Before the storm

A big typhoon is due to hit tonight................

On this day (September 16th).................

September 16th 2011.

2 Black-tailed Godwits in town six years ago today.

This species is scarcer than Bar-tailed Godwit in Hokkaido and I don't see them every year.............

A very quiet week.............

A Black-crowned Night Heron hiding in the thinning vegetation near my flat this afternoon..............

Autumn will begin soon: a few birds passing through included Asian Brown Flycatcher and a flock of Grey Starling.

A pretty dull few days though. The above image was processed in ACDsee, Not a very good image to start with but I'm giving the software a try as I'm thinking about Lightroom alternatives. That is sadly the most interesting news I have...............

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A Bar-tailed Godwit near Oshamanbe today........................

A lone one

There was the grand total of ONE Red-necked Stint at Kamiiso the other day.............

Another Weekend Away #2

Last weekend there were small flocks of Red-necked Stints on many of the beaches north of town.............

Another Weekend Away #1

An Eastern Curlew near Yakumo a couple of days ago..................

On this day (August 30th)...................

August 30th 2011.

A Long-toed Stint on one of the local beaches 6 years ago today.

This very tame individual (the above picture is uncropped) stuck around for several days, I took lots of shots of what is usually a very shy species..............

World War 3

A Red-necked Stint in town yesterday.............

On this day (August 26th)................

April 26th 2011.

A Red Knot in town 6 years ago today.

This is one of only 3 I've seen in Japan (Great Knot is much more common, in fact this was with 2 of its larger relative). I think it is an adult moulting into winter plumage (you can just about see some red on its bell).

A night away

We went camping a few days ago.................

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

August 24th 2014.

A Red-necked Pharalope near Tomakomai 3 years ago today. This is a bird that can occur locally in very large numbers offshore (usually in spring) but I've only ever seen them away from the open ocean 2 or 3 times..................

Shame it wasn't in summer plumage.

Sun shines

This August's weather has been awful..................

On this day (August 21st)....................

August 21st 2013.

A Black-faced Spoonbill near Hakodate 4 years ago today. An east Asian specialty and pretty rare up in Hokkaido, this individual was only the second I'd ever seen (I've seen another one subsequently).

This young bird had been around for about 10 days or so before it headed south.

An Ancient Murrelet

I was surprised to find an Ancient Murrelet in one of the ports to the north of town today...............

Winter visitors

I had a couple of surprises at Oshamanbe the yesterday................

Some more shorebirds..........

Very overcast again, not good for photos. There were a few more shorebirds about at least..............

That time of year again

It's wader season again..............

A dreary week

A very quiet week.................

August begins

A not very good heavily cropped record shot of a Striated Heron to the west of town this afternoon. This is, as far as I know, an overshoot visitor only to Hokkaido and I've only ever seen half a dozen or so in the last 10 years.

Ospreys and Japanese Green Pigeons were plentiful but no photo opps. A female Black Scoter at Kamiiso was the first 'winter' visitor of the season...............