2018 Best Of #9

A final batch of photos from the last year.................

More winter returnees.............

It hasn't turned cold yet but the winter visitors are all arriving in force..............

A rainy Thursday

I have 5 days off so of course it started raining on the first of those..............

So that was 2017.................

A Brent Goose in Hakodate today and probably my last photo of the year.....................

Harlequin Duck, Goldeneye, Whooper Swan and Scaup were also around but it was a very quiet day. Today saw the best weather in ages (and tomorrow is looking good too) but of course we had/will have other stuff to do. New Year here is basically the same as Christmas in the west.

I took a lot of photos in 2017. S**tloads. I don't know why that happened but it did. I can't see myself taking so many next year but you never know.

264 posts in one year! Sometimes I wish I spent as much time on more important things as I do with this blog............

Thanks to the people who regularly visit this blog and leave comments. I hope you all have a great 2018.

A bit of sunshine

After some snow flurries yesterday it was clear and sunny for a couple of hours this afternoon.............

Some early Brent Geese.............

It was raining heavily in town on Monday................

Brent Geese in the afternoon

We were out west again on Sunday......................

A bit slow.............

Despite a lot of driving around in great weather last weekend the birds were a bit thin on the ground...............

A couple of common harbour birds

East of Hakodate, Brent Geese and Harlequin Ducks are common winter visitors.............

A grey January day #2

We were on the SE side of the peninsula on a still grey rainy day, not so great for bird photos....................

A rainy day in the ports

It's been raining all day.................

First quarter gone...........

Not a great picture but some kind of Marten we saw today........................

Finding solstice in the fishing ports

The shortest day of the year was mild and rainy in Hakodate.............

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

A friend very kindly lent me his new 100-400 MK2 this morning....................

A grey Sunday in late February

Well you can see how the White Tailed Eagle got its name.

Common birds in town

Wintry

End of Golden Week

A Varied Tit this morning.............

Some common winter stuff...........

A short visit to Onuma on Tuesday morning saw the usual common tits and nuthatches, a bit of a comedown after the eagles, owls and flacons of the previous week.

Autumn still hanging on

A Varied Tit at Onuma yesterday. It was a very mild day with beautiful autumn sunshine, at Yakumoearlier in the day it was so mild I took off my down jacket AND fleece.