2018 Best Of #6

Some of the little birds from early summer.............

A couple of Phylloscopidae

There were 2 species of leaf warbler visiting the pool....................

A Late Spring Trip #6

There were several warbler species at the forest pool.................

Arctic Warblers

There were lots of Arctic Warblers at our campsite a few days ago...................

Lull #2

A pretty quiet week, not much to write up plus I was feeling a bit lazy. A bit repetitive, apologies for that.

Migrants continue to pass through, the above Asian Brown Flycatcher was sharing a tree with this Grey Streaked Flycatcher.

I've been checking the grass and bushes for Siberian Rubythroats but didn't find any alas. I did find a few Arctic Warblers.

The first Dusky Thrush of the season, Narcissus Flycatcher, lots of Bullheaded Shrike and a build up in duck numbers show that the season is changing although the leaves haven't really started to change colour in Hakodate yet.

We went to Onuma this afternoon, a grey rainy day much too dark for photos. I did see a Black Woodpecker and lots of Japanese Thrushes in the thinning forest, the leaves are falling here at least.

The Night Herons are still around.

This young one provided nice views from a bridge just near my flat..........

The adults were harder to photograph as always.

There were a few BIF opportunities including Grey Heron too.

Liverpool's plight is turning into a huge joke now, if they get that 9 point penalty they'll be facing a relegation dogfight for christ's sake.

Thanks for clicking this link..........

Autumn begins.

A beautiful clear autumnal day again in south Hokkaido, the Night Herons appear to have mostly relocated downstream.

There were also loads of Arctic Warblers. Their buzzing calls were everywhere along the river......

Unfortunately they were hanging around in a dark shady area meaning crappy photos..........

Bird of the day was a briefly seen Siberian Rubythroat which was attacked by a Bullheaded Shrike and disappeared before I even had my camera out.

Lots of Asian Brown Flycatchers again yesterday............

The top one kind of looked like a Sooty but the bill is too long and the wings appear to be too short.

I'm determined to photograph (or at least find) a Sooty Flycatcher this autumn although time may be running out.

I had a trip to the dentist this morning. A small part of one of my teeth separated from a filling fell out earlier this month. The dentist took a look and said I had 2 options. He could polish it up and leave it be for a while (ie indefinitely) or completely rip out the filling and replace it. Let me see, I thought. I could take the first option (no pain, cheap and quick) or the second (pain, multiple trips to the dentist and loads of money). Well duh. Polish and be damned I said.

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One of three Black Crowned Night Herons on the river near my flat this afternoon.

This one appears to have some kind of dragonfly parasite.

The migrants continue to pass through. Here's a crappy shot of an Arctic Warbler. I find warblers as tricky as flycatchers to ID but at least Arctics have a very distinctive buzzing call.

Still no Sooty Flycatchers, here's yet another Asian Brown.

A female Japanese Thrush was skulking in the bushes too but I couldn't get a photo.

Yesterday was my 41st birthday. It was a beautiful day and the start of a 4 day holiday in japan meaning the only northbound route out of Hakodate had huge traffic jams (something that hardly ever happens in this relatively empty corner of Japan).

Despite the glorious weather I didn't see a single bird of interest so here's a view from near Onuma.

The construction outside my window has entered its 12th week (and they do it 7 days a week don't forget), they're now digging up the car park in front of our apartment very very very very very noisily. Bastards.

I watched the Manc derby last night, very exciting stuff although the worst possible result. Liverpool's defence looks terrible, I hope they can hang on for a top 4 finish.