Winter arrives finally

Well winter finally hit and outside it's f****** freezing and there's loads of snow and ice. The Brambling was a new arrival as was the Glaucous Winged Gull but otherwise it's been a pretty low key week. A Coot, 5 Brent Geese, some Wigeon and Scaup were in the harbour with the Gull. Not much showing so here's some of the common stuff.

Like Tree Sparrows. These are pretty scarce in the UK these days (I can't even remember the last one I saw there) but they are the common urban sparrow of east Asia. I tend to ignore them but there really wasn't much to photograph this week...........

Birds and snow also go well together...........

Plumbing the depths a bit here, here's a Common Teal on the local river.

The Glaucous Winged Gull at least did something entertaining.

This sign states the obvious somewhat.

I'm watching the 1st Test in South Africa on and off, England are struggling a bit. Liverpool's 2nd half showing against Arsenal was as bad as I can remember them playing for a while. Gerard has turned into a petulant brat, Torres doesn't look fit and let's face it half the team aren't actually that good. Still they managed to hang on for a victory against Wigan the other night (can't believe I just typed that!).

A shameless plug

These are the photos I chose for my 2010 calendar which you can check out via the links on the right or at this link here:  My 2010 Calendars

2009 best of #2

Some of my fave shots from the second half of 2009.....................

All shots from south Hokkaido and the Canon 100-400L with either the 400D or 7D.



Black Browed Reed Warbler at Ono in July.



Black Crowned Night Heron in Hakodate in July.

And here are some Red Necked Stints from August and September. All of them are at Kamiso. I took a lot of shots of this species this year.........











The Stints weren't the only waders posing for the camera........



Great Knot at Kamiso in August.



Bar Tailed Godwit also at Kamiso in September.

My new 7D in October meant lots of BIF shots. This Night Heron was pretty much the first shot I managed with my new camera.



And Great Egrets too in November..........



The Harlequin Ducks and Brent Geese, subject of many recent posts, were as photogenic as ever.





The Nuthatches and Varied Tits still look great this winter.........





The eagles appeared in good numbers at Yakumo, as of now I haven't gotten any really nice shots this winter. Hopefully as winter progresses they'll get a bit tamer.



It's snowing outside and has been for a couple of days now, the snow plows were out in force last night too. Looks like winter 2009/10 has finally started.

2009 best of #1

Forgive my vanity, here are some of my fave shots from the first part of the year.


All shots taken in southwest Hokkaido with the Canon 400D and 100-400L.







Stellers Sea Eagle at Yakumo in January.





White Tailed Eagle in Yakumo in January.





Long Tailed Duck at Oshamanbe in January.





Spectacled Guilemot in Hakodate in January.





Hawfinch at Onuma in February.





Waxwing in Hakodate in February.





Common Crossbill in Hakodate in February.





Ural Owl in Onuma in February.





Varied Tit at Onuma in February.





Common Crossbill in Hakodate in March.





Brent Geese in Hakodate in March.








Yet more Common Crossbills in Hakodate in March.





Black Necked Grebes at Shikabe in April.

Nuthatch at Onuma in April.

Black Woodpecker at Onuma in April.

Grey Headed Woodpecker at Onuma in April.

Common Crossbill in Hakodate in April.

Siberian Stonechat in Ono in June.





Red Cheeked Starling in Hakodate in June.





Bullheaded Shrike in Hakodate in June.





Black Browed Reed Warbler in Yakumo in June.