A grey Sunday in late February

Well you can see how the White Tailed Eagle got its name.

A walk to the beach

I had a few hours spare so I walked down the local river to the beach..............

A grey Monday in mid February

A Bohemian Waxwing in Mori this morning..................not a great photo: a grey sky, crappy angle and twigs in the way..........

Return of winter

A male Bullfinch in Kamiiso this afternoon...................

Bedraggled Rosy Finches

A very wet Asian Rosy Finch near Shikabe on Sunday afternoon................

Peregrine #2

After being harrassed by a Black Kite the Peregrine relocated to the beach................

Peregrine #1

A Peregrine at Sawara today.................

Last of the eagles................probably.

On Monday we went up to Yakumo......................

February begins

A low key start to February in Onuma...................

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

January 30th 2012

A drake Smew at Onuma 3 years ago today. Normally very shy I surprised this one (it was with a female) and he was so unsure what to do he didn't fly off for a few seconds allowing me to take this close up shot (only very slight cropping). Not perfect but much better than my recent efforts with this species.................just a shame it was so dark.

More tired arms........................

I spent more time at Yakumo on Monday.................

A Monday afternoon in Oshamanbe

We spent yesterday afternoon in Oshamanbe...............

An eagle assault

Some more shots from Sunday's visit to Yakumo................

An eagle up close.............

I spent a couple of hours in Yakumo this morning..................

A real mouthful

A quiet week (with very mild weather) is coming to an end...................

Some local winter staples

Some shots from Monday afternoon in Kamiiso...............

A night in Onuma................

We spent Sunday night in Onuma................

A week is a long time in birding.............

A male Pine Bunting on a beach yesterday afternoon....................

Phoned in Nuthatch

Tame Nuthatch with wife bokeh. Processed in camera and on old Samsung phone tethered to my iPhone........

Back to the mundane

No more eagle shots to post (but I'm going back this weekend weather permitting). I spent a bit of time exploring locally last week, a couple of hours here or there. 2 Whooper Swans on the river in Hakodate were a surprise, I'd never seen them in town before. Also around were Long Tailed Rosefinch, Hawfinch, afew Dusky Thrush, Tufted Duck and a pair of Goldeneye. Yunokawa had more ducks including Pochard and Wigeon as well as a lone Brent Goose.

The place where the trees have been cut down is now covered with markers: I'd reckon it looks like the river is going to be 'improved' (ie concreted to provide a way to use up tax yen). I will try and at least send an email to raise my concerns, whatever good that will do................