More sunny days

I just had 3 days off and though the weather was very good I didn't come away with many pics...........

A dreary week

A very quiet week.................

Things happening.........................

A very springlike day and one of my best days birding for ages...................

We started off at Onuma, not much around in the morning except this Intermediate Egret...............

This isn't so common in Hokkaido and as you can see it is in its breeding plumage, it was in a pond where I usually see Great Egret or Grey Heron. There were also some Mandarin Duck about as well as lots of Dusky Thrush everywhere. Jaapnese Thrush, Black Faced Bunting and Jaapnese Bush Warbler were singing in the forest but it was a little overcast and chilly so we headed up to Yakumo.

There were 4 Bar Tailed Godwit in the river (one in summer plumage) and several Osprey hunting..............

A group of about 10 Great Egret were there too...........

On the north side of the river was this lone Marsh Sandpiper, I couldn't get close enough for a decent shot.

No other waders around except this trio............

Common Redshank. I would barely raise my camera to my eye for them in England (at this distance anyway) but this is only the 2nd time I've seen them in Japan and the first time I've photographed them. They flew off noisily just like they do back home...........

Other stuff at Yakumo included Eastern Marsh Harrier, Whooper Swan, Glaucous Gull, various species of duck including Shoveler, Wryneck and lots of Siberian Stonechat.

Further north at Oshamanbe I found a tame flock of Dunlin in one of the ports. Many were coming into summer plumage................

Also at Oshamanbe were several groups of displaying White Winged Scoter (well offshore) and Glaucous Winged Gull.

We stopped back at Onuma on the way home. There were some noisy and active Black and Grey-headed Woodpeckers but they didn't come close enough for any pictures.

The tame tits and nuthatches did of course.

The day finished at Kamiiso with another Osprey.............

And yesterday's Black Winged Stilt was still present.

A long long day but worth it. Late April to late May is the best time of the year for birds here and it really felt like it kicked off today...............

So the footy season is fizzling out, maybe the last day of the season will have all 20 clubs with nothing to play for. Liverpool and England are slipping into medicrity, thank god for Game Of Thrones and the upcoming Ashes.
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On this day (May 9th)...........

May 9th 2010. An Intermediate Egret at Onuma a couple of years ago. This is one of the 3 egret species that regularly 'overshoot' during spring migration to south Hokkaido. The others are Little and Cattle Egret: they are about equally regular and all are far less common than Great Egret.

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Spring Migration hots up........

An Intermediate Egret near Onuma this afternoon. This is one of 3 egret species that regularly overshoot in spring and it is the first one I've managed to photograph.

It was a pretty productive day which started with some shorebirds at the beach in Kamiso. 2 Whimbrel and 4 or 5 Grey Tailed Tattler.

The Tattlers look much better in summer plumage. Unlike most wader species they are as common in spring as in autumn.

We then headed over to Onuma via Ono. The ricefields haven't been irrigated yet (so no chance of waders) and it is also too early for the Reed Warblers and Night Herons but the Siberian Stonechats were present and getting ready to raise this year's generation.

Lots of Skylarks and White Wagtails here too.......

The Intermediate Egret was feeding in a field just outside Onuma. These photos were all from the car window..........

It was eating worms and other slimy things. God knows what actually. Leeches? Newts?

The forest at Onuma was full of birds. This one is a male Narcissus Flycatcher, one of the commonest summer visitors and also one of the most beautiful.

And this is an Eye Browed Thrush, a fairly common spring/autumn migrant.

A bit of a heavy crop that one, as is this Asian Brown Flycatcher.

Other stuff included lots and lots of Eastern Crowned Warblers, Blue and White Flycatcher, Russet Sparrow and lots of the usual residents including this Eastern Great Tit.

I was hoping for a nice pic of a Mandarin Duck this spring but we couldn't find any. Here's a grainy shot of a Little Grebe instead......

I'll watch the end of the Premier League season, hope Wigan actually turn up and at least make it interesting (although I don't want Man U to be champions).

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So as Britain grapples with a hung Parliament, the Euro plunges in value and ash hangs in the sky over northern Europs I have nothing to worry about over here except deciding which of the 150 or so almost identical egret shots to keep or delete...................