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

I went back to my home prefecture for the children's summer holidays. I took the chance to look for Latham's Snipe but drew a complete blank. Still, I got to see Japanese Wagtail, Eurasian Skylark, Grey-headed Lapwing, and Black Kite — birds not found on Ishigaki — so I can't complain.

Heard that distinctive call and went looking — found two Japanese Wagtails on a distant greenhouse. There are a handful of records for Okinawa Island, but none yet for Ishigaki.

Warm days have continued, and I can now hear Ryukyu Flycatchers singing as I drive the forest roads. Common Emerald Doves are calling too. I also confirmed a Ruddy Kingfisher calling from my house — earlier than usual, possibly due to the mild winter.

Crested Serpent Eagles are in the early stages of the breeding season; wherever I go — rice paddies, sugarcane fields, forest roads — I find them in pairs.

Eastern Yellow Wagtails look set to finish the season without ever reaching their peak wintering numbers. Could this also be a mild-winter effect, with fewer flocks moving south from the continent?

Ryukyu Flycatcher heading into second-summer plumage.

1カ月ほど前に名蔵で確認されていたと思われるトビが大里にいました。 石垣島ではほとんど観察されず、ヤツガシラよりも見つけるのはかなり困難。^^;

近くの田んぼには、フラッグと足環のついたコチドリがいました。

It circled round and round, then drifted away toward Sokohara Dam.

鶴居村、阿寒町でタンチョウ。

It was bitterly cold….