An early winter Friday afternoon........

There were 2 Great Egrets on the river today................

2018 winding down...........

Freezing temperatures and a big dump of snow in town this week. Not many birds though. The above Great Egret was still on the river but not much else.

An icy Monday

A Marsh Tit at Onuma this afternoon. Another cold snowy day added to a hospital visit in the morning meant not much birding. Other stuff at Onuma included Smew and the usual wildfowl, White-tailed Eagle, Great Egret and a male Black Woodpecker..........

After a very mild few weeks winter arrived with a flourish this weekend.

Winter 2018 finally arrives...........

Freezing temperatures, icy roads and blizzards hit Hakodate as winter belatedly showed its face..................

The above Whooper Swan was at Onuma. Not many birds around at all today: the most interesting were a couple of Yellow-throated Buntings. No rare ducks at Onuma: just lots of Mallard with a few Tufted Duck, Goldeneye, Coot and Little Grebe. A couple of Great Egret were still around but the forest was very quiet.

Before the snow............

One of the Great Egrets near my apartment yesterday. Not many birds about at all. A female Goosander and the usual sparrows and crows................

It has turned cold finally and snow flurries were in the air today. Snow  and freezing temperatures are forecast this weekend. Hopefully the birds will start moving............

Some Eagle BIFs

The eagles are slowly getting more approachable. Though of course they still generally fly off..........

A roadside Eagle

It was very mild on Monday, warm in fact and we were up in Yakumo..........

Another Black Woodpecker post............

On Sunday we were in Onuma again................

Quiet Ports

The mild weather continued Sunday............

Birds in the litter..........

Some more pics from Onuma last Friday.........

All Five

All 5 local Woodpecker species were present in Onuma yesterday............

On this day (November 29th).................

November 29th 2015.

A Ural Owl 3 years ago today in Onuma.

This was taken with a full frame camera and I think it looks rather nice.............

An afternoon Egret

A Great Egret on the river near my apartment yesterday afternoon. There are several at this time of year..............

I can remember being excited by seeing egrets of any kind. The first one I  ever saw was this species: in California in 1981. My first in the UK was a Little Egret in 1987. I've seen loads around the world since then of course (and this species seems well established in the UK now) but they still seem exotic to me even now.

Not much else around. A lone female Goosander and 7 Black Kite. the latter is a very common bird in Japan but over the last few years they seem to have become much scarcer in the skies above town. These birds looked like they were heading south in what must surely be the last real mild weather of the season............

Autumnal Eagles

The Eagles at Yakumo are still skittish and mostly distant but at least they looked nice in the autumnal light............

Peregrine on a mild late late autumn day

After freezing temperatures and snow a couple of days ago the weather became mild again............

Eagles in the mist...............

Up in Yakumo this morning it was very misty................

On this day (November 23rd).................

November 23rd 2015.

A Lesser-spotted Woodpecker at Shiriuchi 3 years ago today, the only one I've ever seen outside the UK. In Japan this species occurs only in NE Hokkaido so I have no idea what this one was doing down here.............

A grey Monday in mid November

Still no real signs of winter weather..................

The end of autumn approaches..........

It was another mild autumn weekend, surely the last one before the weather turns.............

More winter returnees.............

It hasn't turned cold yet but the winter visitors are all arriving in force..............