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.
I squeezed in some birdwatching alongside a work trip to Yonaguni Island. Strong winds and occasional rain kept migrant numbers low.
Even so, there was a spring feel to it: Common Hoopoe, a flock of several dozen male White Wagtails, a group of around 30 Red-throated Pipits, and large flocks of Eastern Yellow Wagtail.
A Eurasian Hoopoe near the northern coast. It was foraging in light rain.
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.
December was hectic with repeated work trips and preparations for Omoto526, a single-unit rental guesthouse opening very soon, so I barely managed to get out birding at all.
Instead, a Crested Serpent Eagle, a Common Kestrel and Olive-backed Pipits have started turning up in our garden. A Black-winged Kite appears morning and evening.
I'd like to take things more slowly and do some proper birdwatching next year — though who knows how that will go… ^^;
A Red-throated Pipit with a short tail. There were also several Citrine Wagtails in the same condition. Perhaps they were grabbed by the Eurasian Sparrowhawk that has been holding territory over this paddy.
A Greater White-fronted Goose has been present for several days now, but for some reason the guide is apparently calling it a Greylag Goose. To me it is clearly a juvenile Greater White-fronted Goose… ^^; A juvenile Tundra Swan has also arrived on its own. On Iriomote, two Tundra Swans and a Siberian Crane are staying as well.
Multiple Pied Avocets have turned up across the island. That day I tallied six birds in total — a group of four and singles at two separate locations. In the paddies, Northern Lapwings, Pacific Golden Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Little Ringed Plovers, Common Greenshanks, Common Redshanks, Wood Sandpipers, Dunlins, Common Sandpipers, Green Sandpipers and Black-winged Stilts are all wintering.
This season I had already confirmed the subspecies leucopsis and ocularis White Wagtails, but this day I was finally able to see the subspecies alba White Wagtail. That is pretty much how it goes every year.
A juvenile Greater White-fronted Goose. Why does it get misidentified as a Greylag Goose?
The Chinese Blackbird, harbinger of spring on Ishigaki, has arrived. I heard its call nearby as well, so it seems multiple birds are staying. Brown-headed Thrush, Pale Thrush, and Dusky Thrush migration also appears to be approaching its peak — small flocks can be found in patches of grassland in coastal settlements and similar spots.
I heard a Hooded Crane was staying in the north of the island, so I went to have a look. It seemed to favour a field prepared for sugarcane planting, with a pineapple plantation as a backdrop.
Cinnamon Bittern and Purple Heron are also full of vitality with the feel of spring in the air.
A Common Blackbird turned up in a good patch of habitat. Looks like it may stay a while.
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 Common Hoopoes on Ishigaki are rivalling the banner year of 2015 in numbers. In 2019, when I was posted to Okinawa main island, an exceptionally large influx of Common Hoopoes arrived as well. This year too, I'm guaranteed to encounter Common Hoopoes somewhere every single day. Every bird is remarkably tame and easy to watch. On this day they were confirmed across the southern, western and northern parts of Ishigaki.
Two Chinese Blackbirds are still present. These individuals are also quite unwary, making for relaxed photography. ^^ I've now found their feeding spot, so they should be even easier to see from here on.
I recorded Black-winged Kite in the northern part of Ishigaki for the first time. Breeding behaviour was first confirmed on the island in 2016, fledglings left the nest in 2017, and in the roughly seven years since, the species has spread across the entire island. There's a real possibility it could expand further to Miyako-jima and Okinawa main island in the future.
White Wagtails of the leucopsis subspecies are present in flocks of up to 50, and almost every White Wagtail I see anywhere on the island is of this subspecies — finding a nominate-type bird is the harder task. Good numbers of returning Red-throated Pipits are also arriving. Little Ringed Plovers are foraging alongside them.
I didn't bother photographing them, but White-shouldered Starling, Red-billed Starling, Common Starling and Eastern Yellow Wagtail are also around.
Five groups of birding acquaintances from the mainland are visiting the island this month — if things continue like this, they're in for a great trip. ^^
A Eurasian Hoopoe spotted in the grass. As usual, it was feeding on cockroaches.
Eastern Yellow Wagtails and Red-throated Pipits briefly increased in number, but they are now declining. Numbers are considerably lower than in a typical year.
White Wagtail (leucopsis), female, first-winter plumage.
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.
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."
The dark-morph Grey-faced Buzzard that has been overwintering on Ishigaki Island every year since 2018 has returned again this year. It was a juvenile in the first year, so it is now 5 years old. It has been gradually becoming less wary, and this year I was able to observe it at quite close range.
The Black-winged Kite first appeared on Ishigaki Island in 2015 and has been breeding steadily ever since, to the point where it can now be seen all over the island — and it has finally moved into town as well. On this day I confirmed two birds flying together over the MaxValu in Maesato. I also frequently see them foraging on the wasteland to the east of Ishigaki City Hall.
A Black Baza wintering on Ishigaki Island. This marks its fifth year visiting. It typically stays until around March.
Found the first Pectoral Sandpiper of the season. Red-throated Pipits are also increasing but still difficult to photograph.
Garganey seem numerous this season — they are being recorded in paddies all over the area.
A strong north wind, almost typhoon-like, was blowing, and Barn Swallows had come down to rest on the farm tracks.
First Pectoral Sandpiper of the season — a juvenile.
田んぼで見つけた小鳥たち。ヒバリ、タヒバリ、ハクセキレイ、カワラヒワは多く、ホオジロとホオアカは1羽ずつ確認できました。
Eurasian Skylarks singing high overhead were conspicuous too, but this individual was walking around on the ground.
昨年の秋から今年にかけてオス3羽、メス1羽を確認したヨシガモ。シーズンで4羽も見るのは、沖縄ではかなり珍しいです。オカヨシガモのメス4羽と行動を共にしていました。
タシギは越冬組に渡り組が加わり多少賑やかになってきましたが、タシギ以外のジシギの確認はまだです。
繁殖シーズンに入っているタマシギが数日間、同じ草むらの中にいます。巣作り中なのでしょうか。
ズグルミゾゴイも繁殖シーズン到来で婚姻色が出だしています。
ハクセキレイも移動が活発で、20羽程度の群れをいくつか見ました。ホオジロハクセキレイも混じっています。
ツグミも増えたり減ったりで入れ替わりが激しい模様。春の渡りが始まっているようです。
水の張られた田んぼにはセイタカシギやアマサギ、アオサギが飛来していました。こちらも春の渡りの最中だと思われます。
A male Falcated Duck. Mid-moult from juvenile to first breeding plumage.
林道でズグロミゾゴイの幼鳥に遭遇。座って見ているとこちらへ寄ってきて2メートルほど横を通り過ぎました。ズグロミゾゴイは警戒心の弱い個体が多いです。
越冬中のクイナに最近、よく会います。この日は、バンやタシギの群れていました。
田んぼにはムネアカタヒバリ、コホオアカ、ハクセキレイなどが多くいます。シベリアジュリン、ノゴマ、ミヤマホオジロ、キマユホオジロも滞在中ですが藪の中にいて姿を見るには、なかなか根気が入ります。
ツグミが再び増えてきました。シロハラ、アカハラ、トラツグミもいますが、こちらも根気がないと写真には収められませんね。^^;
A juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. It shows so little wariness that I worry about feral cat predation.
何度か確認していてもなかなか写真に撮れないヒメクイナの写真がやっと撮れました。
石垣島では少ないツルシギは今季初確認。オジロトウネン、ヒバリシギ、オオハシシギ、メダイチドリ、シロチドリなどは元気に滞在中。
Little Crake, juvenile.
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.