A quiet week in town

Brambling

A Brambling snacking on Dusky Thrush poop in town today…

There were loads of Dusky Thrush last week in Hakodate but most appear to have gone. Nothing interesting among them. And they ate all the berries so if any Waxwings do make it to my neighbourhood this winter there won’t be much food for them.

Dusky Thrush

Not much else around: Sparrowhawk, Goshawk and Hawfinch being the most noteworthy.

It has stopped snowing at last…

The quiet ones

Brambling

The Brambling flock unobtrusively go about their business. I tend to aim for Waxwing photos but the Bramblings are not without their charms although a bit hard to photograph: they are shy, feed busily and seem to like the shadows.

The flock seems to have shrunk to about 20……….

These photos are from a few days ago.

Brambling

I remember finding my first Brambling in Penwortham in 1981 (!). They seem a lot more numerous in Hokkaido than in Lancashire.

Brambling

A snowy Monday in Hakodate

Japanese Waxwing

The first real snow of 2020 in Hakodate is falling. I went out for a walk this morning not expecting much but was happy to see a huge flock of Waxwings (300 or more). They seemed to be mainly Bohemian Waxwings (in fact I’d say over 90% were) but there were some Japanese mixed in there too. This must be a different flock from the one in town last month.

Bohemian Waxwing

Very very dark and heavy snow so it was tricky to take photos.

They were in the same place as last month’s flocks and under the trees they use to roost there are a lot of red droppings. A flock of 100 or so Bramblings were on the ground feeding there.

Brambling

Have to say I didn’t know Bramblings eat Waxwing poop. You learn something every day.