Winter 2017/18 begins

The first real snow hit town this morning.....................

A bit of sunshine

After some snow flurries yesterday it was clear and sunny for a couple of hours this afternoon.............

2017 Best Of #7

Some more photos from earlier in the year, these are all from a trip to north Hokkaido in late June...................

Some early Brent Geese.............

It was raining heavily in town on Monday................

Some Crossbills in the rain........

It seems to have been raining every Monday for ages....................

Another quiet Sunday

A Glaucous Gull near Oshamanbe this afternoon................

2017 Best Of #6

Some more shots from earlier in the year.............these are from late May to late June...........

2017 Best Of #5

Some more shots from earlier in the year, these are from spring.................

A rainy Monday.............

Absolutely awful weather today..................

A grey Sunday in late autumn

A Eurasian Starling to the north of town this morning..............

A quick Saturday stroll............

The Great Egret was still on the local river............

On this day (November 3rd)...................

November 3rd 2013.

A drake American Wigeon near Hakodate 4 years ago today. Only the second time I'd ever seen this species (and I haven't seen one since) and my first outing with my new 7D Mark 2.

I check the wigeon flocks every year in the hope another one turns up. Maybe 2017 will see one appear locally again.............

2017 Best Of #4

Some more shots from earlier in the year: these are all from March and early April...............

Like moving house.............

Some Harlequin Ducks to the east of town this morning....................

A quiet Thursday in October

I took a quick walk this lunchtime............

One good tern.................

Another typhoon hit Japan this weekend.................

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

October 22nd 2013.

A young Red-legged Kittiwake 4 years ago today at Yakumo.

A heavy crop and not a great photo but this is a rare bird in Japan and I was very happy to find one. It was with a large flock of Black-legged Kittiwakes and to be honest I wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't been flying around on its own and fairly close for a bit.............it was obviously different from the others.

2017 Best Of #3

Some more eagle shots from last winter...................

An autumn staple

Every autumn there are Great Egrets on the river (stream?) near my apartment. This year there are 2 (there may be more downstream).

There must be enough fish to support several individuals: sometimes they remain all winter. There were several salmon in the river too..............it would make a nice photo if one of the egrets tried to catch one.

Not much else around though and everything was grey.. A few Grey Starlings, a lone Grey Heron. 1 Grey Wagtail.

An autumn camping trip

We just got back from a 2 night camping trip..................