There were 2 Arctic Skuas at Yakumo today: nice to see them up close even though the light was terrible.
This is obviously a dark morph!
And this isn’t!
And from last week: here’s a cormorant colour you don’t see every day.
Black and White
Category: Seabirds
2022 Summer Road Trip #18
Crappy pics (due to my own poor technique, a bucking boat and fog) but I got some nice views of this very rare bird (in Japan).
There were also several Sea Otters: kind of like a cross between a Seal and a Rat.
2022 Summer Road Trip #17
There was a small flock of Spectacled Guillemots at Ochiishi…
2022 Summer Road Trip #16
We did the Ochiishi boat trip. It was pretty foggy but we saw plenty of birds. This Brunnich’s Guillemot posed nicely close to the boat.
The commonest alcids were Rhinoceros Auklets and Spectacled Guillemots and we also saw Ancient Murrelet, Northern Fulmar, Red-necked Pharalope and Sooty (or Short-tailed?) Shearwater.
I was hoping to get a shot of a Tufted Puffin. I’d seen one on this trip before but couldn’t get a photo. We didn’t see any this time but we did manage to see this Horned Puffin. Crappest of crappy pics but a lifer…
East Hokkaido September Trip #10
Leach’s Petrel were also very common in the port at Kiritappu. It was great to see them fluttering over the waves oblivious to the typhoon.
This species breeds on the nearby cape but only visits at night, my only previous sighting of one had been in the beams of the lighthouse. I had heard them many times. It was good to finally see them going about their normal diurnal business.
Other species blown inshore included Arctic and Pomarine Skuas and Red Pharalope.
East Hokkaido September Trip #9
The typhoon blew several interesting species into the port at Kiritappu. There were lots of Fork-tailed Petrels: a species which I’d only ever seen once on a pelagic trip many years ago.
The weather conditions made photography very hard, these are not great images.
Arctic Skua
August is typhoon season and occasionally things get blown in off the sea like the above Arctic Skua near Yakumo today.
Thet temperatures have been bearable the last 2 or 3 days: long may that continue.
East Hokkaido 2019 #5
I did the boat trip from Ochisihi last week. It was a grey cold windy day: not ideal for photographs. My target species was Tufted Puffin, a would-be lifer. One adult did fly over briefly but no photo alas………….
There were plenty of Spectacled Guillemots that did pose for the camera at least.
Other species seen included Rhinoceros Auket and White-tailed Eagle………….
Blue Rock Thrush
A male Blue Rock Thrush to the west of town yesterday. Summer is starting and just the breeders remain now. Other noteworthy species around included Kentish Plover and a few Rhinoceros Auklet close inshore chasing the sardines. Not quite close enough for any decent photos although one did pop very briefly nearby the port.
Otherwise just the regular summer stuff around: Reed and Chestnut-eared Buntings, Oriental Reed Warblers and lots of Siberian Stonechats.
