2018 begins...........

My first birding of 2018 was yesterday.....................

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

January 3rd 2014.

The Sawara Gyrfalcon 4 years ago today.............very tamely sat atop a post in a raging blizzard..............

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

January 1st 2012.

A Ural Owl in Onuma 6 years ago today. Sadly this tree was blown over by a typhoon a few years ago. It was a shame I couldn't photograph this individual in this tree with my 500mm lens..............

Some New Year's Eve Bramblings

I had a spare couple of hours so I thought I'd check the local park for Waxwings...................

So that was 2017.................

A Brent Goose in Hakodate today and probably my last photo of the year.....................

Harlequin Duck, Goldeneye, Whooper Swan and Scaup were also around but it was a very quiet day. Today saw the best weather in ages (and tomorrow is looking good too) but of course we had/will have other stuff to do. New Year here is basically the same as Christmas in the west.

I took a lot of photos in 2017. S**tloads. I don't know why that happened but it did. I can't see myself taking so many next year but you never know.

264 posts in one year! Sometimes I wish I spent as much time on more important things as I do with this blog............

Thanks to the people who regularly visit this blog and leave comments. I hope you all have a great 2018.

Last Eagles of 2017

We went up to Yakumo today and saw the eagles for the last time in 2017............

The blizzards return............

The nasty weather returned on Christmas Day. Very windy with sleet turning to heavy snow. Out east there were still lots of Black-legged Kittiwakes on the coast. There must have been at least 1 Red-legged among them but if there was I couldn't find it.

7 other gull species were around as were Harlequin Duck, Brent Goose and Black-necked Grebe.

Some christmas eagles................

The weather was milder on christmas eve................

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............