Some more low-key birding around town…
There were 7 species of duck including a small flock of Pintail and a couple of Shoveler…and the long-staying Whooper Swan too.
And 3 species of heron…
This Slaty-backed Gull had found a salmon-like fish to try and eat. I think its’ a salmon but not sure. I think there are 2 or 3 kinds in Hokkaido.
A pretty quiet time in town…
A common sight in autumn: Black-crowned Night Herons hiding in the bushes next to the small river near my apartment.
Lots of Stonechat passing through on the same river. Also around recently have been Eurasian Teal, Northern Pintail, Masked Bunting, Grey Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, Hawfinch and Bull-headed Shrike….
Cool enough for a jacket today too.
The Night Herons are back at their usual late summer spot…………….
But I was concentrating on waders. The only place I could get near this Terek Sandpiper was literally the only shady place on the coast.
No car and my ongoing achilles issues meant not much birding this week: just a quick hobble along the river near my apartment. Most of the trees have gone so it isn’t that good for birds anymore. The above Night Heron was the only thing of note………….
Beautiful clear autumn weather the last few days and a clear change in some of the bird species. Harlequin Duck and Glaucous-winged Gulls gave reappeared on the coasts.
A flock of Whooper Swan were flying south yesterday as were lots of Eurasian Jay. Lots of common ducks on the rivers and Great Egrets are becoming more numerous. Northern Goshawk and Daurian Redstart were other noteworthy species near Esan.
Hakodate is pretty quiet: a flock of Rustic Bunting were in one of the local parks today and There are still some Night Herons on the river.
And the Esan area always seems to have a Peregrine…………..
I could only find 3 Night Herons on the local river yesterday.
They are quite good at hiding though.
The river near my apartment is a good place to see Night Herons in autumn.
Usually they just sit still hidden in the long grass but when one flies they all fly………….
This Large-billed Crow took exception to one of the juveniles;
There was a flock of 30 or so Black-crowned Night Herons at one of the local river mouths. They were all sitting around in a tree and I inadvertently disturbed them.
The more photogenic adults didn’t come as close…………….
Near my place there were a few migrants passing through last week: a Northern Hawk Cuckoo, several Asian Brown Flycatcher and a couple of Siberian Stonechat.
Another quiet week just gone by.
At Yakumo today there were a couple of interesting waders: a Teminck’s Stint and a Green Sandpiper. I don’t have any decent shots of either and they were both so jumpy I couldn’t get any today either.
On the beach there were a few Sanderlings and the ubiquitous Red-necked Stints.
The hot time is here. The start of August always sees Hakodate throwing a huge festival, but not this year for obvious reasons.
Not much around. The Chinese Pond Heron is still there but I only glimpsed it very briefly. Other stuff today included a large group of Black-crowned Night Herons, Sand Martin, Osprey, Pacific Swift, Common Kingfisher, Osprey and Blue Rock Thrush.
A mild last few days in town, surely the winter chill will come soon.
On the river near my apartment there were 3 species of Heron: the above Night Heron, and several each of Grey Heron and Great Egret. There were also 6 species of duck with the most interesting being a small group of Goosander and a lone drake Goldeneye.
Other stuff around included Hawfinch, Dusky Thrush, Winter Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Brown Dipper and Varied Tit.