Errrr............................

A Black Browed Reed Warbler at Sawara this afternoon. We were in the area checking for Japanese Green Pigeon, I saw a few in the sky and heard a few in the trees but they didn't come down to the sea.

A bit of a boring week. Great weather but it just wasn't happening anywhere birdwise.

I don't think I've ever seen as many Skylarks as I did today.

The Harlequin Ducks are still at Kamiiso, they were quite tame late yesterday afternoon but unfortunately the light wasn't so great.

We went back today but they were sleeping on the opposite bank. There were also 10 or so Goosander, a lone Black Headed Gull and 4 Osprey, the latter species were well offshore though.

There have been 2 Red Necked Pharalopes around for a couple of weeks somewhere locally, some folk have taken nice pics of them. I don't know where they are though, if anyone knows please tell me.............

Not much in town last week either, a singing Chestnut Eared Bunting and male Stonechat on the river near my apartment being the most interesting (a flyover Mallard was also a surprise). Not many photo opps, here are some scrapings from the barrel.........

A family moved in to the apartment upstairs. They are very very noisy, they have a small child that runs and jumps around like a chimp on crystal meth.

Am listening to the 3rd Test, very relaxing end to an uneventful week in smalltown Japan.

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Another Sunday in the grasslands

We were up in the grasslands at Oshamanbe and Yakumo again yesterday, they really are wonderful places at this time of year.

I'd targeted 3 species to get a decent photo of (all 3 lacking from the 'album'. Wryneck, Long Tailed Rosefinch and Eastern Marsh Harrier. I saw the former in the distance only and didn't see a single harrier all day. I did get a nice-ish Rosefinch shot out of the car window, it even perched in front of a nice background for me too as you can see above.

Lots of birds singing. The above is an Oriental Cuckoo, there were also Common Cuckoo, all the common warblers (including loads of Black Browed Reed Warbler, they really seem common this year and also lots of Grays Grasshopper Warbler). The Lathams Snipes are still perching on roadside lights.

Another very common summer visitor today was Pacific Swift, they were everywhere..........

Other birds today included a Hobby at Oshamanbe, Osprey, Great Egret, Common Reed and Chestnut Eared Buntings, Narcissus Flycatcher (at Onuma), Black Crowned Night Heron (in Ono in the morning and evening) and lots and lots and lots of Siberian Stonechat which are very tame in mid June just before the young leave the nests.

It was rather warm yesterday, I got sunburn............

If you are bored (at home or better still at work) try game number 1941 on Freecell. It's f***ing impossible (there is a solution but I'm yet to find it).

No sport at the weekend to watch/listen to. That wasn't so good.

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A summer evening in the ricefields

I finished work early so I had time to check out the local ricefields. Always good at this time of year, today produced a surprise with these 3 Cattle Egret.

This is a scarce overshoot migrant to south Hokkaido, these 3 must have been wafted in with the warm winds from the last few days.

They are building a new highway in this corner of the ricefields, sadly next year I'm sure this habitat may well have disappeared. There is a a reedbed here, Siberian Stonechats breed here.

Also in the reedbed were Oriental Reed Warbler, Black Browed Reed Warbler, Reed Bunting and Chestnut Eared Bunting. I hope the reedbed is still around next summer. I got some nice shots from her last year. Also around were Common Cuckoo and Lathams Snipe. And lots of big trucks.

We then went to another location in the ricefields to check for Night Herons, all I could get was with this BIF shot.

More of the same here including the inevitable Stonechats.

Just before sunset we went to the rivermouth at Kamiiso to check for Ospreys. Nothing doing there but there were 2 Goosander and somewhat surprisingly 4 Harlequin Duck.

I've never seen these in this location and never in June in Hokkaido either. I tried to get close to them but they just swam away, they must be moulting.

No sport on TV tonight, thank god for beer.

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Summer Staples

A Bullheaded Shrike near my apartment earlier this week. The last migrant passing through has been and gone (a singing Arctic Warbler on June 6/7), now in the neighbourhood all that is left are the summer staples.

One or two pairs of Bullheaded Shrike breed along the river, they were busy hunting this week. 3 years ago I saw one catch and kill a Tree Sparrow, no similar action this week, just them sitting around being watchful.

This adult Black Crowned Night Heron was the first one I've seen on the local river this year.

I didn't see any last summer, they must have bred further upstream, hopefully they'll breed nearer like they did the previous years.

The Red Cheeked Starlings will fledge in the next week or so, there is always a huge feeding frenzy and the adults suddenly become very tame for a short time. They were still pretty wary today though.

There are always 10 or so singing Oriental Reed Warblers singing atop the bushes next to the river. Last summer a male sang in a very convenient bush next to the path, the grass wasn't cut last June so the weeds hid it from public view. This year all I can get are distant heavily cropped record shots.

Other species around are Asian House Martin, Swallow, Oriental Turtle Dove, Kingfisher, Tree Sparrow, Brown Eared Bulbul and lots and lots of Oriental Greenfinch.

Numerous pairs of White Wagtail breed along the river too..........

This is one of several species already with fledged young. Spot Billed Duck and Carrion Crow babies were present today too. The larger more aggressive Large Billed Crow tends to breed later and can be very protective if you go too close to their nest, i've been buzzed several times in recent years.

And to finish with here's a rather cute baby Great Tit.

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A quiet start to June

A Pacific Swift this afternoon near Imagane. It's been a quiet week, today saw the first blue skies for a while and another new bird for my Japanese list.

A Spoonbill at Yakumo. I'd actually seen it last week but it was resting with its head under its wing so I couldn't get a positive ID on it. There was a Black Faced Spoonbill (much rarer) which I saw last year, today I could confirm this was a Eurasian Spoonbill. I couldn't get very close, both these shots are very heavily cropped.

Also at Yakumo were Wigeon, Sand Martin, Osprey, Oriental and Black Browed Reed Warblers plus the usual common stuff like these Siberian Stonechats.

We headed west over the hills, a nice drive but not so many birds. Just outside Imagane we stopped on a bridge to admire the view, there were lots of Sand Martins, an Osprey and a large flock of Pacific Swift, very difficult to get any kind of shot but I did my best.

The day started and ended in the ricefields in Ono, here's a Night Heron on the hunt for frogs........

Not a vintage week for photos as you can see.

Last week was very quiet in Hakodate, a Kingfisher on the river being the only noteworthy species. On Friday I headed out to Yunokawa.

This Common Cuckoo was singing, as was an Oriental Cuckoo, lots of Oriental Reed Warblers, one Black Browed too. Kingfisher was also here as was a Little Ringed Plover............

I watched England draw 2-2 with the Swiss, I've been watching crappy performances like this from England for approx 35 years now, I've finally accepted the inevitable (which is most of the time England just aren't very good basically).

I could have taken solace in the cricket before Sri Lanka started batting in the 2nd Test.

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