Hello Kitty

A close up of a Black Legged Kittiwake in Menegawa this morning. Annoyingly the harbour was the only place in the whole area under clouds, there were lots of them to-ing and fro-ing but my BIF attempts were not great (also I had the 1.4 extender on). White birds against dark grey skies just doesn't work.

Not much else around. A few Crossbill in the east of town, that's about it.................

Extended Eagle

Last week at Yakumo there were only a handful of eagles, today there lots.

A dark Sunday in November

After some snow last night the forest at Onuma was full of birds..............

Winter is coming

2 common winter birds in Kamiiso this afternoon. Very very dark and overcast. Handheld from the car.

A strong wind from Siberia, snow flurries in the air and Glaucous Gulls on the beach. Winter is coming..................

2014 Best of #4

 


 


 

 


Some more of my fave pics from 2014, these were from the summer................

More 7D2 shots

A Black Kite at Yakumo and Nuthatch at Onuma today.................

Sunshine comes back as work returns...............

After having my 2 days off ruined by horrible weather the sunshine came back as I returned to work...............

Luckily I could sneak a couple of hours in at Kamiiso and the American Wigeon was still there..............

New camera and (almost) new bird

My 7D Mark 2 arrived on Saturday. Naturally the weather has been unrelentingly awful ever since....................

2014 Best of #3

Some of my fave shots from late winter through to the end of spring........................

 

Still quiet..............

Some Harlequin Ducks to the east of town this afternoon...............

A short autumnal trip

A Black Legged Kittiwake, one of 7 Gull species at Yakumo this afternoon at end of a short trip away...........

2014 Best of #2

Well another quiet week combined with a heavy cold means no new photos to post so here's some more stuff from earlier in the year............







In late February we went to east Hokkaido...............and I took rather a lot of photographs.

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

October 14th 2011

A Little Egret on the river near my apartment 3 years ago today.

It was sharing the river with several Grey Heron and Great Egret.

This is not especially common in Hokkaido but I usually see 1 or 2 a year. This one stayed a few weeks and is the only individual of this species I've photographed much. Not as common here as they have become in the UK..............no dramatic northward invasion this side of the Eurasian landmass. Not yet anyway.

2014 Best of #1

Well it's been a very very quiet last 2 or 3 weeks so here are some of my fave shots from early winter 2014, all taken in SW Hokkaido............it seems like a long time ago already..............

A mellow Sunday

On this day (September 29th)...........................

September 29th 2011

A Mongolian Plover in Hakodate 3 years ago. Most of my local wader shots are in Kamiiso and this was a surprise find on a beach where I'd never seen any waders before................plus it was quite late for this species in Hokkaido.

2010 and 2011 were both very good years for waders around Hakodate. 2012 and 2013 were nothing special and 2014 has been dreadful...............

On this day (September 25th).............................

September 25th 2011

A flock of Pacific Golden Plover in the ricefields just outside Hakodate 3 years ago today. I was actually looking for Sharp Tailed Sandpiper in the same area, but I couldn't find any (and I've yet to find any anywhere).

Not a great photo by any means but it did earn me $75 as it was used in an American birding magazine...............

A night away

A Grey Plover on the beach at Oshamanbe today.............

Alone

Another waderless weekend

A very slow weekend again.....................