A different day, a different Stilt

In between a couple of spells with the Crossbills at Kamiiso 2 days ago I checked the beaches for waders.

There was yet another Black Winged Stilt, this one was actually in the harbour just where the fishermen bring their boats up..................

It was very nervous.

There were some cats eyeing it hungrily so I didn't mind making it skittish..............I may have saved its life as it eventually flew off in the direction of the river.

I could get some more natural looking Stilt shots than the tame one in Goryokaku Park (that one seems to have left now).

As I said before there must have been a big influx of this species into south Hokkaido this year, this is the 5th individual I found this spring. Forgive the deluge, I probably won't see another one for 3 or 4 years.............

There were a few other waders around including 2 Ruddy Turnstone, one of rhich was coming into summer plumage.

The commonest spring wader is always Grey Tailed tattler and there were 7 or 8 of them around.............

One of them was tagged................I suppose I should report this somewhere. A green tag with 'ABD'? I wonder where that could be?

***EDITED TO ADD: according to this link it was banded in Queensland Australia. Ironically I saw my first ever Grey Tailed Tattler in Cooktown QLD in November 1994......maybe this is one of its descendants.......

Still not sure what "ABD" means though.......

I saw a colour tagged Red Necked Stint 2 or 3 years ago but was disappointed to discover it had been tagged somewhere else in Hokkaido!

I saw 2 Red Neked Stint in summer plumage at the end of the day but the light was fading and I had to catch the train home..........................

Most of the gulls/ducks have left but there were still Black Headed and Common Gulls around, all in summer plumage. Here's the latter.............

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Crossbills

Yesterday I found a small flock of Crossbills in Kamiiso.

They were feeding in some small pine trees near the beach, about 7 or 8 of them.

Crossbills are without doubt my favourite bird. I have seen them a few times this year but they were always too far off for photos. The last big invasion was in 2009 when they were everywhere and tame as well. This year hasn't seen such a big invasion but this was still my best chance in the last 4 years.

Some were looking a little raggedy............

There was also a flock of Siskin on the beach. I was looking for waders but got Crossbill and Siskin instead! The Siskin were very skittish but the Crossbills were pretty tame.

Most of the tamest ones were females..............

I spent a couple of hours watching then clambering around the pine trees like mini parrots............

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Linked to Wild Bird Wednesday.

Grey Bunting

A male Grey Bunting in Goryokaku Park this morning. It was skulking around and difficult to approach and it kept getting disturbed by the hordes of cherry blossom "viewers".

Still it was by far the best photos I've managed of this species................

It was another productive morning: lots of birds in the park again. Common Crossbill, Japanese White-eye, Eastern Crowned, Sakhalin Leaf and Japanese Bush Warblers, Narcissus Flycatcher (only a female) and lots and lots of Asian Brown Flycatchers..........they were everywhere.

As were Blue and White Flycatchers, I don't think I've seen as many in any spring before...........

The Black Winged Stilt was still there and seems to have no problem finding food in such a strange habitat.............

And here's a picture of it among the dandelions.............

I wonder how long it will stay?

Here's a not very good picture of a bird i've never posted before.

A Brown Thrush.............not rare at all but very shy and an inhabitant of dark forests in Hokkaido in summer. There were 4 of them but I couldn't get close enough and there were so many people around anyway.

At 9am it was like someone flipped a switch and the tour groups hit the park................literally hundreds and hundreds of loud Chinese speaking tourists in even louder jackets. I went home for breakfast...............


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A quiet Sunday in May

A Blue and White Flycatcher in Kamiiso this morning. There were about 5 of them in a small copse along with lots of other migrants; Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, Rustic Bunting, Japanese White-eye and Olive Backed Pipit. My first Lathams Snipe of the year was overhead but there were no waders in the padis (or none that I could see).

On the coast there were a few Gray Tailed Tattler, a few ducks including Black Scoter and Harlequin Duck as well as a flock of Crossbill in the pine trees next to the river.

There wasn't much at Onuma.........my first Narcissus Flycatcher and Oriental Cuckoo of the year but no photos worth posting. Yakumo was quiet too.............another Black Winged Stilt, 4 Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Wryneck, Great Egret, Gadwall and a few other ducks. Other stuff today on the way to Yakumo included Glaucous Winged Gull, more Blue and White Flycatchers,  Brown Dipper and Grey Wagtail.

Here's a Black Kite on the beach at Yakumo.

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Another day in the park

A Great Spotted Woodpecker looking out of its front door in Goryokaku Park. I saw them copulating several times (not as interesting as it sounds).................

Lots of migrants around but nothing especially interesting. Several Asian Brown Flycatcher (one of which may have been a female Narcissus but I was paying attention to the woodpeckers), 2 Red flanked Bluetail, 3 or 4 Eastern Crowned Warbler and 1 male Blue and White Flycatcher...................which would have been a nice shot but for the branch.

Lots of Red Cheeked Starling including some trying to take over the woodpecker hole.

The Black Winged Stilt was still there. I took lts and lots and lots of photos of it the last couple of days which I''ll sort through later and post in the upcoming fallow summer months. Here are some purely random ones of the hundreds and hundreds on my hard drive............

It let me approach it to within a couple of metres and I could lie down on the (dry) grass and get some low angle ones................

It was attracting some attention from the hordes of people in the park looking at the cherry blossoms. The weekend is coming and the park will be heaving.................I suspect this was the last time for me to see it.

Here is a short jerky video I made and uploaded to youtube with no editing.