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

December 24th 2013.

A female Crossbill in the local park 4 years ago today. It was part of a small flock. I don't usually see this species until late winter so it was a bit of a surprise to see them so early...........

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

December 21st 2011.

An Iceland Gull in Preston 7 years ago today.

This was a lifer at the time (although it seems to have been lumped with Kumelins and Thayers Gull seubsequently and I've seen the latter in Japan).

Note it's on ice: the usually mild NW of England was in the middle of a very nasty cold spell at the time. This was at Preston Marina, a pace which normally doesn't freeze over in winter at all AFAIK.

More snow.....................

A male Goosander, one of 5 on the local river yesterday...................

Still snowing. Other stuff around included Peregrine, Brown Dipper, Dusky Thrush and Kingfisher.

I hope the snow doesn't ruin my 8 days off coming soon................

On this day (December 18th)...................

December 18th 2014.

A Bean Goose at Onuma 3 years ago today. Stragglers from the big goose flocks which winter further south are sometimes seen in winter in south Hokkaido. This one joined the Whooper Swan flock in December that year and stayed all winter.........................

Another slow weekend

The wintry weather is unrelenting this December...............

A snowy week

Not much in town this last week. A lot of snow fell on Tuesday but a big influx of birds never happened.

There were 3 Great Egrets on the river as well as Brown Dipper, a female Daurian Redstart and several Dusky Thrush. No Waxwings in town at all yet despite the berry laden trees everywhere.

On this day (December 15th)............................

December 15h 2013.

A Ural Owl at Onuma 4 years ago today. This was in one of 3 owl holes near the road............sadly all the trees have been blown down since then. I'm sure the owls are still there..................just not in trees facing the road anymore.

2017 Best of #9

A final batch of photos from this year.................

A sleety Monday

A mild rainy Monday meant horrible light for photography..............

A lot of Kittiwakes..........

A lousy week weatherwise but on Sunday there were lots of Black-legged Kittiwakes out east..............

On this day (December 5th)....................

December 5th 2014.

A female Merlin just outside town 3 years ago today. This is a regular winter visitor but usually we only see them flash by across the road and then disappear into the fields.............this one was obligingly atop a streetlight................

Some Monday sunshine...........

It was sunny this morning and we headed north............

A quiet start to December

It's been snowing a lot the last 2 days but there was a break this afternoon. No car today so I took a short walk down the river where I saw the above Great Egret.

I was hoping for some Waxwings but nothing doing there. Other stuff around included a few Dusky Thrush, a male Daurian Redstart, a lone Wren, a drake Goosander and a female Wigeon....................

A quiet end to November

I just had 2 days off but the weather was pretty nasty...................

Red-throated Diver

A nice find in one of the ports near Yakumo..............

Some Monday eagles.............

The eagles were all present and correct at Yakumo this morning.....................

Another grey Sunday

Some Rooks just outside town this afternoon. A crappy picture but there was almost nothing to photograph today. Another grotty day...........all my days off seem to be blighted by nasty weather recently.

Not much around anywhere. Onuma was very quiet although 2 White-tailed Eagles were there: presumably the same pair that overwinter there every year. At Kamiiso the usual ducks and gulls were around but not much else...............

A snowy Friday

A crappy record shot of a Japanese Waxwing just outside town this afternoon................

Not much else around: the usual ducks (about 12 species), gulls (6 or 7 species), Hawfinch and Great Egret etc. Nearer my flat this week there was a late Red-flanked Bluetail and a Brown Dipper but not much else............

2017 Best of #8

Some more photos from earlier in the year................

November blizzards...........

A load more snow today scuppered my plans to photograph the eagles up in Yakumo...................