The final cut

A female Black Faced Bunting this afternoon................


Well they were cutting doen trees on the last ssection of river where they remain. There used to be a lot of trees along the river that sheltered many birds, both breeders and passage vistors. In a few days there will be just stumps, discarded logs and the usual litter that local people dump there ( I saw a mattress today for example).

I feel a bit down about it, I saw a lot of good birds in those trees and the city chopping them down seems so utterly pointless. The irony is that just a couple of hundred meteres away hordes of Japanese people were visiting the park going weak kneed at the sight of small manicured cherry blossom trees whilst these trees by the river were being cut down.................

There was a female Red Flanked Bluetail and a male Japanese Thrush in the few trees waiting to be removed........................

This Black Faced Bunting was in Goryokaku Park.............this is probably the commonest spring migrant but is a bit of a skulker. Males look nicer of course

The cherry blossoms are out very early this year, well before the influx of suumer visitors............