A quiet end to a quiet fortnight

A Stellers Sea Eagle at Yakumo this afternoon.

It's been a very quiet last couple of weeks with very little bird action. The weather was lousy which didn't help much plus I was stuck in town most of the time. 4 Bullfinch, a flyover Great Egret (seen from my balcony this morning) and half a dozen or so Goosander have been the only birds of note near my flat.

Today started off well, an adult White Tailed Eagle being mobbed by a Peregrine was a nice spot from a speeding car and there were eagles sitting in many trees on the way to Yakumo. At Yakumo itself there were still quite a lot of eagles but these too seemed content just to sit in trees not doing much at all. Most were too far off for any photos and the falling snow meant BIF shots were out of the question.

This adult was fairly close however and it wasn't snowing either..................

If the weather is nasty next Sunday today may well be my last view of the Yakumo eagles until next winter..............

We spent a couple of hours up at Oshamanbe waiting for the 4 Long Tailed Ducks in the middle of the harbour to swim closer. They didn't.

There were quite a few of Black Scoter here again, why are these so common this winter? Loads of them everywhere...........

So the title race is over. I wonder if Liverpool can catch Man City then?

I watched the first part of The Hobbit trilogy last week. Not as bad as I've been led to believe.
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On this day (February 6th).................

February 6th 2009.

A Bohemian Waxwing near my apartment 4 years ago today. Not a great photo but at the time I was so happy to get one on the ground with a berry in its mouth........................

Still waiting for my first Bohemian Waxwings this winter, I haven't seen any for 2 years in Hakodate. We did get some Japanese Waxwings a few weeks ago...............and they left plenty of berries.

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Meet the Locals #2

VARIED TIT (Parus Varius)

This is another east Asian specialty that may not be so well known to European or American birders. It is actually Hakodate's official town bird and it is common in the forests on Mt Hakodate and in the local parks and gardens outside the breeding season. It is especially common at Onuma where all these photos were taken over the last 5 or 6 years.

There are a number of different subspecies within its small range, the one in mainland Japan is P v varius. I have seen several different latin  names including Parus, Sittiparus and Poecile varius so you can take your pick there.

It is one of 6 tit species in Hokkaido (the other 5 are Eastern Great, Marsh, Willow, Coal and Long Tailed so this is the only real interesting one for visiting birders). It appears to be rather scarcer as you head north and east but down here in the southwest it is a common bird.

I tend to get my best pics of these in autumn..............

There were 2 very tame individuals in Onuma, we first noticed them about 6 or 7 years ago.

This was pretty much the first shot I ever took with my 100-400 lens.

Last winter there was only one tame one and so far this winter there have only been Nuthatches and Marsh/Willow Tits in the place where the tame tit flock reside. Different generations of Nuthatch have learned to milk the birders for sunflower seeds, I hope more Varied Tits will learn too.


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Different birds in a different harbour

I spent a couple of hours in Irifune this afternoon. It was a mild but dark grey day................the slush and melting snow was a real pain to walk on.

Brent Geese are the specialty in this place.............there was a flock of 30 or so pretty tame ones. Most of these photos are uncropped.

My group shots didn't come out too well so all today's pics are of ones or twos.

This was my first visit to the Brents this year................it's good to have such a photogenic species on my doorstep and ther'll be plenty of photo opps in late winter and early spring.

Other birds included several Black Necked and Slavonian Grebes, Harlequin Duck and Scaup. On the river near my flat this week there were 3 Great Egret and lots of Goosander but no more flocks of waxwings in the last 3 or so weeks................hopefully they'll arrive soon.


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Yet more red eyes in the harbour

I went back to Kamiiso a couple of days to get a better close up shot of the Slavonian Grebe and I managed it....................just minutes before I had to dash to catch the train home.

It popped up a few feet away, shame it when the sun was behind a cloud.

I'd been waiting a couple of hours. At first there were only a few Black Necked Grebes. They were catching little shrimps from the seabed.

There were also 3 or 4 Great Crested Grebe.

I wanted a shot of the Slav/Black Necked together but couldn't get it................

Not much else about...................but missions accomplished.

Shame a Red Necked Grebe couldn't have swum in to complete the set......................

Just when I thought Liverpool might just have an outside chance of 4th they throw away a 2 goal lead at one of their main rivals FFS.
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On this day (January 31st)...............

January 31st 2010.

A drake Long Tailed Duck at Oshamanbe 3 years ago today. The port there is fairly large and the ducks usually stay out in the middle but this one was dozing in a quiet corner close to the quayside................

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Sunday eagles and grebes

Some birds from my day out today...............

I went up to Yakumo in the morning (thanks Tomohiro) and there were still good numbers of eagles but most of them have moved downstream.............we discovered this after searching in vain upstream and then not having enough time to do them justice later.

Only distant views of Stellers today.............

This male White Tailed was right next to the road.

The main action was on the bridges near the coast, hopefully I can get back there next weekend.

Not much else around, a pair of Long Billed Plovers being the most interesting.

In the afternoon I was in Kamiiso, there were 3 species of grebe in the harbour again. Half a dozen each of Black Necked and Great Crested (above) and the lone Slavonian from a few days ago was still around.

I wish it popped up close by in good light like the Black Neckeds do.

I tried to get both species together but fialed, apart from this lame effort.

 My wife says they all look the same anyway.


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