown Hawk-Owl had nested last year… ^^;

Migratory birds have all but disappeared from Ishigaki Island, but breeding by the Ruddy Kingfishers, Northern Boobooks, and Oriental Pratincoles seems to be going smoothly. Black-naped Terns have also arrived and are beginning to form colonies on the rocky reefs.

As every year, I worry about the effect of typhoons, but I hope the breeding season ends in success. ^^

A Ruddy Kingfisher in the shade of a tree at a ranch. After taking prey, it flew right over my head and off into the forest.

We made a family trip to Iriomote Island for one night and two days to take part in a University of the Ryukyus public lecture on making insect specimens.

At this time of year the fruits of the Macaranga tree ripen and fall, drawing Common Emerald Doves to the roadsides. Numbers are especially high on Iriomote — a short drive along the prefectural road is enough to turn up about ten birds. There were also Crested Serpent Eagles perched on utility poles, and I heard plenty of Black Paradise Flycatchers and Ryukyu Flycatchers calling.

After dark we drove around looking for Iriomote Cats. The kids were thrilled by the Coconut Crabs, Sakishima Green Snakes, Sakishima Rat Snakes, Sakishima Striped Snakes, and Ryukyu Wild Boar we came across. We did eventually spot an Iriomote Cat — but by then it was already 11 p.m. and the children had fallen asleep in the back seat...

A male Emerald Dove. It was eating fallen Macaranga fruit on the footpath.

Breeding is going well for the Ryukyu quartet: Ryukyu Scops Owl, Northern Boobook, Ruddy Kingfisher, and Black Paradise Flycatcher. Temperatures on Ishigaki Island have not been rising this season and insect activity has been sluggish, so I am a little worried about the effect this may have on chick-rearing.

I found a Ryukyu Scops Owl sitting motionless in the forest in the rain. A Brown Hawk-Owl was incubating right nearby. I wonder if there's no conflict between them.

The first Black-naped Terns of the season have arrived. I have been seeing them on the ferry route since last month, but toward late May they appear on coastal reefs to breed. Almost all of the birds are already paired up.

Ruddy Kingfishers seem to be particularly numerous this season. Nest-building has begun in all sorts of places, though I do wonder whether there are enough nest holes to go round.

A few Bridled Terns arrived. They have been seen on the ferry route since last month, and pairs already seem to have formed.

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 Black Drongo arrived again this season to coincide with Golden Week. On Ishigaki Island it usually turns up around this time in spring. It perched on branch tips and caught dragonflies and horseflies in the air.

I also observed Ruddy Kingfisher, Crested Serpent Eagle, and Chinese Pond Heron, among others.

A Black Drongo perched at the tip of a thin branch, waiting for prey.

Black Paradise Flycatcher numbers have been increasing. I keep coming across pairs of Ruddy Kingfishers hard at work nest-building. Some Northern Boobooks have already paired up, showing that breeding is underway. An individual that appears to be a Gray-faced Buzzard was also found.

A Japanese Paradise Flycatcher pair moving around together. They will probably build a nest somewhere in this area.

A second Chinese Egret for the season flew in to the river mouth. Three Black-faced Spoonbills are also staying nearby. I counted five Cinnamon Bitterns, which are active at the start of their breeding season. In the rice paddies there were Eurasian Teal and Northern Shoveler that had been left behind by the northward migration.

The second Chinese Egret of the season. It was showing its familiar behaviour of chasing fish at the water's edge.

With shorebirds on the increase, I spent the entire day searching for waders. The result: starting with Asian Dowitcher, I recorded Pectoral Sandpiper, Little Stint, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper, Pin-tailed Snipe, Greater Sand Plover, and more — 21 species of waders in total. Seeing this many species in a single day is one of the great pleasures of this time of year. ^^

A Bar-tailed Godwit in summer plumage that suddenly dropped in alongside Black-winged Stilts and Black-tailed Godwits near the end of a shorebird search. Looking sharp in that summer plumage.

The pair of Ruddy Kingfishers that visits near my home has returned to breed again this year. They have already begun excavating a nest hole, so I am hoping for another successful breeding season. Last year three chicks fledged safely.

A male Ryukyu Ruddy Kingfisher. Its bill has wood chips on it from digging out a nest hole.