Hoopoe Weather

Strong winds from the west the last few days...........in early spring this sometimes wafts Hoopoes over from mainland Asia. A much sought after bird with local bird photographers...............over the last 12 or so years I've seen them 4 times in south Hokkaido at this time of year after similar weather. Other birders have posted recent pics of them on various local blogs and facebook.

But no Hoopoes for me this week................in fact hardly any birds around anywhere I've looked. A flock of Brambling in the local park a few days ago and a few swans honking in the distance at Onuma today............that's about it.

At least the above Red Fox at Onuma posed for the camera..............

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

April 13th 2014.

Not a great photo but this was the last day I ever saw the Gyrfalcon in Sawara that year...............and disappointingly it never came back in subsequent winters.

If it survived into adulthood I hope it's pure white and tearing it up on the tundra somewhere far to the north of Japan...................

Early Spring Ospreys #2

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

Early Spring Ospreys #1

We were on the west coast looking for Hoopoes but found only Ospreys..................which isn't such a bad thing.

A long Monday in early April

We spent a long day out west today.......................

A quiet Sunday in early April

A low key kind of day.....................

Some more repeats............

Last Monday we were in Oshamanbe and Yakumo.............

On this day (April 7th)......................

April 7th 2014.

Bohemian (top) and Japanese (bottom) Waxwings in town 3 years ago today.

There was a mixed flock of them in the trees next to the river near my place. Early 2014 saw several big invasions of both species into Hakodate.

Strange to see them not eating red berries on a cols winter day.

Some more ones still around

Just like the nearby White-billed Diver, the 2 Black-throated Divers were still around on Sunday after we'd seen them a couple of days before............

Still around...............

On Sunday we were back at the same place we'd seen the White-billed Diver 2 days previously. It was still around................

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

April 4th 2013.

Some Bewicks Swan on one of the local rivers 4 years ago today.

This is a regular passage visitor but it took me a long time to see one (or more accurately to ID them) as they are usually flying high in the sky on their way north or south. There don't appear to be any wintering flocks in Hokkaido so it was nice to see some on the ground for a change.............

Brent Geese in the afternoon

We were out west again on Sunday......................

Another tired waterbird

There were some Black-throated Divers at Esashi last Friday.....................

Miscellaneous late March birds............

Some more shots from Friday...........................

Another one out of the water

We found another Long-tailed Duck out of the water last Wednesday...................

White-billed Diver

My first lifer of 2017.....................

A lot of ducks

On Wednesday there were a lot of ducks around...................

Survivor

The sick looking Black Scoter we saw over a week ago was still there...............

Teleconverter déjà vu

One of my (many) faults is that I appear destined to constantly repeat the same mistakes over and over again...........

Quiet period

Late March is sometimes a prime birding time around Hakodate. Crossbills are in the parks or maybe Grebes and Divers are in the ports. Sometimes however it can be rather quiet and 2017 is one of those quiet slow late Marches. The above Black-tailed Gull was one of many individuals pairing off at the moment.

Grey Wagtail, Great Egret and Siskin the only notable local birds the last 2 or 3 days..............hopefully that'll all change in a couple of weeks or so.