The final Asian Rosy Finch pics from last weekend…………..
The last ones
Category: Sawara
And again
The Rosy Finches put on a bit of a show…………
More Rosy Finches
Some more from last weekend………..
A lot
I took a lot of Asian Rosy Finch pictures last Sunday………..
Slumming it
They breed in pristine mountains somewhere in northeast Asia but in the winter they slum it in the flotsam and jetsam in the corner of fishing ports………….
Fish crates are used for perching instead of heather or moss-covered rocks………..
An influx
Asian Rosy Finches were everywhere on Sunday: we saw them in at least 4 different locations.
In the corner………
There were some more Asian Rosy Finches in the corner of another port.
Shame it was in the harsh midday sun……….
Some cropped Harlequins
I was trying to get some Harlequin Duck BIF shots in one of the small ports. All heavy crops: they were a little shy.
The watcher
This Peregrine was atop an old lighthouse…………….
More winter finches
There were lots of Asian Rosy Finch on the coast near Sawara today.
I’ve already seen this species several times this winter but not for several weeks…………
Bullfinch, Redpoll and Brambling were also around.
A break from Waxwings
I headed up to Yakumo yesterday and was amazed to find virtually no Eagles. Only about 6 or so, they’ve eaten all the Salmon they could find and have gone. I was very surprised: in the 19 or so winters I’ve been going up there, this is by far the earliest they’ve dispersed.
Not much else around there either. On the way back one of the ports at least had a few common birds like the above Harlequin and this Great Crested Grebe.
Today we went east of town to the Hawk-Eagle spot and there were 2 of them. This is an immature.
Other stuff around included White-tailed Eagle, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-necked grebe and Peregrine.
The Waxwings were still in town this morning and I saw some in Yakumo and Esan this weekend too.
A cold walk in a bleak spot
Today we were in the Onuma area. At Sawara we took a walk on the grasslands: a cold bleak place with no birds except a few crows, kites and gulls. The location is famous for Gyyfalcons and other raptors as well as winter buntings. But not today.
A nearby port had a few ducks including half a dozen Harlequins. Also around were Red-necked, Great Crested and Black-necked Grebes, Pelagic Cormorant but not much else.
At Onuma all 5 species of woodpecker were present as well as Smew, Whooper Swan, Eurasian Siskin, Dusky Thrush and Eurasian Treecreeper.