Some more KPs

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

A long Monday in early April

We spent a long day out west today.......................

Narcissus in the mist............

The first hints of spring.............

Part of a flock of Dunlin at Oshamanbe today.

It wasn't so cold today and there are patches of ground appearing with no snow. Spring is coming. I guess this was our first 'summer' visitor.

One of several Skylarks seen today. A very very common bird in Hokkaido but generally absent in winter, these must have been returnees from further south in Japan.

The day began in Yakumo. There were still a few eagles around. 1 immature Stellers and 2 White Taileds, there were also several White Taileds at other locations on the way. A lone Lapwing was a local scarcity but the snow at the river mouth was still a little too deep to allow a full exploration so we headed up to Oshamanbe. I was hoping the Long Tailed Ducks would still be around. They were, 6 of them, but they stayed out of range the whole time. This was the best I could muster.

Other stuff in and near the port included Black Necked and Great Crested Grebe, Scaup, Teal, Goldeneye and lots of Black Scoter.

In the corner was a small flock of 40 or so Dunlin.

These are not so common in south Hokkaido but are pretty much the only sandpiper species around in winter.

There were lots of Glaucous Gulls around today..................

The only Glaucous Gull I saw in the UK was a big brute in Fleetwood back in the 1980's. The ones in NE Asia don't seem especially big or aggressive. The alpha gull is definitely the Glaucous Winged Gull..............

We ended up in Onuma, I spent asn hour or more at the end of the day hoping the nosiy Black Woodpeckers would come close but they didn't. The Nuthatches did of course...............

It's going to rain tomorrow and the temperature will stay above freezing even at night.................bye bye winter.

Bye bye Liverpool's chances of sneaking into the top 4 (though it was always a long shot).

Bye bye any chance of a title race after Man City's pathetic performance yesterday.


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Errrr............................

A Black Browed Reed Warbler at Sawara this afternoon. We were in the area checking for Japanese Green Pigeon, I saw a few in the sky and heard a few in the trees but they didn't come down to the sea.

A bit of a boring week. Great weather but it just wasn't happening anywhere birdwise.

I don't think I've ever seen as many Skylarks as I did today.

The Harlequin Ducks are still at Kamiiso, they were quite tame late yesterday afternoon but unfortunately the light wasn't so great.

We went back today but they were sleeping on the opposite bank. There were also 10 or so Goosander, a lone Black Headed Gull and 4 Osprey, the latter species were well offshore though.

There have been 2 Red Necked Pharalopes around for a couple of weeks somewhere locally, some folk have taken nice pics of them. I don't know where they are though, if anyone knows please tell me.............

Not much in town last week either, a singing Chestnut Eared Bunting and male Stonechat on the river near my apartment being the most interesting (a flyover Mallard was also a surprise). Not many photo opps, here are some scrapings from the barrel.........

A family moved in to the apartment upstairs. They are very very noisy, they have a small child that runs and jumps around like a chimp on crystal meth.

Am listening to the 3rd Test, very relaxing end to an uneventful week in smalltown Japan.

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Spring 2011 continues..........

A male Crossbill this afternoon in a small patch of pine trees next to one of the harbours at Oshanambe. It was a productive stop, I got this shot of an Osprey there too.

My father-in-law informed me the fish is an 'akahara' (redbelly) which is apparently almost inedible to humans, I hope baby Ospreys are less fussy.

Another nice spring day saw us start off in Onuma. The Black Woodpeckers were active but difficult to get close to, it looks like they may be nesting in the middle of a swampy patch which should ensure privacy from prying lenses. This crappy record shot of the female was the best was the best I could manage.

There were still plenty of Whooper Swans plus all the usual residents, the Nuthatches are starting to look a bit scruffy............

Other stuff at Onuma included Siskin, Mandarin Duck, Goosander, Great Egret, Japanese Grosbeak etc.......

Lots of common ducks everywhere including large flocks of Pintail and Wigeon at Yakumo and Oshamanbe, Shoveler, Harlequin Duck and Black Scoter, lots of summer plumage Great Crested Grebes.

Today was definitely a BIF day. This Osprey was at Yakumo.

There seemed to be lots of raptors on the move, this was one of several Sparrowhawks.......

The 7D is a great BIF camera.........

The Crossbills were a nice find, they were sharing the trees with a flock of Siskin. They were very flighty although this male stuck around long enough for a few shots...........

We had a quick look at some of the wetlands but these don't really get interesting until mid to late May. The only birds here were lots of Skylark and a few Reed Bunting.

On Friday I went back to Goryokaku Park to see if the Crossbills were still there. They were but not close enough for a picture. The Brambling, Hawfinch and Siskin flocks were also around as were the 3 Pochard. A Peregrine was a good flyover bird. The only photos I took though were of this rather tame male Grey Headed Woodpecker.

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Not happening

A roadside Skylark from yesterday. 

After a whole week of rain and mist the weather has suddenly improved.

Yesterday we went to Yakumo and Oshamanbe. There were lots of birds around but nothing, just nothing was posing for the camera. It just wasn't happening at all photo-wise. Don't know why but it was just one of those days.

The scrub and wetland areas had all the usual birds including the first singing Grays Grasshopper Warblers of the year, lots of Oriental and Common Cuckoos, Long Tailed Rosefinch, Reed and Chestnut Eared Buntings, Wryneck, Lathams Snipe etc......

Not so many Black Browed Reed Warblers yet. This is one of my favourite summer visitors but near Hakodate their usual haunts have all suffered from the curse of the grass-cutters (Hakodate City's usual waste of tax revenues by throwing money at unnecessary projects to keep unemployable men occupied). None at Yakumo either but there were a few singing at Oshamanbe, this poor shot being the best of a bad bunch.

I have managed some OK shots of this species before but not of Chestnut Eared Buntings which seem to hate me and my camera.

Lots of waders around today: Bar Tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Grey Tailed Tattler, sumer plumage Red Necked Stints, Mongolian Plovers and Sanderling. None close enough for a photo though. At Yakumo we watched the Heronry from the bridge. I took some video but the quality wasn't so hot due to the traffic noise, obstructed views and distance. I was using a 1.4 teleconverter which at least turned out handy for this shot, a pair of Falcated Duck.

I saw a very late Dusky Thrush today and another late Daurian Redstart last week and several Asian Brown Flycatcher, otherwise the flow of migrants has dried up in town.

Here are a couple of views from Onuma. One taken with a 100-400 and the other with my crappy old 18-55 kit lens. Guess which one is which.

I watched England triumph over Japan 2-1 last night. 2 very well taken goals, bodes well for South Africa. I can relax now in the certainty that our talented boys are in great form and the quality will just flow and flow.

Why is Walcott so bad? Why does Heskey always miss? Why will both probably not only be on the plane to South Africa but also possibly in our starting X1 in the first game? Why? Why?

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Hope the weather stays fine this week...........