A very quiet week…a few common birds only around town; just 1 Common Crossbill, Japanese Bush Warbler, Masked Bunting, Asian House Martin, Bull-headed Shrike and a few Coal Tits.
In Yakumo today there were a few waders; Kentish Plover, Common Snipe, Pacific Golden Plover and this lone Red-necked Stint being the most noteworthy.
Also around were the Greater White-fronted Geese flock, various common ducks, lots of Stonechat and my first Chestnut-cheeked Starling of the year.
Lots of osprey around yesterday and also the first Stonechats of the year, the first singing Japanese Bush Warblers, the first Little Ringed Plover…
There was a flock of 100 or so Greater White-fronted Geese at Yakumo, Gadwall, Shoveler and some sunset swans…
Very photogenic at this time of year.
Lots of wildfowl passing through. These 2 Gadwall were at Yakumo.
At Onuma there were 000’s of Pintail and Bewick’s Swan as well as Taiga Bean Goose, Falcated Duck and Baikal Teal. But nothing close enough for a photo. Except this Redpoll…
The squabbling spilled over…until it was time to chill.
And the drakes were squabbling over females…
In years gone by, my main focus at this time of year would be the eagles at Yakumo. But this the 3rd consecutive year with a very poor salmon run and the eagle numbers have dropped off a cliff…
At a rough guess there were only half a dozen around along the whole coast. Very sad.
Reasonable numbers of both species of eagle at Yakumo at the moment but there really isn’t that much to eat for them…
And not opps for decent photos either.
The eagles are back at Yakumo. This one (I think it’s the same one) always occupies the same spot on the river and it’s difficult to get a clear shot of it as it’s usually obscured by twigs. Hence the nickname ‘Twiggy’.
There seemed to be about 20-30 eagles of both species but for the third winter running salmon numbers are very low. As this is their main food supply I don’t think they’ll stick around for long. This juvenile Steller’s was pitifully thin…
Twiggy did take a dump though; this photo is post-dump pose. Twiggy has eaten something recently at least.
Other interesting stuff around included Whooper Swan, Crested Kingfisher and Stejneger’s Scoter.
At the rivermouth in Yakumo there were lots of Black-headed Gulls and a couple of Common Tern; always a nice bird to see in Hokkaido where terns are pretty scarce.
Maybe the last of 2023 from Yakumo this afternoon…
Think that one must have over-summered locally…
