2018 Best Of #9

A final batch of photos from the last year.................

Late autumn in Onuma.............

A Eurasian Treecreeper in Onuma yesterday.................

Last shots from the pool

The last batch of shots from the pool near Shikotsuko............

Another cold misty day in Onuma

Monday's weather was cold and misty again...............

The residents

Some of the local residents at Onuma yesterday afternoon......................

A difficult one

Is there any other common bird as difficult to photograph as a Treecreeper?

A dark Sunday in November

After some snow last night the forest at Onuma was full of birds..............

Early morning in Onuma

A male Narcissus Flycatcher at Onuma this morning, one of many in fact.

I got up at 4.45am (!) in order to catch the earliest local train to the east side of Onuma. The forest was once again full of birds but it was a little overcast and this together with the increasing leaf cover meant photography was a little tricky sometimes. May is definitely the best month for birding but not for bird photography.

This Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker was very photogenic though.

This was one of 4 Woodpecker species I saw today, the best was a briefly seen male Black Woodpecker. 

The Pygmy Woodpecker was very tame.

 

I took a couple of short videos of it. This one was with my compact camera.

And this was with the 7D and 100-400 lens, not ideal for a handheld video at all..........

Lots of summer visitors in the forest. Narcissus, Blue & White and Asian Brown Flycatchers, Japanese and Brown Thrushes, Short Tailed Bush, Japanese Bush, Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers,  Japanese Grosbeak, Russet Sparrow, Japanese White-eye, Oriental Cuckoo, Common Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Bullheaded Shrike, Oriental Turtle Dove, lots of Swallows and House Martins, Hawfinch, the usual resident Treecreepers, Tits, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers, Little Grebe, Coot, Red Cheeked Starling, Black Faced and Rustic Buntings.........

Here are some shots of male Russet Sparrows, not a bird I often get to photograph......

There were a lot of Marsh Tits too.

Treecreepers are a bird I struggle with, so fast and difficult to focus on.......

And here are a couple of record shots.

Blue and White Flycatchers are beautiful but I have yet to get a decent shot, only heavily cropped ones like this.

A male Rustic Bunting in summer plumage (not something we often get to see in south Hokkaido), shame it didn't come any close, this is another biggish crop.

Black Faced Buntings must be the commonest small bird in Onuma in the summer, here's a female.

The only waterbirds were Little Grebes and Coots...........

And here's a view of Mt Komagadake to finish with.........

Thanks for clicking on this link.

Guess I can start thinking about the World Cup now, only 4 weeks off. I'm old enough and wise enough not to expect much from England but that wisdom is always put to the test during the heat of a game and after a few beers....................

I may watch the FA Cup final this weekend and the 20-20 too (if it's on at a reasonable time). England might win a World Cup this summer after all................

*EDITED TO ADD*

I just approved some comments and they seem to have disappeared, apologies if you left a comment. They have gone somewhere in internetland, perhaps never to return..................

Black Woodpeckers and other stuff.....

A Black Woodpecker this morning at Onuma, we came across a pair excavating a nest hole, snapped some shots and moved on quickly(although the birds didn't seem to mind so much). The male was shyer than the female though, so most of the shots were of the female.........





It was a beautiful spring day but the forest was surprisingly quiet. All the resident species were present including the inevitable Tits and Nuthatches.





Also seen today were Mandarin Duck, Goosander, Long Tailed Rosefinch, Siskin, Rustic Bunting and 4 species of Woodpecker.

Some birds were tricky to see.



Otherwise a pretty quiet week again................



On Friday I climbed to the top of Mt Hakodate, it was a beautiful sunny day as you can see from this view from the top. The mountain trails were rather busy and full of retired locals hiking up the modest hill ('mountain' is too grand a term). Despite the mild spring weather and total lack of snow for the last month some of them were kitted out in full hiking regalia and I actually burst out laughing when one woman walked past me in a gore-tex coat and gaiters (it was very bright and sunny, it has only rained once in the last 2 weeks and the forecast is good for several days). I didn't actually see any ice-axes but I'm sure some of them had them in their packs. I swear I went trekking for 10 days in the Himalaya with less gear then these folks used for a 60 minute stroll to the top of a hill that has a road to the top and a tourist cable car...........

Memo to Japanese hikers #1: When walking it is more efficient to hold a conversation with someone next to you rather than shout to someone 50 yards in front or behind.

Memo to Japanese hikers #2: Please leave your stupid f**king radios at home and don't play loud tinny sounding radio shows from a radio dangling from your pack.

Birds? Lots of Red Flanked Bluetail but these were difficult to photograph, darn active little critters........this was the best of a bad bunch.



Other new arrivals included Black Faced Bunting, Siberian Stonechat, lots of Japanese Bush Warbler and Japanese White-eye. On the sea were Rhinoceros Auklet and Black Throated Diver and the usual resident species were much in evidence.......





Other stuff included Long Tailed Rosefinch, Siberian Meadow Bunting and Blue Rock thrush. The last few Crossbills, Bullfinches and Brambling were hanging on in the forest at the foot of the mountain (I actually briefly saw a male Crossbill in the tree opposite my flat a couple of days ago).

The most photographed creature of the day was this, lots of Asiatic Chipmunk live in the forest on Mt Hakodate and you have to admit they are cute.......





And here's a sunset from my balcony tonight........



More bird photos are on my other blog.............which nobody seems to ever look at according to google analytics.

And a familiar view that I have shown on this blog many many times...........but never in sepia tones.





Villain of the week: Yamada Denki for unbelievably crap service.

Disappointment of the week: the fact that Liverpool's season may effectively be over on Wednesday night.

Photoshop thingy of the week: I'm trying to get a handle on the curves thing.

Some more common birds.........

A wintry view of Onuma this afternoon.






A couple of close-ups of some of the flock of Whooper Swan at Onuma. Every year a small tame flock of about 70 overwinters in a small unfrozen corner of the lake. They are fed by the local council as a matter of fact. Just about the whole lake is frozen now so they are beginning to congregate. My close-ups weren't entirely successful (I think a normal point and shoot camera would have done the job just as well as the 100-400mm) but I have all winter to get it right. There were also lots of Mallards, a few Tufted Ducks, 3 Coot (relatively uncommon in Japan compared to the UK), sveral teal and a lone Goldeneye.









Lots of common birds in the forest. Jay, Siskin and Hawfinch and the usual common Tits and Woodpeckers. I got my first Treecreeper picture.........which wasn't so great actually. The other usual photogenic species compensated.









Not much new around in Hakodate the last couple of days. This was just outside Kamiso this morning. Not a very good picture but an interesting scene of a distant White tailed Eagle being argy-bargied by some of the local crows.



Over the festive period we should be heading up to Yakumo to hopefully get some decent pictures of Eagles (both Stellers and White tailed).

The 'festive period' in Japan is a bit of a joke. They have christmas decorations and carols in the shops but that's as far as it goes. It's not a holiday and there's none of this 'good will to all men' stuff going on here. It's just an excuse for the shops to con a bit of cash from their customers by inventing an artificial 'festival'. Actually put like that it's not so different. At least we have the pretence of it being vaguely spiritual.

They have a big New Year's thing here anyway which is exactly like christmas back home. Meaningless annual visit to the shrine, time spent eating and drinking with family, cards sent to vast legions of acquaintances who you have no other contact with except sending these cards, a week or so off work (a long time in Japan), absolute mindless drivel on TV (even more so than usual), everything closed or over priced............

Just to show the Japanese have no idea of christmas and have just half-arsededly copied it from the west..............they buy Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas day. Turkey is a bird right? KFC is western food isn't it? And they are amazed when I tell them nobody does this in the UK (is KFC even open on the 25th?) and I'm pretty sure nobody does it anywhere except in Japan. The ads are on TV already. Have a Kentucky Christmas.

Here's an interesting article from snopes talking about this kind of stuff. It's pretty funny. I talks about that urban myth (which may actually be true) about the crucified Santa.

I watched an absolute stinker of a movie yesterday. 'Reign of Fire'. A post apocalyptic story (I usually like those). Christian Bale (I think he's a great actor but he must cringe when he watches this). That Scottish actor who always plays sarcastic macho Scotsmen (I forget his name but he was in '300' and 'Timeline'-2 other preposterous movies). Dragons. Crazy American soldiers. Plot holes you could drive a military convoy through. Don't watch it. Trust me on this one.