Autumn continues..............

We are in the middle of a beautiful spell of autumn weather..................

Some more early April birds.........

We were out west on Monday.................

Pit Stops

The local fields had some visitors taking a short rest...............

A grey Sunday in late autumn

A Eurasian Starling to the north of town this morning..............

On this day (April 4th)..........................

April 4th 2013.

Some Bewicks Swan on one of the local rivers 4 years ago today.

This is a regular passage visitor but it took me a long time to see one (or more accurately to ID them) as they are usually flying high in the sky on their way north or south. There don't appear to be any wintering flocks in Hokkaido so it was nice to see some on the ground for a change.............

2015 Best of #2

Some more shots from the early part of 2015.......................

Some strays...................

We were out in Sawara and Shikabe this afternoon........................

To those who remain................

Most of the winter wildfowl has left by now.............

A spring afternoon in Onuma

A beautiful spring afternoon saw us in Onuma for a couple of hours.......................

Redpolls up close

There were yet more Redpolls in Oshamanbe................

Geese etc

A very springlike day in south Hokkaido this Sunday.................

Some winter wildfowl.............

There was a flock (herd?) of swans in the fields near Oshamanbe on Sunday...............

A short autumnal trip

A Black Legged Kittiwake, one of 7 Gull species at Yakumo this afternoon at end of a short trip away...........

In Limbo

A Kingfisher at Yakumo this morning.

I'm in limbo, waiting for my new lens to come. I was thinking how much better these shots would have been.

Slightly pathetic I know.

But 700mm at f5.6 would mean a lot less cropping, or 500mm at f4 would mean a lower ISO. I have to use my 100-400L at f8 to get acceptable images most of the time.

Let's hope they stick around then.

There were loads of skuas offshore, no doubt blown in on the strong easterly wind. Most of them were Pomarine Skua (I think, any comments appreciated re the ID). Here are a few to give you an idea, still too far for a decent shot with my current lerns (c'mon Kojima and Canon, hurry up, hurry up!).

I think there may have been some Arctic and Long tailed Skuas among them but I am terrible at skua ID. Is this one an Arctic?

I put some (even worse) photos on birdforum for help with ID.

Lots of other stuff on the move. In Onuma this morning there were thrushes, buntings and Japanese Grosbeaks aplenty. A Greenshank was a surprise (I don't see many waders there).

 At Yakumo there were the first swnas of the winter, 5 Bewicks Swan. Here are 4 of them...............

There were also Scaup, Wigeon and Black Necked Grebe. And growing numbers of Black Legged Kittiwake both at Yakumo and Sawara.

Other stuff around included Japanese Green Pigeon, Peregrine, Osprey and Great Egret.

Rather quiet in Hakodate. This young Goshawk was in Ono yesterday.

Not much passing through except large numbers of Skylark.

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Bewicks Swan

A Bewicks Swan in Kamiiso today. This is somewhat scarce in Hokkaido and I usually only see them flying over. They were part of a flock of 10 tired looking swans obviously taking a break oneir northward migration.

There were 8 Bewicks and 2 Whoopers. Here are the 2 species together with the Whooper in the foreground.

Bewicks is a species I don't really have any photos of................

Not much else around. The common ducks of course, Great Crested Grebe, a couple of flyover Osprey and 5 Great Egret. There were 6 species of gull including this raggedy looking young Glaucous Gull.

The Black Tailed Gulls are a very common species which I usually don't bother photographing but it has to be said they are a very attractive gull...........

There were lots of Black Headed and Common Gulls too. This individual looked a little odd, I think it's a Common Gull but it looks rather dark and I've never noticed that eye/gape colour before.

Not much in town this last week. I walked to Cape Tachimachi on Monday and saw Brent Goose (just 1) and Glaucous Winged Gull on the way. Red Necked Grebe, a few common ducks and a lone Rhinoceros Auklet were bobbing around ofshore. In the forest there were Treecreeper, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Varied and Long Tailed Tits, Jay and Bullfinch but it was too dark for any photos. Just as I left the forest I saw my first Bullheaded Shrike of the year.

Nearer home has been extremely quiet. Grey Wagtail on the river, a couple of Pochard in Goryokaku Park. That's about it except for this high in the sky Osprey which was a flyover bird in the same park.............

Linked to WBW.
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Some interesting stuff passing through town.

An Oystercatcher on the beach at Kamiso this afternoon in between some very heavy showers..........

Mid October is a great time for birding as there is lots of stuff passing through. It's the time of year when you think you may find rarities............

It isn't a great time for bird pictures though, despite the generally nice light everything is so darn busy and active.........

Yesterday at Onuma there were at least 3, maybe even 4 or 5 Mugimaki Flycatchers, a scarce bird here (I'd only ever seen one before). Here's a crappy record shot of one, a female I think.

It was a quite beautiful autumn day...........

Lots of stuff coming through Hakodate too. Pale, Japanese and Brown Thrush, Arctic Warbler, Red Flanked Bluetail, Japanese White-eye, Black Faced and Rustic Buntings. I just hope I can turn up something else rare this next week or so.

Today I met Kim and he told me where to find this Oystercatcher.

Very common back in the UK of course but this was only the second time I'd seen in Japan and it was a local tick.

And I think these are Bewicks Swans. Another local tick.............

They winter further south than Whoopers but seeing as they pass through Hokkaido I guess it was just a matter if time before I got them on my local list. I'd seen a couple of individuals elsewhere in Hokkaido before.

For some heavily zoomed pics go here.

I make these #197 and #198 on my Hakodate list. This isn't a full species as far as I know, if so I may be on 199.

The status of this bird is uncertain, the consensus seems to be that it is a hybrid between Vega Gull (the common 'Herring' Gull in NE Asia) and Heuglins Gull (a darker variant from central Asia). It is sometimes called 'Tamiyr Gull' but I'm afraid I can't count it. Actually Kim told me of half a dozen species he's seen in Hakodate in the last year or so that have yet to make my local list. I've seen almost all of them elsewhere in Hokkaido but not in the all important within 10 miles or so of downtown Hakodate area...............

Lots of Gulls on the beach now, the aforementioned Vega becoming more common, lots of Black Headed Gulls and the first Glaucous Winged Gull of the season. Offshore were Scaup and Black Necked Grebe, a flock of what I'm pretty sure were Rook flew over and the numbers of common Ducks on the river in Kamiso is rising, lots of Wigeon plus a few Tufted Duck and Pochard today........

The Night Herons are still around near my apartment.

I was feeling creative so.................

I got up to watch the second half of England's plucky draw with the mighty Montenegrins.

If someone had offered my 7 points from the first 3 games i'd have taken it after the dire World Cup. i'm struggling to get my head round Montenegro topping the group at this stage though.......

Liverpool seem to have sorted themselves out. If they can finish in the top 6 and win either the Europa or FA Cup it'll be just about acceptable.................hahaha who am I kidding, just to not get in a relegation battle would be OK for now..................

I watched 'Life during Wartime' last week. It is a follow up to 'Happiness', a movie I'd seen just before I came to Japan and, in my humble opinion,  a minor classic. The sequel used different actors for the same characters which was just bizarre. The film was OK but not a patch on the first one. Still it's not every day you can watch and even enjoy a movie in which a central character is a child molester.

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