There was a flock (herd?) of swans in the fields near Oshamanbe on Sunday...............
They were obviously resting on their way north....................
All bar one were Whooper Swans.................the common wintering Swan in northern Japan.
I was hoping the flock would include some geese (I'd seen a flyover White Fronted Goose earlier) but no luck.
There was however one Bewicks Swan...................
This is generally rare in Hokkaido and I usually only see them in spring or autumn flying high in the sky.
I'd spent a frustrating 2 or 3 hours in one of the nearby ports trying to photograph the Long Tailed Ducks. It was perfect light but they just refused to come close. All photos cropped, even though they were already at 700mm on a crop camera.
There were 3 males and one female.
The usual winter ducks and gulls were present: here's a male Black Scoter.
Hello Stuart!:) You did well with the shots of the very pretty Long Tailed Duck.
ReplyDeleteThanks, my arms are still sore after handholding the big lens for several hours though..................
DeleteI'm happy to see either white swan in Japan. It was a thrill for me the first time, as we don't have them in oz. I do like the long tailed ducks as well.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same about seeing the the black ones for the first time.................
DeleteAll of our whoopers suddenly cleared off without even saying "adios".Now I'm not seeing any and certainly not any Long-tailed Ducks like that.
ReplyDeleteOur Whoopers stick around until early April usually (and a handful remain in summer sometimes) but unlike yours our Whoopers don't speak Spanish!
DeleteThe Long-tailed Duck are just splendid - a pity they don't want be famous !
ReplyDeleteI know, they aren't even shy. They just don't play ball.
Delete