That's that..............

A totally and utterly crap picture of an Oriental Honey Buzzard high in the sky near my apartment a couple of days ago. There were 2 of them, presumably just arrived from the south and slowly drifting over Hakodate..................the last of the spring migrants I guess.

The spring migration is just about over and it wasn't a vintage year. Maybe the weather wasn't helpful plus I was a  bit sick at thes start of the month or too busy to do much birding later on. Perhaps the autumn will compensate.......

At Kamiiso today there were a couple of Grey-tailed Tattlers, 1 Pintail, 2 Goosander and 2 Wigeon. Oriental Reed Warblers, Common Cuckoo, Siberian Stonechats and Chestnut-eared Buntings are singing on the outskirts of town but otherwise not much to report............

Summer

Well spring is over and summer is here.................

Hi chicks

Summer well and truly here. Nests everywhere. The Great Spotted Woodpecker was at Onuma and the Swallows were up near Niseko.

The Woodpecker was apparently the last of the brood and has seemingly been abandoned by its' parents. Not to worry though.





The female Red Cheeked Starling was still feeding it. Bizarre behaviour. Cross-species fostering. the photos were from a couple of days ago. The last chick looked likely to leave the nest pretty soon (and I guess has probably done so).



The Lotus flowers were out at Onuma and there were a few Moorhens walking across the lilies. No Moorehen chicks yet, strange to think that 12 weeks ago in the UK they had already hatched.........



Today we drove up to Niseko. The coast was fogbound, we stopped at Yakumo (3 Great White Egret, 1 Little Egret and all the common stuff). By the time we got to Niseko it was a beautiful warm summer day.





At the various road stations the Swallows and Asian House Martins were nesting. Difficult to take pics as of course they were nesting under dark ceilings. Very slow shutter speeds with a big slow lens like mine......









Thanks to Julian for lunch (he can bake fantastic bread). We visited him in Hirafu Village in boomtown Niseko. God that place is changing fast. And to think I complain about too much construction here in Hakodate......

Lots of Oriental Honey Buzzard today, here's a crappy record shot.......



Nice sunset on the way home.........



I watched the second half of Italy v France this morning. Sorry my Gallic friends but France are as bad as England. No, worse. Your coach is even better comic relief than second choice Steve with his brolly.

Migration

Haven't really gotten the hang of taking pics of birds against the sky yet.



2 of over 100 Oriental Honey Buzzard flying south a couple of days ago. Mo-san (his blog is linked on the right) drove me (up a very rough road) to the top of a mountain near Matsumae overlooking the Tsugaru straits. It's a well known spot for observing raptor migration. Oriental Honey Buzzard was the most numerous (by far) of the 8 raptor species. The 3 accipter species were also around as were a few Common Buzzard as well as the resident Peregrines, Black Kites and lots of Osprey on the drive. Stonechats were abundant and other smaller migrants on the move were lots of Black Faced Buntings and Pacific Swifts.

Earlier in the week I went to Yakumo with Tony and Megumi (2 very nice people who read this blog and live in London). We spent a pleasant day around the rivermouth at Yakumo although the birding wasn't as good as the previous week. Lots of common migrant Ducks, a few waders (including 9 Eastern Curlew and 4 Greenshank), 1 or 2 Common Kingfisher, Osprey etc.Here's a pic of some of the Teal.



We finished the day at Onuma. Hopefully we can show Megumi the Eagles next winter.






I had a quick walk down the local river today. Not much about..........Asian Brown Flycatcher was the most interesting species. Lots of bugs including this boring white butterfly.



Who'd have thought it? Two 3-0 victories were not what I'd been expecting. Maybe England will qualify for Euro 2008 after all. Maybe Heskey should rescue the Rugby team (but don't ever trust him with conversions/penalties).

An amphetamine fuelled gun toting 'gangster' from Honshu out whooping it up after a successful drug deal in Sapporo decided it would be fun to steal a car and frighten the local populace. He fired at the local fuzz who fired back and killed him. Who said Hakodate was a boring town where nothing ever happens?

Thanks for the rides/lunches this week to Tony/Megumi and Mo-san.