Mild November continues..............

It was about 18 degrees today, short sleeve weather, literally well rolled up sleeves maybe.................dragonflies are still buzzing around and I even got an insect bite. Weird weather we're having..................

A rainy Sunday..............

A very grey misty wet November day in south Hokkaido today...................

On this day (November 13th).....................

November 13th 2013.

A Red-breasted Flycatcher 2 years ago today in Hakodate. A female or immature I guess...............

This is a scarce but probably regular passage visitor and was my second individual after one a few years earlier.

I've also seen the very closely related Taiga Flycatcher in Hakodate but females/immatures are very similar. This was originally identified by me as a Taiga Flycatcher................nut I was wrong.

2015 Best of #2

Some more shots from the early part of 2015.......................

Birds on a wire

In late autumn the resident Carrion and Large Billed Crows are joined by 2 other species............Daurian Jackdaw and (Eastern) Rook. These are winter vistors from the Asian mainland and are much shyer than the resident species.

There seem to be lot of the Jackdaws this year. About a dozen or so mixed in with the Rooks. The above crappy photo shows a grey phase adult with a Rook underneath.

They perch on high wires against grey skies and fly off as soon as you look at them, not ideal photo subjects. I guess I could be more patient but after growing up in the UK it's a little hard to get excited by rooks and jackdaws.............................

Another grey Sunday

A Black Necked Grebe in Kamiiso this afternoon..............

2015 Best Of #1

Well it's approaching the end of another year....................

An afternoon off..............

A rarity these days.............yesterday afternoon I had no classes so I could take a walk down the river for a coupls of hours.

A grey Monday morning..............

A Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker in Hakodate this morning...............

And some squabbling gulls in Yakumo this afternoon.............

Some strays...................

We were out in Sawara and Shikabe this afternoon........................

Yet more autumn staples

A Black Necked Grebe at Toya yesterday and a Black Legged Kittiwake at Yakumo this afternoon..............

On this day (October 28th)..........................

October 28th 2013.

A juvenile Hooded Crane at Yakumo 2 years ago today. Another birder kindly shared this info with us and it was on the same beach where I had missed a Common Crane the year before............

I saw another young Hooded Crane, presunmably the same individual, in Oshamanbe the next spring......................

Some more signs of winter

Groups of Whooper Swans have started to arrive......it's getting very close to the start of winter..............

Autumn staples

Varied Tit at Onuma and Great Egret at Kamiiso, 2 common autumn birds.

Not much around, the weather was awful most of the day (and the mountain tops were draped with my first view of snow this winter). Buff Bellied Pipit at Sawara was the most noteworthy..................

October Harlequins

Every October the Harlequin Ducks return to the coast..............

More peregrines and dunlins............

We were in Yakumo on Sunday and Monday.............

Mellow autumnal Owl

Beautiful autumn weather at Onuma today..............

Amur Falcon

What I thought was a Hobby just outside town this afternoon..................

Mugimaki

A Mugimaki Flycatcher next to the river near my apartment this morning..................

Not a great photo, it was skulking in the shade and was very actively buzzing around.

I've kind of neglected the local river the last couple of years: a combination of my busy schedule on workdays meaning not much time to pop out, the city chopping down most of the trees and bushes along the riverside plus my wife isn't working these days so on my day off we go out further afield in the car.

Mugimakis are scarce passage migrants.............I see them most years but they are never common and always nice to see.

Shame I wasn't carrying the 500 f4, just my old 7D MK1 and battered 100-400L MK1.

4 species of duck, 3 species of heron, some Rustic and Black Faced Bunting, an unidentified thrush and cuckoo species, Bullheaded Shrike, Siberian Stonechat, Asian Brown Flycatcher.............typical autumn birds in Hakodate.

Autumn 2015 begins............

The season and the birds are both changing..............