On this day (November 29th).................

November 29th 2015.

A Ural Owl 3 years ago today in Onuma.

This was taken with a full frame camera and I think it looks rather nice.............

On this day (October 19th)......................

October 19th 2015.

A Ural Owl 3 years ago today in Onuma. There were several easily accessible trees that held roosting Ural Owls but they've all blown down..............

On this day (June 16th)..........

June 16th 2014.

A female Ural Owl in Onuma 4 years ago today. I don't often see adults except in their roosting holes (and I haven't found such a hole for a couple of years anyway). This one was watching ovver its fledglings high in the trees.........

On this day (January 1st)........................

January 1st 2012.

A Ural Owl in Onuma 6 years ago today. Sadly this tree was blown over by a typhoon a few years ago. It was a shame I couldn't photograph this individual in this tree with my 500mm lens..............

On this day (December 15th)............................

December 15h 2013.

A Ural Owl at Onuma 4 years ago today. This was in one of 3 owl holes near the road............sadly all the trees have been blown down since then. I'm sure the owls are still there..................just not in trees facing the road anymore.

On this day (June 15th).............

June 15th 2014.

A baby Ural Owl in Ouma 3 years ago today. There were 3 of them in this section of the forest. 3 owlets and about a billion mosquitoes.

On this day (June 16th)...............

June 16th 2014.

Some baby Ural Owls at Onuma 2 years ago today.....................

Still there

The Ural Owl was back in its hole in Omuma and the Pacific Diver was still in its port east of Hakodate..................

Blizzards on a Monday. Again.

Winter has returned, it's freezing.

We went up to Yakumo today but although some eagles of both species weere still present the blizzards made pictures out of the question. Sawara was as bitterly cold as I can ever recall it being and there were no birds at all (except a briefly seen medium sized raptor, probably a Goshawk).

The Ural Owl and Marsh Tit above were in Onuma. the owl has been cordoned off believe it or not. There is yellow tape (the kind at crime incidents) tied between the trees in fromt of it as well as 2 notices in Japanese asking people not to go near. When we drove past there were three retired Japanese men taking photos with their cellphones and one of them was right near the owl tree, he had totally ignored all the (obvious) warnings not to go near. There were also footprints in the snow right up to the tree. They sheepishly left as I glared at them. WTF? People can be so stupid sometimes.

Actually I'd heard that someone had scared it off a couple of weeks ago, this was the first time I'd seen it in a while.

Also around of note were Smew, White Tailed Eagle and White Backed Woodpecker............

A winter morning in Onuma.............

Onuma was pretty cold on Sunday morning....................

A pair of (snowy) Owls

Well............Ural Owls covered with snow.

2 old pals............

Great Egret and Ural Owl at Onuma a few days ago...............

2015 ended

There were 2 Ural Owls at Onuma yesterday. This was in a hole that I thought had been abandoned.............

Fox and Owl

On the way back from Yakumo we stopped at Onuma just before sunset. It was dark and snowing. A pair of Black Woodpecker were around as were 2 staples, Red Fox and Ural Owl.

That time of year again

A Ural Owl at Onuma last weekend. Not feeling very christmassy despite it being Christmas Eve, no snow outside for starters. Maybe I'll feel differently after a few beers and some movie watching..............

Still no winter

A Common Buzzard outside Hakodate yesterday............

On this Day (December 8th)..............

December 8th 2013.

A Ural Owl 2 years in Onuma. This was in a  huge dead 'chimney' tree with a huge hole for it to rest in. My photos from the last few weeks are of a different individual in a different hole.

Unfortunately the next spring the tree snapped in half during a storm................so the Owl had to move somewhere safer but also away from prying cameras....................

A wintry day at last

Today was a cold dark grey wintry Sunday..............

A full frame Owl..................

Last Sunday at Onuma it got very dark so I switched cameras and borrowed my wife's 6D. This is Canon's entry level full frame camera and althought it lacks in the AF department it is supposed to be a champion at high ISOs. Anyway the Owl wasn't exactly jumping around so AF was not an issue.

The top pic is uncropped and wide open at f4 and I quite like the effect.

The pic below is trimmed a little. It is ISO 1600, something I would only rarely do with an cropped sensor Canon, even the relatively new 7D MK2.

So now I'm thinking should I get the 1DX MK2 or just settle on the 5D MK4. My wife would kill me if she found out I was thinking of such things but luckily she never reads my blog................

My hospital experience is over, on doctor's advice I'm off booze, exercise and spicy food for a week or two and my insides still feel way off.

It's a blizzard outside. Winter has come...................hope the Owl is snug in its treehole.

2015 Best of #4

A last batch of shots from the past year..............