OMG some blue sky............

A Black Necked Grebe at Shikabe this afternoon.

Very nice weather today, lots of blue sky and tolerably mild weather. We started off in Hakodate, I tried to do a Brent Goose video but they didn't come close enough so we headed over to Kamiso. Lots of stuff on the sea here, mainly Goosander and Red Breasted Merganser but also some Grebes and Divers way offshore. Next stop was Onuma.

The usual stuff was around here, the most interesting bird was this Daurian Jackdaw, one of a group of 4 circling high in the sky.

This is a fairly scarce visitor to the region in winter although it seems to be getting commoner.......

I'd forgotten what a clear blue sky looked like.

Over at Shikabe there were a few Black Necked Grebe (nowhere near as many as last year though).

And here is a fairly common bird that I rarely get to photograph.

A drake Black Scoter. Lots of these visit the region in winter but generally they're out on the open sea. This wasn't so close but a lot closer than I normally get.

We headed back to Onuma, not much happening birdwise but it was nice and wintry......

My wife takes much nicer landscape stuff than I do, here she is in action.

February has kind of slipped by without me really noticing it. The Crossbills didn't arrive as they had done the previous 2 Februarys. Looks like next week will see me loitering under pine trees looking for red and green birds. They were here every late winter from 2002-2004 and then went missing for 3 years, returning again in 2008.

So basically I have no idea if they'll come or not.

Some common winter birds

Another quiet week in Hakodate, where are all the birds this winter? No Crossbills or Waxwings, no winter finches..............luckily I found this very co-operative Daurian Redstart. Several individuals set up winter territories on the river near my flat and this one is on a stretch with a concrete pathway and doesn't seem so bothered by passersby..............

Not much else in town. I went to Yunokawa on Friday, not much there either. A lot of habitat has been destroyed near the river. Some remains however but as seems to be the case with most places in south Hokkaido this winter it was pretty birdless. 3 Long Tailed Rosefinch and a flock of 20 or so Hawfinch and that was about it.

6 species of duck were on the river including Goldeneye.

And this Little Grebe too, not a bird I often get to photograph..........

Crossbills and Waxwings are unreliable, like many things in life. But that might mean they surprise me soon.......

Hope Liverpool can do Man City tomorrow. Just watched Everton beat Man U so you never know....................

On this day (February 20th)....................

February 20th 2008.

A male Crossbill very close to my flat. This was part of a small flock that spent late winter/early spring 2008 in the local neighbourhood, alternating between different clumps of pine trees. I got up very early in the morning for this shot, they were drinking in the river and weren't shy at all.........

Crossbills: my favourite bird.

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

February 19th 2008


Early 2008 saw a big influx of Asian Rosy Finch into south Hokkaido. There are usually some present most winters but they tend to occur in bleak windswept coastal regions. This one was part of a flock that spent 2 or 3 weeks in the small park near my flat.......................

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...............