Knots landing

I took a long walk down the beach at Kamiiso today and got another local tick (that takes me up to 209 now).

Can you spot the odd one out?

A Red Knot (the smaller one on the left) with 2 Great Knot. The latter is a fairly common east Asian species but the former is somewhat scarcer over here, it's only the 2nd one I've seen in Hokkaido and the first time in Hakodate.

You can clearly see the different jizz and structure.

These photos were taken in the harsh midday sun.

You can see the last remnants of sumer plumage in the Red Knot, well you can if you look really hard.

At this time of year the plumages do look very similar. The Great Knot doesn't have the same scaly pattern on its back though.

Here's a short jerky handheld video of the Knots plus some Red Necked Stints from a couple of days ago.

Not too much else around, 30 or so very skittish Red Necked Stint, a lone Osprey, Black Headed Gull, Grey Heron.............

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Stints on the beach

One of 3 Red Necked Stints on the beach at Kamiiso this afternoon. I had a free afternoon so I spent a couple of hours looking for waders on a short stretch of coast.

Red Necked Stints are the most numerous local wader in autumn, local birders don't seem so interested in them but I have to say I rather like this species.............

Not much else around. 2 Terek Sandpiper, 5 or 6 Common Sandpiper, a lone Sand Martin.

Last weekend there were also 2 Terek Sandpiper on the same beach as well as a couple of Little Ringed Plovers. The Long Toed Stints (5 or 6 of them) were still skulking around in the ricefields but I couldn't find any Green/Marsh Sandpipers to add to my local list. I did get a new bird for Hakodate though...........a Moorhen. Though they are common in summer in Onuma this was the first one I'd ever seen locally. #208 on the list..........

Not much around locally, some Great Egret in the padis, a few Stonechat and Chestnut Eared Bunting too.

At Yakumo there wasn't much at all, some distant Osprey that's all. At Oshamanbe there were some Red Necked Stint, Terek Sandpiper, Grey Tailed Tattler and a lone Great Knot, nothing posing for photos though.

4-0? I had no inkling that'd happen.

I think Liverpool will finish 3rd or 4th this season, Arsenal look finished and I have my doubts about both Spurs and maybe even Chelsea. God, looks like a 2 horse race already between the 2 Manc sides, what a nightmare.

By the way I've joined Twitter, if you want to follow me please click the link to the right. After I've been out birding I'll probably upload 1 standout photo immediately to Twitter before I process all the better ones from the batch to post on here, which may take several days depending on how lazy I am feeling.

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Long Billed Dowitcher

A Long Biled Dowitcher and Great Knot on the beach at Kamiiso yesterday. The Dowitcher was a lifer.........

The wader season on the local beaches has begun, the Dowitcher had company.

From left to right: Long Biled Dowitcher, Ruff, Grey Tailed Tattler and Great Knot. There was also another Great Knot on another section of the beach, a couple of Red Necked Stint and a Common Sandpiper.

Amazingly this was the 3rd occasion I've seen Great Knot on this beach and it has been the same date (August 19th) every time...............

Ruff are reasonably regular but never numerous..........

It was nice to get shots of different species together..........

I even took a short jerky handheld video........

Not much else around, no Ospreys or Night Heron. There were a few Goosander and a lone Sand Martin. Not much in town last week either, the first southbound Stonechat on Thursday, that's all............

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Another grey August week......

2 of many Pacific Swifts near Sawara yesterday, there were huge flocks of them heading south.

In amongst them were a few White Throated Needletails.

On the beach at Sawara I was hoping to see a few waders but all I could find were 3 distant Red Necked stints and one very large smelly dolphin corpse. It has been rather hot the last week or so, hot and humid punctuated by some very heavy rain.

We finished off at Shikabe. A late Grays Grasshopper Warbler was still singing. The Japanese Green Pigeons were as skittish as ever, I couldn't get close and anyway even I'd been able to get close it was probably too dark for a decent photo.

On Sunday I went to Ono to look for waders in the ricefields. Osamu has been finding lots of interesting waders again including several species not on my Hakodate list. He also saw the rare Pectoral Sandpiper and Swinhoes Rail.

With the location kindly e-mailed to me I went and saw Little Ringed Plover, several unidentified Snipe and up to 10 Long Toed Stint, a new bird on my local list. They were very shy and it was hard to even get a record shot, this was the best I could manage.

I couldn't find any Green or Marsh Sandpipers (both yet to make my local list), out of the corner of my eye I did briefly see a small wader with white on its rump/tail but couldn't relocate it. Hopefully there will be some waders there next weekend.........

Not much in town, a Glaucous Winged Gull was an early returnee on the beach at Kamiiso on Sunday, a Peregrine near Mt Hakodate, a few Kingfishers here and there, nothing of much interest near my apartment last week.

So England won the series very easily and are now ranked #1.................wonder how long that'll last? Can't believe how abject India have been, Sehwag arriving as the big saviour and then bagging a golden pair just about sums it up.

Liverpool looked good in the first half at least but on the second half showing it is going to be a tough fight to get in the top 4 though Arsenal and Chelsea didn't look so hot either. Mau U were as lucky as ever, may be Moneybags City can pip them this year........

Hope it cools down and the skies clear soon, I haven't taken any decent photos for ages.

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On this day (August 14th)....................

August 14th 2008.

3 years ago this Glaucous Gull was a surprise find on the beach at Kamiiso. It looks cold but it wasn't, it was an overcast but hot humid day, this is a bird I associate with snow, ice and bitterly cold winds.........

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A very quiet period

Some Goosander at Kamiiso last week. I've just had a very quiet last 2 weeks, not much happening birdwise at all. Osprey, Kingfisher and Sand Martin were also at Kamiiso last weekend, nothing in Hakodate worth mentioning.

Last Sunday we went up to Yakumo and Oshamanbe, I wanted to see if any waders has arrived yet. They hadn't. More Sand Martin were here as well as Pacific Swift, White Throated Needletail, Japanese Green Pigeon, Scaup, Osprey, Peregrine, Long Tailed Rosefinch and several Eastern Marsh Harrier, nothing posing for photos at all, here's a big crop of a distant Harrier.

I haven't taken a decent photo for over 3 weeks..............

No riots or looting over here but there was a murder in Yakumo last week, a high school student set fire to his own house because his parents wanted him to go to college instead of letting him pursue his dream of being a voice actor. His sister died in the fire.

Having worked in the s**thole called Hackney as a social worker in the early 90's and witnessing the impotence of social services in helping anyone I'm not surprised that we now have an hopeless, amoral, lazy, welfare dependent and criminally minded underclass that thinks it's fine to go out rioting and looting in their own communities. I'll stop there before I get all Daily Mail on you.......

Stinking hot here, 32 or 33 degrees the last 2 or 3 days. Hope some waders turn up soon.

How crap are India? I was hoping for an awesome series like the 2005 Ashes, can't believe India have been #1 the last couple of years. The footy season begins tomorrow but to be honest these days I prefer following the cricket, football's soul died a few years ago.

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