2009 best of #2

Some of my fave shots from the second half of 2009.....................

All shots from south Hokkaido and the Canon 100-400L with either the 400D or 7D.



Black Browed Reed Warbler at Ono in July.



Black Crowned Night Heron in Hakodate in July.

And here are some Red Necked Stints from August and September. All of them are at Kamiso. I took a lot of shots of this species this year.........











The Stints weren't the only waders posing for the camera........



Great Knot at Kamiso in August.



Bar Tailed Godwit also at Kamiso in September.

My new 7D in October meant lots of BIF shots. This Night Heron was pretty much the first shot I managed with my new camera.



And Great Egrets too in November..........



The Harlequin Ducks and Brent Geese, subject of many recent posts, were as photogenic as ever.





The Nuthatches and Varied Tits still look great this winter.........





The eagles appeared in good numbers at Yakumo, as of now I haven't gotten any really nice shots this winter. Hopefully as winter progresses they'll get a bit tamer.



It's snowing outside and has been for a couple of days now, the snow plows were out in force last night too. Looks like winter 2009/10 has finally started.

2009 best of #1

Forgive my vanity, here are some of my fave shots from the first part of the year.


All shots taken in southwest Hokkaido with the Canon 400D and 100-400L.







Stellers Sea Eagle at Yakumo in January.





White Tailed Eagle in Yakumo in January.





Long Tailed Duck at Oshamanbe in January.





Spectacled Guilemot in Hakodate in January.





Hawfinch at Onuma in February.





Waxwing in Hakodate in February.





Common Crossbill in Hakodate in February.





Ural Owl in Onuma in February.





Varied Tit at Onuma in February.





Common Crossbill in Hakodate in March.





Brent Geese in Hakodate in March.








Yet more Common Crossbills in Hakodate in March.





Black Necked Grebes at Shikabe in April.

Nuthatch at Onuma in April.

Black Woodpecker at Onuma in April.

Grey Headed Woodpecker at Onuma in April.

Common Crossbill in Hakodate in April.

Siberian Stonechat in Ono in June.





Red Cheeked Starling in Hakodate in June.





Bullheaded Shrike in Hakodate in June.





Black Browed Reed Warbler in Yakumo in June.

Gloomy kind of day

An adult White Tailed Eagle at Yakumo this afternoon.

Grey gloomy weather today but still, amazingly, almost no snow on the ground even at Yakumo. There were lots of eagles today, I estimate about 100. Most were in 2 groups and most of each group were very skittish and flighty. It was an impressive sight to see 50 or more individuals take flight, barking like dogs. A shame they didn't fly closer to my camera though...........

Not much else around at Yakumo, a few Great Egrets, the usual Brown Dippers, common wildfowl and gulls. We were able to explore several places that are usually inaccessible at this time of the year due to deep snow. My wife was freaking out, she was worried about bears........

No bears. Only eagles.

We headed back to Onuma and the Ural Owl was in one of its winter holes.

This was a crappy insurance shot, by the time I'd got the tripod set up it had either gone deep inside the tree or flown off.......

The usual stuff was around but it was to dark for decent photos........

We later heard of a suicide that had happened very close to the the place where we take the Nuthatch pictures. The body was found hanging from a tree in the middle of last week and had apparently been there 2 or 3 days. We were there last Sunday, could they have done it then? Did we see him/her? If we had could we have done anything? A gloomy thought to end a rather gloomy Sunday.

I'll stay up to watch the Liverpool v Arsenal game. Last night's results show the season may not quite be as over and done with as I'd thought.........

Hope it starts snowing soon. The lake at Onuma hasn't even frozen yet. Once the snow hits different birds appear plus the whiteness is often good for photography, lots of reflected light.