Some backstreet Waxwings...........

Yesterday I found a small flock of Waxwings on a quiet backstreet.....................

More downtown Waxwings

The Waxwings are still putting on a show in the middle of Hakodate...............

Estate Waxwings #2

Some more Waxwings from a few days ago............

Estate Waxwings #1

The Waxwings were very close to my apartment a few days ago.................

The snow just keeps falling................

Another big dump of snow last night................

A grey Sunday in the port...........

Sunday afternoon was grey and snowy again...............

On this day (January 28th)......................

January 28th 2009.

A Spectacled Guillemot in one of the local ports 9 years ago today. I've only ever seen this species twice in south Hokkaido although they do breed further north and east.

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

Friday afternoon was sunny.................

Another snowy day...............

The Waxwings and Bramblings were still around yesterday.................

Some calmer berry-eaters............

A Brambling in town yesterday.................

The second wave...........

It was so cold today our door froze shut.................

Some miscellaneous winter birds..............

A Dunlin north of town a couple of days ago....................

An early finish............

There weren't so many eagles at Yakumo yesterday...............

Some high ISO ducks...........

The small flock of Falcated Duck were at their regular spot.....................

Another Sunday out east..............

On a bitterly cold Sunday we headed east of town again.................

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

January 21st 2011.

A Lapland Bunting on a beach in Hakodate 7 years ago today.

This is a scarce but probably overlooked winter visitor to Hokkaido. I've seen them in several places but they tend to favour windswept beaches blocked to most normal people by snowdrifts..............

On this day (January 20th)...............

January 20th 2014.

An Olive-backed Pipit in Hakodate 4 years ago today. Unusual to see one in winter in Hokkaido. It is a fairly common summer visitor but is a species that seems difficult to photograph. Not this time though..............

A confused grebe

We went back to one of the local ports to check the Black-necked Grebes.............

WIFs

With a 1 hour break in the weather I trudged through the slush and briefly checked the local park yesterday to see if the Japanese Waxwings were still around..........

A rainy Monday

Somewhat surprisingly it poured down with rain today...............