Lull #2

A pretty quiet week, not much to write up plus I was feeling a bit lazy. A bit repetitive, apologies for that.

Migrants continue to pass through, the above Asian Brown Flycatcher was sharing a tree with this Grey Streaked Flycatcher.

I've been checking the grass and bushes for Siberian Rubythroats but didn't find any alas. I did find a few Arctic Warblers.

The first Dusky Thrush of the season, Narcissus Flycatcher, lots of Bullheaded Shrike and a build up in duck numbers show that the season is changing although the leaves haven't really started to change colour in Hakodate yet.

We went to Onuma this afternoon, a grey rainy day much too dark for photos. I did see a Black Woodpecker and lots of Japanese Thrushes in the thinning forest, the leaves are falling here at least.

The Night Herons are still around.

This young one provided nice views from a bridge just near my flat..........

The adults were harder to photograph as always.

There were a few BIF opportunities including Grey Heron too.

Liverpool's plight is turning into a huge joke now, if they get that 9 point penalty they'll be facing a relegation dogfight for christ's sake.

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Slow start to autumn............

A Grey Streaked Flycatcher near my apartment a few days ago. Autumn is a pleasant time in this part of the world, warm and bright and with lots of interesting birds passing through. Most of these birds flit around in the bushes however. Arctic Warbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher have been very common this last couple of weeks.........

Grey Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, Grey Heron, White Wagtail, Mallard, Pintail and Teal have been around, all birds familiar to any UK local patch watcher. More exotically I got a brief view of a young Goshawk this afternoon and of course the local Night Herons which are a photographic staple this time of year.

Their habit of hiding in the shade and undergrowth can make it difficult to get decent shots though. Very tricky to get the exposure right.

Getting a bit repetitive, sorry.............

It's been a year since I got my 7D and I've taken nearly 30,000 shots with it, I'll blame machine gunning at BIFs for that figure.

Liverpool aren't so hot but I'm kind of past caring. Let's just hope they stay competitive this season and can sort out the ownership issue once and for all.

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Lull

The end of September is always a quiet time for birds, just after the wader migration and just before the main movements of passerines in October. The thinning vegetation along the river has exposed quite a few Night Herons though.......

The above 2 are both young birds, there were also quite a few adults around too.

They can be quite difficult to find..............just look for that big red eye.

They seem a little lethargic, just one offering any BIF opportunities.

I had a last go at the Japanese Green Pigeon this season, despite great light I couldn't get many good shots at all. The sea was so rough and the waves so high it was very hard for them to come down and drink safely.............so only BIF shots in this case........

Here's a view at Onuma taken on my cellphone.........

The weather has finally cooled down and the first ducks of autumn have appeared; Pintail, Wigeon and Teal. Not much else around, a few things flitting around in the bushes................

If you have Delta Skymiles and want to use them don't bother. A very frustrating time was had last week as I tried in vain to book a flight back to the UK. I should start a website called 'donotflydelta.com' to make me feel better.

Why have frequent flyer programs that are impossible to use?

They offered me Tokyo to Manchester via Detroit and Atlanta for 250,000 miles.

Idiots.

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On this day (September 22nd)....................

September 22nd 2009.


Curlew Sandpiper at Oshamanbe. I initially overlooked this as a Dunlin until it was pointed out that it was in fact a Curlew Sandpiper. Not rare as such but still a pretty nice find and one I've yet to see down in Hakodate.

42

A selection of waders from the last few days. I'm 42 today, time marches on..............

I got up early today (my 42nd birthday) and went to Kamiiso. There were 7 species of wader. Most interesting was this Grey Plover.

3 Mongolian Plover, 1 Bar Tailed Godwit, 1 Sanderling, several Common Sandpiper, 1 Whimbrel and lots of Red Necked Stints were the other shorebirds around.

I met Kim a few times recently, he saw a Marsh Sandpiper yesterday to add to Temincks Stint and Curlew Sandpiper, all these would have been local ticks for me. My local list is on 196 now and I'm eyeing the big 200 so three new birds would be nice......

In the afternoon we headed out to Shikabe. Several years ago on this date I saw lots of Common Terns close inshore at a particular spot and have gone back every year in the hope of photographing them. They've never been back needless to say. I did find this tame Grey Tailed Tattler though.

And here's a short handheld video...............

There were also a few Japanese Green pigeon here too..........

We headed to Shikabe to the well known spot for this species but they only came close when I went back to the car for something................I had to be content with dodgy flight shots only.

At Onuma the forest is still dark and full of mosquitoes, I got bitten on the only part of my body not covered with repellent (my index finger joints). Here are a couple of high ISO shots from deep in the greenery..........

Last week there wasn't much around except the inevitable Red Necked Stints.

How cute is this?

And here's a BIF shot.

This may be the last batch of Stint shots of 2010...........

Yesterday was annoying as hell. Liverpool using to Man Utd was bad (oh and f**k right off Fergie, O'Shea should have got sent off). I also tried booking a flight back to the UK using mileage I've accumulated over the years. Without boring you with details suffice to say the airline in question (Delta) make it as tricky as possible to do this, I can't even do it online. That was bad too.

So 42, wasn't that the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything? Wisdom awaits perhaps.

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