Some more KPs

The Kentish Plovers were still watching over their young on Monday....................

Some summer pondlife

It was very dark in Onuma on Sunday....................

A very grey June weekend.............

Some rotten weather at the weekend...............

Some early summer birds

The weather has been very warm and sunny the last few days...............

Still still hanging on

Some more photos from last Monday...........

A rainy Monday

Somewhat surprisingly it poured down with rain today...............

Before the storm

A big typhoon is due to hit tonight................

Some more returnees

Another sure sign of winter is when grebes start appearing in the local fishing ports............

Not what I was expecting

Another typhoon hit Hokkaido meaning grey skies and rain.................and we had several (small) earthquakes last night too.

Grebes in the blizzards.............

There were 4 species of grebe in Kamiiso today......................

2015 Best of #2

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

Another grey Sunday

A Black Necked Grebe in Kamiiso this afternoon..............

The prodigal Owl

A Ural Owl at Onuma this afternoon, the first one I'd seen in this hole for over a year............

A real mouthful

A quiet week (with very mild weather) is coming to an end...................

Winter is coming

2 common winter birds in Kamiiso this afternoon. Very very dark and overcast. Handheld from the car.

A strong wind from Siberia, snow flurries in the air and Glaucous Gulls on the beach. Winter is coming..................

Spring, I think...................

A sunny springlike day in Hakodate, well it is the end of March I suppose.

This afternoon I was in the harbour at Kamiiso.............

Yet more red eyes in the harbour

I went back to Kamiiso a couple of days to get a better close up shot of the Slavonian Grebe and I managed it....................just minutes before I had to dash to catch the train home.

It popped up a few feet away, shame it when the sun was behind a cloud.

I'd been waiting a couple of hours. At first there were only a few Black Necked Grebes. They were catching little shrimps from the seabed.

There were also 3 or 4 Great Crested Grebe.

I wanted a shot of the Slav/Black Necked together but couldn't get it................

Not much else about...................but missions accomplished.

Shame a Red Necked Grebe couldn't have swum in to complete the set......................

Just when I thought Liverpool might just have an outside chance of 4th they throw away a 2 goal lead at one of their main rivals FFS.
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Sunday eagles and grebes

Some birds from my day out today...............

I went up to Yakumo in the morning (thanks Tomohiro) and there were still good numbers of eagles but most of them have moved downstream.............we discovered this after searching in vain upstream and then not having enough time to do them justice later.

Only distant views of Stellers today.............

This male White Tailed was right next to the road.

The main action was on the bridges near the coast, hopefully I can get back there next weekend.

Not much else around, a pair of Long Billed Plovers being the most interesting.

In the afternoon I was in Kamiiso, there were 3 species of grebe in the harbour again. Half a dozen each of Black Necked and Great Crested (above) and the lone Slavonian from a few days ago was still around.

I wish it popped up close by in good light like the Black Neckeds do.

I tried to get both species together but fialed, apart from this lame effort.

 My wife says they all look the same anyway.


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2 days in a harbour

A Black Necked Grebe in Kamiiso today and yesterday.

I spent yesterday afternoon in Kamiiso and though there weren't many birds in the port there was enough to keep me busy. This lone Black Necked Grebe was pretty tame.

It seemed to be eating some kind of shrimp...............

I've seen them eating shrimp, worms and fish.................they are mot fussy eaters.

I tried to get pictures of them diving. Tried not very successfully.

Also in the port were a few Goldeneye and Scaup as well as several Great Crested Grebe.

On the sea there was more of the same plus several flocks of Black Scoter. White Tailed Eagle and Kentish Plover were contrasting flyovers. Also around were Whooper Swan and Goosander and some Waxwings spotted from the train.

Earlier in the week the flock of Japanese Waxwings near my apartment had relocated to the trees in front of the local Police HQ...................a bad place for photographs. Not only is it a busy street with potential waxwing feeding sites on both sides the police actually asked me to move on last year when I was photographing Dusky Thrush from the same spot. Go catch some real criminals why don't you................

Great Egret, 2 female Goosander, a lone Brambling and the flock of Long Tailed Rosefinch were also knocking about.

I had a brief visit to the same harbour this afternoon in much better light.

Still couldn't get a good diving shot though.................

It hasn't snowed much for a few days but it's still really cold, hope the clear weather returns on Sunday..............................
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