A Black Woodpecker

A female Black Woodpecker in Onuma yesterday................

It hadn't left............

We spent the day in Onuma...............

Some Redpolls

We went back to the place where we'd seen the Asian Rosy Finches last week but they had long since disappeared.

A Friday morning walk

I had a spare couple of hours on Friday morning............

On this day (March 4th).....................

March 4th 2014.

A male Crossbill in town 3 years ago today. There were large numbers of this species in March of that year and they already scavenging pinecones on the ground, presumably having eaten most of the ones still on the trees. It allowed for a few nice low angle shooting opportunities........................

Springlike

Very mild weather yesterday saw us head west...................

A sunny Monday in late February #2

Some more shots from Monday.................

Yellow Throated Bunting and other stuff............

A male Yellow Throated Bunting in one of the local parks yesterday morning..............

On this day (March 1st)............................

March 1st 2009.

A Blakistons Fish Owl at Rausu 8 years ago today. Not a great photo once you pixel peep, the 400D was not a great low light camera and the 100-400 on it was never sharp wide open. And that yellow ring too..................

Like the cranes and eagles in east Hokkaido which are attracted by free food in winter there is an element of 'cheating' with these Owls (which are attracted by free fish handouts courtesy of a guesthouse next to the stream).

Still, you can't argue with being able to photograph the world's biggest species of Owl. I hope to go back and do it with my wifes's full-frame camera and my 500 f4 one day.

A sunny Monday in late February #1

Monday was very bright and sunny this week............

Some more Asian Rosy Finches

Some more Asian Rosy Finch pics from yesterday......................

Everything turned out rosy

We spent a couple of hours this afternoon looking for some Asian Rosy Finches to the east of Onuma................and we eventually found some.

A quiet Friday afternoon

I had a couple of spare hours yesterday afternoon..................

On this day (February 24th).....................

February 24th 2014.

A Stellers Sea Eagle on the drift ice off Rausu 3 years ago today.

We had a wonderful day on the boat and I took a lot of photos, you can see them here. Like the cranes at Akan it is a tad contrived (the boat crew toss fish out onto the ice for the eagles to come close) but still a great experience.

I heard the last 2 winters (which have been very mild) didn't see so much drift ice and these boat trips haven't been able to go out much (or even at all)...............we were lucky in 2014.

Long-tailed Ducks and other stuff............

On the way back from our trip we took a quick look at Oshamanbe...................

On this day (February 22nd)......................

February 22nd 2014.

A White-tailed Eagle amongst the Cranes at Akan Crane Centre 3 years ago today.

This location, a place where a large flock of Japanese Crane overwinter and are fed by a farmer, is a very well known place for bird photographers visiting Hokkaido in winter: when we were there there were probably more big white lenses than big white birds and I heard it was even more crowded in subsequent years. The staff at the Crane Centre throw out food for the cranes and the eagles swoop down to pilfer some. A bit contrived but still great fun, if you can brave the crowds.

Due to worries about bird influenza I heard this place is closed to visitors this winter. Actually there are plans to close it (or at least scale it back) long term as a) the Cranes are no longer in need of such protection and b) such a concentration of individuals could be catastrophic if there was a major disease outbreak. So you may not be able to witness such scenes anymore.

Winter bites back......................

A Buff-bellied Pipit in Shizunai a couple of days ago.

We just got back from a short trip that was somewhat spoiled by the weather........................

On this day (February19th)...................

February 10th 2014.

The Sawara Gyrfalcon 3 years ago today. It was posing nicely on some driftwood.

Although it looks like a nice day it was absolutely freezing and there was a bitterly cold north wind blowing in off the sea. The windchill was brutal. I was only out of the car about 20 or 30 minutes but I'd stupidly forgotten my gloves. My hands were exposed all the time as I was holding the camera up.

When I got back to the car and my hands warmed up again I was surprised to be in intense pain for the next 2 or 3 minutes as the blood returned to my fingertips..............the initial stages of frostbite I guess.

Still in the cherry trees

A male Bullfinch on Thursday. Still small groups of them are snacking on the cherry blossom buds around town though none as photogenically as last week.

Also in the big park near my flat were a flock of 20 or so Hawfinch, a lone Redpoll, some Coal Tit, Dusky Thrush and a single Nuthatch.

We're away for 2 or 3 nights over the weekend, hopefully some new birds to post about next week.

Some other harbour birds............

The local ports hold a lot of winter visitors and not only ducks..................