Grey days

An Osprey just outside Hakodate a couple of days ago................

It's been a grey old week, cool enough for a light dusting of snow on the hills but not cold enough for any of it to fall in town yet. The skies have been grey all week.............

This Grey Heron looked a bit odd perched on top of a house just around the corner from my flat.

I messed up the Osprey shot, my settings were all wrong as I had forgotten to change them from the week before (it was set up for BIFs on a sunny day basically).

Lots of birds on the move now. Large numbers of Dusky Thrush especially as well as lots of common ducks at various locales. Nearer home today there were lots of small birds in the thinning vegetation alongside the river including Red Flanked Bluetail and Japanese White-eye, it was too dark for any decent shots though.

In the same place were Coal, Varied and Great Tit, Daurian Redstart, Bullheaded Shrike, Rustic and Blackfaced Buntings,  Hawfinch, Japanese Bush Warbler, Grey Starling and Dusky Thrush.

I also saw a rather lost looking Salmon splashing around in the tiny river............

Looking forward to the Ashes, this blog started just under 4 years ago when England were getting hammered 5-0, hope it is a totally different outcome this time. In the footy I've given up on Liverpool and England for a while, caring about them and their results after the previous 12 months showings has brought nothing but misery. So hopefully the cricket will bring some cheer..........

I missed that BBC show about Lee Evans and other famous twitchers, BBC's iplayer doesn't work outside the UK (dunno why, I'd even pay for it if I could) and birding documentaries don't seem so popular on torrent sites either.........

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On this day (November 3rd)...........

November 3rd 2008.

2 Harlequin Ducks at Menagawa. I find this species very hard to photograph, either the highlights are blown or it's too dark. It doesn't help this location faces south so most of the day in winter the sun is behind the birds...................

Still at least on this occasion they were fairly nearby, a couple of days ago they were distant specks bobbing around on the waves.............

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Slow times

A female Harlequin Duck at Menagawa yesterday afternoon. The colourful males were well offshore unfortunately.

Well it's been a very very quiet last couple of weeks. Crappy weather when I've had free time, nice weather when I've been too busy to go out. When I've been out the only thing of any interest has been the Night Herons.................these pics were from over 10 days ago, there are only 1 or 2 left now..........

Not much else, no rarities alas. Some common Buntings moving through, the first Daurian Redstarts and a few Dusky Thrush. I haven't really felt motivated to update my blog much recently and to be honest I got a bit bored of endlessly posting Night Heron photos............

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On this day (October 24th)....................

October 24th 2006.

Not a great photo of course but how often do you see a Dunlin running around on a picnic table next to a big ashtray?

This individual was in a big busy car park up in the hills in Shiretoko. What the hell was it doing there?

Taken with a cheap nasty compact digicam.

Very quiet in Hakodate the last week or so, nothing to photograph except Night Herons and no migrants except the ultra common ones.

Some interesting stuff passing through town.

An Oystercatcher on the beach at Kamiso this afternoon in between some very heavy showers..........

Mid October is a great time for birding as there is lots of stuff passing through. It's the time of year when you think you may find rarities............

It isn't a great time for bird pictures though, despite the generally nice light everything is so darn busy and active.........

Yesterday at Onuma there were at least 3, maybe even 4 or 5 Mugimaki Flycatchers, a scarce bird here (I'd only ever seen one before). Here's a crappy record shot of one, a female I think.

It was a quite beautiful autumn day...........

Lots of stuff coming through Hakodate too. Pale, Japanese and Brown Thrush, Arctic Warbler, Red Flanked Bluetail, Japanese White-eye, Black Faced and Rustic Buntings. I just hope I can turn up something else rare this next week or so.

Today I met Kim and he told me where to find this Oystercatcher.

Very common back in the UK of course but this was only the second time I'd seen in Japan and it was a local tick.

And I think these are Bewicks Swans. Another local tick.............

They winter further south than Whoopers but seeing as they pass through Hokkaido I guess it was just a matter if time before I got them on my local list. I'd seen a couple of individuals elsewhere in Hokkaido before.

For some heavily zoomed pics go here.

I make these #197 and #198 on my Hakodate list. This isn't a full species as far as I know, if so I may be on 199.

The status of this bird is uncertain, the consensus seems to be that it is a hybrid between Vega Gull (the common 'Herring' Gull in NE Asia) and Heuglins Gull (a darker variant from central Asia). It is sometimes called 'Tamiyr Gull' but I'm afraid I can't count it. Actually Kim told me of half a dozen species he's seen in Hakodate in the last year or so that have yet to make my local list. I've seen almost all of them elsewhere in Hokkaido but not in the all important within 10 miles or so of downtown Hakodate area...............

Lots of Gulls on the beach now, the aforementioned Vega becoming more common, lots of Black Headed Gulls and the first Glaucous Winged Gull of the season. Offshore were Scaup and Black Necked Grebe, a flock of what I'm pretty sure were Rook flew over and the numbers of common Ducks on the river in Kamiso is rising, lots of Wigeon plus a few Tufted Duck and Pochard today........

The Night Herons are still around near my apartment.

I was feeling creative so.................

I got up to watch the second half of England's plucky draw with the mighty Montenegrins.

If someone had offered my 7 points from the first 3 games i'd have taken it after the dire World Cup. i'm struggling to get my head round Montenegro topping the group at this stage though.......

Liverpool seem to have sorted themselves out. If they can finish in the top 6 and win either the Europa or FA Cup it'll be just about acceptable.................hahaha who am I kidding, just to not get in a relegation battle would be OK for now..................

I watched 'Life during Wartime' last week. It is a follow up to 'Happiness', a movie I'd seen just before I came to Japan and, in my humble opinion,  a minor classic. The sequel used different actors for the same characters which was just bizarre. The film was OK but not a patch on the first one. Still it's not every day you can watch and even enjoy a movie in which a central character is a child molester.

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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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