A lull

It's a busy holiday week in Japan..................

A baby fox.................

We went up Mt Hakodate this morning................

Not one but two Lifers............

A Collared (or Japanese?) Scops Owl this morning, my first lifer for over a year..............

Black Throated Diver

We headed west to Esashi yesterday afternoon to see if the strong winds had bown anything interesting to our little corner of Hokkaido.

An early bath

We were up early and in one of the local parks this morning to check for spring migrants................

Summer Dunlin

The Dunlins were still at Oshamanbe and were looking very summery..............

A windy Sunday

An Osprey at Yakumo this afternoon.................

The final cut

A female Black Faced Bunting this afternoon................

A spring afternoon in Onuma

A beautiful spring afternoon saw us in Onuma for a couple of hours.......................

A grey rainy Monday morning

It's been pouring down for several hours as I type this.....................

The other Sparrow

A male Russet Sparrow at Onuma this afternoon.

Swallows in the Sakura

A very nice spring afternoon saw me in Goryokaku Park..............

Some more Dunlin

Some more Dunlin shots from Sunday................

Definitely Spring..............

The flock of Dunlin at Oshamanbe were coming into summer plumage............

Early spring Parklife

I took a short walk in Goryokaku Park this afternoon.................

The shy ones.............

A Mandarin at Onuma this afternoon. This species is one of the 3 most attractive local ducks and they are all extremely shy. Smew ( a pair of which flew away literally as soon as I looked at them today) and Falcated Duck (small numbers of which will pass through soon) are the other two...............

Osprey high above on the river near my apartment for th last 2 days, the first Swallows of the year (yesterday), another osprey and the usual common stuff at Onuma today.....................otherwise not much around.

A bit quiet on the coast.........

Some pics from Sawara/Shikabe yesterday...............

Siberian Meadow Bunting

A male Siberian Meadow Bunting just outside Hakodate this morning.............

A difficult one

Is there any other common bird as difficult to photograph as a Treecreeper?

Crossbills taking a morning drink