Waiting.................for the 17th.

We had a brief visit to see the eagles at Yakumo on Sunday. Still quite a few about but no great photo opps, this flyover immature Stellers was the best of a rather poor bunch.

I first saw the eagles at Yakumo exactly 10 years ago, mid February 2000. The person who showed me parked next to the river and they were feeding very very close in a heavy blizzard. No camera in those days of course. I didn't go back much until we got a car ourselves and I haven't found that place by the river (and trust me I've looked).

A quick look at Onuma provided the usual close ups.

This Gull was at Onuma too. Is it just a Vega Gull? Strange that it was on its own (I almost never see Gulls on the lake).

I had a walk around Hakodate today, here are some shots of the common winter species........

Dusky Thrush, Daurian Redstart and Hawfinch.

The Waxwings haven't shown yet. Actually it's been a pretty poor winter for passerines. The last 2 winters saw influxes of Redpoll, Asian Rosy Finch, Brambling and Siskin as well as the aforementioned Waxwings. This winter I've seen just 1 Brambling in town plus a few Buntings (and a Pallas Rosefinch which was a lifer so I shouldn't gripe too much). Now I'm waiting for the Crossbills to appear. Like Waxwings  they don't come annually but they come most years...........

I just looked back at some old photos and noticed the date Crossbills appeared in the park near my flat in 2008 and 2009. February 17th. Both years. Tomorrow's date is February 17th.

If I was a betting man I probably wouldn't put money on there being any Crossbills there. But I'm going to check..................

Some sunshine

I spent the last couple of days birding with Franck, a French cheesemaker who used to live in Hokkaido and was back in Japan for a holiday.

Today was bitterly cold and icy but was actually sunny. I'd forgotten what sunshine and blue skies looked like.

Yesterday we went up to Yakumo. There were still quite a few eagles but it was snowing most of the time and there were very few photo opps.

This may have been my last day with the eagles this season, it's been a good one so I can't really complain. We looked up the coast, I wanted to show Franck the Long Tailed Ducks but there were none about. Most of the common seaduck were present including White Winged Scoter.

Today we were at Onuma. The Varied Tits were especially photogenic.

The Nuthatches too...........

They are so tame they are almost like pets, hopping around on my hat and perching within a few inches of us as they awaited a handout of sunflower seeds.

Not much else around at Onuma: a couple of White Tailed Eagles, the usual resident Tits and Woodpeckers. Shikabe was also very quiet, the Black Necked Grebes were few and far between and not easy to photograph.

Franck is the person who sold me the 100-400 a couple of years ago. He has the 500L F4 and he uses it handheld most of the time too (lifting all those heavy cheeses is good training I guess). I tried his lens a little and it is so heavy compared to the puny little 100-400..............

I got up to watch Wednesday night's footy. 3 interesting games, annoyingly Liverpool lost and it's going to be tough to get 4th now. They have to beat Man City next week I suppose, easier said than done. Ashley Cole may miss the World Cup, that's not good news either.........

On this day (February 11th)....................

February 11th 2009.

Black Throated Diver in the harbour at Oshamanbe. This is one of 4 species of Diver that visit Hokkaido (one is the rare White Billed diver which I've yet to see). Usually they're way offshore and only viewable through a scope but this one was in the confines of the harbour and was possible to photograph from a distance at least.

A bright red bird in a dull grey week......

Not much happening in Hakodate the last few days, the snow melted a bit on a mildish day and then refroze meaning it's a pain to walk outside again. Not many birds about either, this male Daurian Redstart was the only thing I've photographed so far this week.......

And, er, that's about it.

The Waxwings didn't show. I suppose I could have missed them when I had a cold and was housebound last week but I haven't heard anyone else seeing any either.  On the watched-kettle-never-boils principle I'll stop looking for them..........

If Liverpool can get results in the next 2 games the 2009/10 season looks a lot lot better...............

Above zero

A Black Necked Grebe at Shikabe this afternoon. The temperature climbed above zero (just) after a bitterly cold week. Last week was a bit of a write off birdwise. Merlin and Great Egret were the only noteworthy species in my brief forays out.

Today we headed out to Sawara to check second-hand reports of a Gyrfalcon there. There used to be a regular adult in winter here (before we got our car though.........I've never seen one). Things looked promising as soon as we arrived, a falcon flashed in front of the car (it was just a Peregrine I think). Things took a turn for the worse when we got stuck in the snow on a dirt track. The only car we saw all afternoon in the area pulled us out, how lucky was that?

Not only was there no Gyrfalcon there was nothing at all except for lots and lots of Black Kites.

In the nearby fishing harbours there were a few of the above Black Necked Grebes as well as the usual common wildfowl including Harlequin Duck.

We also saw several White Tailed Eagles but they were high up in a grey grey sky.

Back at Onuma the tame Tits and Nuthatches have survived the cold snap.

There were a couple of White Tailed Eagle here too as well as Black Woodpecker.

Liverpool have quietly crept up to 4th, some good results last night...........

On this day (February 4th)....................

February 4th 2009.

The main influx of Waxwings into the local neighbourhood started on the 4th in 2009, slightly later than in most years. They had been around the city for a week or two but only hit the area near my flat on this day.

The flock was on the main high street in Hakodate, feeding on the wizened berries there. They swarm down from the wires and TV antennas en masse. They never do that near me, by the time I get there pedestrians have scared them off. Or they're on the other side of a busy road and by the time the lights change and I can cross they're back up high...............and I can't dash across the road because this is right in front of Hakodate Police HQ.

Despite the frustrations of getting a decent shot this is still one of the birding highlights of the year.........hopefully there will be an influx in 2010. In 2008 they didn't come until March, in 2005 there were several influxes over 10 or so weeks that included both this species pictured above (the Bohemian Waxwing) and Japanese Waxwing.

Brent Geese

Yesterday I walked down to the dock area to check out the Brent Geese. It was my first visit to the area for a couple of months and there were a lot more Geese this time, about 20 or so birds in 2 or 3 loose groups.

It was a cold raw day and the paths were very very icy, I even put my spikes on to avoid the inevitable slips. Not much else around, a few Harlequins bobbing around offshore, small groups of Scaup and Goldeneye but that's about it.

Today is really cold, a high of minus 9. Of course to those of you in the interior of North America, the high latitudes of Scandinavia or indeed further north/east in Hokkaido  this might not be so cold to to me it is. At least some fresh snow has fallen atop the ice making walking a little easier........

No birds around town (and still no Waxwings) except for a few Dusky Thrush and Hawfinch. Hopefully this cold snap will lead to an influx of some interesting stuff. Apparently someone reported a Gyrfalcon at Sawara last week so perhaps that's where we'll be heading on Sunday.......

On this day (February 2nd)....................

February 2nd 2009

A well known Ural Owl in a well known spot at Onuma. We know 3 Owl 'holes' and the winter of 2008/9 was a good one for Owl sightings. There were often 3 or 4 photographers sat in the snow waiting for the Owl to do something (it never did).

This winter hasn't been so good for Owl pics. I've seen the Owl only once in this particular tree and it flew off as soon as I glanced at it................it must have moved to a more upmarket tree deep in the forest away from prying eyes...............