On this day (February 3rd)........................

February 3rd 2012.

An immature Rough-legged Buzzard just outside Hakodate 6 years ago today.

There was a big invasion of this species into southern Hokkaido 6 years ago. I saw them in 3 or 4 places that year but hadn't seen any before and haven't seen any since....................

On this day (January 13th)..................

January 13th 2012.

Pine Bunting and Rough Legged Buzzard to the east of Hakodate 3 years ago today.

Rarely leaving south Hokkaido, I don't get many additions to my Japanese list these days. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 I only managed 4 new ones a year. On this day however I managed 2 within a hour or so of each other. Not great pics I know.  I've seen more of each species and taken better photos subsequently but sometimes you can't beat your first time............

On this day (February 3rd)

February 3rd 2012.

 A first winter Rough Legged Buzzard just outside Hakodate 2 years ago today. There was a big influx of the species that winter, I saw them in 4 different locations but none were as tame as this individual.

And of course I've never seen any since..........



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Still snowing............

It has been snowing ALL week, Hakodate has its heaviest snowfall since 1985 and birding has been reduced to zero. The above Rough Legged Buzzard was taken over a week ago and I haven't taken a single bird picture since last weekend.

We tried to go back to the Buzzard location today but the driving blizzards prevented us from even leaving town so we headed back to the monkey hot spring.

I tried processing these in monochrome.

The end of December/start of January produced lots of BIF shots in Yakumo, here are some previously rejected ones that I didn't upload at the time.

My god it was sunny that day. And not snowing.

Blue sky!

I watched the Liverpool/Man U game last night. I don't often get hot and bothered by the footy anymore except for this fixture.................

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. New lens or new computer? My computer is 4 years old and whilst still OK for most things it has been annoyingly slow processing photos recently especially in Lightroom. I want to do all my processing in Lightroom but my 4 year old processer just can't render the images quickly, it takes 5 or 6 seconds to render one 7D RAW file. For individual files it's just about bearable but it's impossible to review and cull images quickly.

I had hoped to get a new lens this spring, I want something better than the 100-400L. Trouble is the next step up is SO expensive. Actually it is so expensive it is all but impossible. I really want a 500 f4 but the new one (which still hasn't been released) is beyond my humble means as is every Canon supertele suitable for birders. I thought about that new Sigma 120-300 f2.8 OS (which is affordable) but..................if I buy a Sigma I'll still be yearning for a better Canon lens some time down the line and to be honest I'm not convinced the Sigma will be a big enough step up from what I have now in terms of IQ and performance. Secondhand Canon? Still expensive and I'm not sure I'd be able to pay in installments (the only way I'll be able to pay).

Hope it stops snowing soon...........otherwise I'll be stuck in front of a slow computer cursing the fact lenses are so expensive and I'll never be able to afford one.

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A very tame Rough Legged Buzzard

The long staying Rough Legged Buzzard east of Hakodate this afternoon.

I got really lucky with this individual this afternoon, we'd ended up at this location after a long fruitless morning in Onuma and along the coast via Esan. When we arrived it was sitting in its favourite patch of trees.

Whilst I was watching it I noticed lots of small birds in the bushes and trees: Rustic Bunting, Siskin, Coal Tit and Hawfinch. Eventually it flapped off..........

Now at that point I was more than happy with these shots, easily the best I'd managed of this species. My wife wanted to take a nap in the car so I hung around for a while and it flapped back into sight and sat up on some wires..........

It was very tame and ignored me standing underneath it (Common Buzzards on the other hand fly off as soon as you wind down the window of your car). Then, as luck would have it, it hopped of its perch and started hovering low down about 10 meters away!

I had to zoom out to make sure it fitted in the frame. It also hovered in front of the only patch of blue sky in view, with the sun breaking through the grey clouds behind me.

Some days in this hobby we are lucky. Today was one of those days.

It had started off pretty poorly however. Onuma was really cold and there has been lots of snow these last few days. The pair of Smew has been joined by another male and there was an adult Night Heron on the same pond but it was impossible to approach them as several tons of snow have been dumped there. The tree where we feed the tame Nuthatches and Tits was also buried under snow, this was taken on the top of our car!

Not much else at Onuma, just the common species. Ditto the drive round the coast to Esan. Several Common Buzzard but no Rough Leggeds (except for the one in the photos of course), no Pine Bunting.

After the Rough Legged Buzzard we headed to a park in east Hakodate which was birdless except for this Ringed Necked Pheasant next to the road.......

So chaos in the cricket again, what a crazy series it has been, 16 wickets down on the first day!

Liverpool won, let's hope they can keep it up........

So it's still bitterly cold here, my feet were f*****g freezing again today. I quit smoking a few years back but all those cigarettes from my youth may have affected my circulation (maybe, I have no evidence to back that up with) and I suffer a little in the winter even with 2 pairs of socks and insulated boots.

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Not one but TWO lifers......

A male Pine Bunting and a first winter (?) Rough Legged Buzzard, 2 new birds for both my Japan and life lists.

Actually I don't really keep a life list (too many vague sightings and hazy memories) but I recently counted up my Japan list which is now on 267 (and all but half a dozen of those have been in Hokkaido and most in the area where I live).

The day started off in Onuma which was very wintry.

There were some Whooper Swans dozing on the ice..........

I went to a small pond which is kept ice free in the winter (I think it must be near a hot spring or something). Usually there is a Great Egret there and sometimes a Kingfisher. Neither species was there but I was pleased to see this drake Smew...............

It flew off before I could get closer.

The weather then closed in, the Ural Owl was cosy in its hole.

We took the scenic route on the coast down to Esan. Lots of Brent goose and common seaducks and winter gulls as well as a White Tailed Eagle but no bird photos from here, it was too dark and cold. The area is famous for its frozen waterfalls in winter.........

This was below the hanging ice, it looks a little phallic.........

We ended up in Esan around lunchtime to look for the Buntings and Buzzards. I saw several common Buzzards and was ready to give up on the Rough Legged thinking I was jinxed. I looked for the Pine Buntings and found them immediately, 7 of them I think.

A few minutes later I saw my first Rough Legged Buzzard, there were 3 distant BIF sightings, I don't know if it was the same bird or several different individuals (6 were seen here last weekend). I fired off some record shots which I won't bother posting.

We headed back to Hakodate seeing lots more Common Buzzards...........as you can see they are pretty pale..............

................but not as pale as this Rough Legged Buzzard on the outskirts of Hakodate.

I've probably seen and overlooked this species before but today's birds were my first firm ID.

Shame it was against a grey sky late in the afternoon........

So a successful day, thanks once again to Osamu Kimura for finding the Buntings and Buzzards and kindly pointing out where to look for them. The Rough Legged Buzzard in these photos was my own find at least, there seems to be a bit of an influx at the moment.

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