A very springlike day in south Hokkaido this Sunday.................
Near Onuma some geese and swans were taking a break on their way north..................
The majority of birds were Whooper Swans................
And there were a few Bewicks Swans too...............
And a small flock of White Fronted Geese...................
Not much else around today. The first singing Skylark of the year at various locales, the usual common wildfowl and gulls on the coast, the usual tits and woodpeckers at Onuma.
Smew: the shyest duck species. It's official. I have one good picture in 10 years, today I couldn't add a second.
Lovely variety today but that last shot is superb.
ReplyDeleteWell at least the splash is in focus!
DeleteGreat post Stuart, Geese do it for me anyway, but these images are very atmospheric..... and a Smew at the last too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Dave..............
DeleteI like the action shot of the Smew, however I didn't like the action shot of Stevie G when the red mist decended. :-(
ReplyDeleteActually I missed the actual incident and turned the TV off after the second goal.
DeleteThe last year or so has been awful watching sports: starting with losing the Ashes 5-0, England's first round exits at both football and cricket world cups, Liverpool fluffing the title away last year...........one disaster after another. I wonder what'll be next?
The best birds always seem to be shy and the Smew is obviously no exception.
ReplyDeleteAs for sports, Steve G. what were you thinking ?
There's nothing big this summer we can do badly at, is there ? Oh, The Ashes - well...
It might rain a bit in England so at least it won't be 5-0 again.
DeleteIf I had a wish list of the birds I most wanted to see a male Smew would be high in the ranking.
ReplyDeleteHi David, I'll swap you one of our Smew for a Snowy Owl.............
DeleteI'd love to see a smew! Apparently there are tame ones in a park in London, might be worth cheating :)
ReplyDeleteI saw one on Rivington reservoir once....................
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