I have a few days off coming up…
Lots of this species around now. These photos are from near my apartment this morning.
I also saw Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Eastern Crowned Warbler, a few Common Crossbill, lots of Coal Tit…
Spring break upon us
Tag: Chestnut-cheeked Starling
A walk along the river
I was surprised to see a pair of Hawfinch taking a bath in the river near my apartment…don’t really see this species much in summer.
There were other birds bathing too:
And using the river’s other facilities..
Other stuff around included lone singing Japanese Bush Warblers and Oriental Reed Warblers (both probably just passing through), Bull-headed Shrike, Asian House Martin and Masked Buntings.
Plus the usual…
Starlings in the gloom
A grey overcast day…
Several Japanese Bush Warbler and a couple of Masked Buntings were singing on the riverside near my apartment. The only passage migrant was a lone Asian Brown Flycatcher.
The Chestnut-cheeked Starlings add a bit of east Asian exotica though.
A grey Sunday afternoon in the neighbourhood
Some archetypal small brown birds passing through town…
And our local summer starlings…
A local walk
This Night Heron was a nice find on the river near my apartment today.
I’d only been away for a few days and the amount of new greenery is astonishing.
No passage migrants (apart from a lone Dusky Thrush). Common birds only: Bull-headed Shrike, Asian House Martin, Masked Bunting and other even commoner stuff.
Quiet in town
Pretty quiet now in town. The Chestnut-cheeked Starlings (male above, from this afternoon) are busy feeding their young but not much else about. In the past week or 2 I didn’t take my camera out when going for a walk. Black-crowned Night Heron and Peregrine were the most noteworthy birds.
Chestnuts
The ports were full of Chestnut-cheeked Starlings feasting on flies…
Golden Week 2021 #7
Some staples from this time of year. It’s been a fairly quiet week………….
End of the blossoms
With one thing and another it wasn’t really possible to photograph many birds in Goryokaku Park this spring. The park re-opened at least but unlike some previous springs there was very little of interest around. Lots of Red-cheeked Starlings walking around though: the cherry blossoms have all fallen as you can see.
Golden Week 2019 #4
In the fishing ports local fishermen leave the nets out to dry. I guess the nets contain rotting seafood and in early May some kind of fly lay their eggs in the stinking netting and when the insects emerge they are food for any birds in the area.
Chestnut-cheeked Starlings are common summer visitors and flocks of them were feasting on the flies………..
