Clouds of Godwits

Early May is arguably the best time of year for birds around here but for various reasons I haven't been able to get out much. The above pic was just east of Hakodate, a few hundred metres behind me were thousands and thousands of Short tailed Shearwater.

Not Shearwaters here, these are Bar Tailed Godwit.......plus Eastern Crowned Warbler and Stonechat.







Today we went to Asabu to watch the Ospreys on their nest on am offshore stack. Too far away for pictures though we could see the male bringing fish to the female. the most conspicious bird was Bar Tailed Godwit, a skittish flock of about one thousand of them.







Also around were 5 Great White Egret, 1 Intermediate Egret, a lone Grey Tailed Tattler and lots and lots of Stonechat.





Ever since I got the 100-400 lens as mine officially (rather than just on loan) the picture quality seems to have declined rather rapidly. I have to send the money this month and next month. Maybe after I do that the curse will be lifted. Here's a Latham's Snipe from just outside Hakodate this afternoon.



We went up to Yakumo last week. Very very hazy, no decent photos at all. Red Necked stint and Velvet Scoter were 2 of the more interesting species. We actually ended up near Niseko where the snow was still piled up at the side of the roads........



I went to Yunokawa a few days ago but the huge construction project next to the river seems to have rendered the area birdless. A depressing place now. 6 huge new stores are being built. No doubt this will mean existing stores in town closing up and relocating there leaving unused derelict mildew encrusted shells whilst the breeding habitat of 20 or so species of bird is gone forever. I won't bother going to Yunokawa again for a long long time anyway. Never liked the place much in the first place.

I managed to pop out to the river near my flat a couple of times. Asian Stubtail and Eastern Crowned Warbler were the 2 main birds of interest here........





So the footy season is fizzling out. Man U will surely win the title at a canter, tonight's 2 games are meaningless, Liverpool never really looked like going through on Wednesday............and something is happening in the Alpine region next month, can't quite remember what though. I hope Chelsea v Man U in Moscow will be a bad tempered red card strewn battle. A fitting end to a lousy season.

My cold has gone.......as have the cherry blossoms. Should be some good birding coming up over the next 4 or 5 weeks and our first camping trip of the summer too......

A nasty cold

So I had a nasty cold this last few days. Not much to write about, the cherry blossoms continue to blossom. The above shot was taken with my cellphone last Sunday in quite awful weather. Cold, wet and windy. I had a stinking cold too (or did I already mention that?). I met 2 English birders whose cruiser docked for a few hours in Hakodate, on their way to Alaska.

David and Brenda are from near Brighton. David has a UK list of over 500 and a world list of over 5000. Unfortunately he didn't add to the latter at Kamiso and Onuma. There were a few interesting things on the sea (Red Throated Diver, Red Necked Grebe, 7 species of Gull) but Onuma was very quiet, not helped by the lousy weather. A nice day nevertheless, at least they saw some Japanese countryside anyway.....

The migration season continues in Hakodate. An Osprey flew down the local river yesterday and Dusky Thrush continue to be common. Also present are Stonechat, Japanese Bush Warbler, Japanese Thrush, Red Flanked Bluetail and Barn Swallow.





Red Cheeked Starlings have become common but are tricky to get a decent shot of. I have failed so far.







At least they'll be around the whole summer. Lots of stuff flitting around in the bushes.......they invariably turn out to be these things.......Black Faced Buntings.



Not a great week for bird photos so I'm compelled to post some some more cherry blossom ones.







The Chelsea/Man U game was pretty funny...........always nice to see your rivals lose the plot totally. I'll be supporting Man U tonight though (little exposure to Man U fans over the last 10 or so years has mellowed my hatred of the club somewhat). I'm still hoping for an all northwest CL final but I suspect it won't happen.......still you never know.

Right, I'm off to deal with the rivers of green slime living in my nasal passages.

Foxes and cherry blossoms

The cherry blossoms have opened but I've been mostly stuck inside with work and a sore throat. I did manage it up Mt Hakodate on Wednesday and later made it out to Onuma and Asabu. Spring migration on Mt Hakodate is underway but the deluge hasn't quite begun. Pale Thrush, Whites Thrush, Grey Thrush, Red Flanked Bluetail and Red Cheeked Starling were the main visitors on show. There were also these 2 oddities. A deformed crow and a strange looking Coal Tit.





Is the Coal Tit a fledgling? Surely not in April? Is it covered in yellow pollen? God knows. Here are some not so hot shots of several of the commoner species at Asabu. Black Faced and Chestnut Eared Buntings plus a male Siberian Stonechat.







There seems to be some development going on near the river at Asabu that may not bode so well for the birds. Little Ringed Plover and Osprey were also around and my wife was happy enough buying some of the tasty local mushrooms (maitake and shitake). Over at Onuma we saw quite a lot of birds (including Black Woodpecker) but not many were hanging around to be photographed.........except for the Marsh Tits. So a special thank you to this Red Fox.







The Ural Owl wasn't in its' hole. I hope we didn't spook it last Sunday.

Today (Friday) I popped out and took these shots.........the 100-400 lens isn't ideal for this sort of picture but I can't be arsed changing lenses.





Only a brief foray due to the sore throat, not many birds about at all. A Red Flanked Bluetail flashed around for a few seconds but the only birds I could get on camera were these 2, including a failed takeoff shot.





I couldn't believe Riise's last gasp own goal on Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning here in Japan). It was a real roll your eyes heavenwards muttering 'oh for f**ks sake' moment. I suppose Liverpool got a fair share of luck earlier on in the CL (those 2 red cards for Inter, the penalty decisions against Arsenal) so I'm not going to complain.........but...........oh for f**ks sake.

Spring springs

Cherry buds and a male Crossbill near my flat.

Very springlike weather in South Hokkaido these last few days and the cherry blossoms have almost started to open. The local populace go nuts over these, it's obsessively reported on the TV (!) and everyone tries to havve picnics under the cherry blossoms when they fully bloom. In Hokkaido the picnic typically consists of 'Genghis Khan', a tough chewy mutton and cabbage barbecue type dish. I usually pass on this but can hack the beer at least.








A female Red Flanked Bluetail and male Black Backed Wagtail, 2 of the many species starting to pass through town now that spring has kicked in. Other stuff around has included Wryneck, Swallow, Japanese Thrush, Siberian Stonechat, Brambling, lots of Black Faced Bunting, Japanese Skylark.........and Teal of course.





We went out to Shikabe yesterday. Not so many birds but the locals were bringing in the catch of scallops. Those little seaweed festooned traps were full of the big shelled and really rather tasty shellfish. Bit smelly mind you. Harlequin Duck were the main bird of interest, here's a female......



We then headed back to Onuma. The usual woodland stuff was about. A male Long Tailed Rosefinch was too far away for a decent shot and the Ural Owl was very very late in the day with my lens wide open and ISO up to 1600.





The feeding log had a four legged visitor.





I've gotten a little tired of the posting the same old Onuma views so here a couple of slightly different ones. Not a mountain in sight........





Still a few Crossbills dotted around town, one of my favourite birds.








So the cherry blossoms will be out fully in 2 or 3 days. Actually one was already open this afternoon as you can see below.



The above pic and the one at the top of the page were both taken with the camera on my snazzy new cellphone.



I'll hopefully get up Mt Hakodate on Wednesday, the warm weather should be bringing in lots of migrants. Plus I need the exercise too. All this after getting up at 3.45am to watch Liverpool v Chelsea. 2-0 to Liverpool I think. Gerard and Hyppia to score. 30 yard screamer from Gerard and towering header from a setpiece by the ageing Finn.