The on-tap parade of photogenic local birds seems to have dried up. Onuma had both swans and Greater White-fronted Geese yesterday but was otherwise a bit quiet.
No crossbills for several days now. Just a few Dusky Thrush around and the resident woodpeckers…
Spring migration is just around the corner at least.
Lots of osprey around yesterday and also the first Stonechats of the year, the first singing Japanese Bush Warblers, the first Little Ringed Plover…
There was a flock of 100 or so Greater White-fronted Geese at Yakumo, Gadwall, Shoveler and some sunset swans…
A quiet Sunday afternoon in Onuma: Whooper Swans, White-tailed Eagle, Bean Geese, Black Woodpecker and Common Redpoll were the most noteworthy birds.
There were lots of swans with the geese…
The weather was nasty on the second and thirds days: rain and fog.
Someone very kindly lent me his 600 f11 lens when he heard about my dodgy shoulder.
It was a nice sunny day today so I took it out for a spin. It might take a bit of getting used to but it seems pretty reasonable for a walk about lens…
No exciting birds around, the injured long-staying Whooper and a few common ducks and lots of Dusky Thrush.
We were focusing on the geese but the same area is also home to a large number of cranes…
And in addition to the geese there were lots of Whooper Swans…
Winter birds are arriving…
Quite a few Ospreys around now.
Only a few swans passing through:
I got my first Mandarin Duck of the year and other seasonal arrivals included Bull-headed Shrike, lots of Skylarks and Oriental Turtle Doves, groups of Eastern Buzzard on their way north, flocks of noisy Common Gull…
I only saw 1 Bean Goose (Taiga I think) amongst the main flocks in Mukawa. There was a flock of them a few miles east but they were impossible to get close enough to photograph.
There were also quite a few swans. Not photogenic in the harsh spring sunshine. Mainly Whoopers but I found at least 1 Bewick’s.
The nearest I could get to a comparison shot:
We were there for the geese but there were other birds around.
I took a walk down the river this morning. A very mild sunny autumnal day with a few birds around. 7 (!) Great Egret were the most interesting and there was also this lone injured Whooper Swan. It’s probably been there all summer: I saw it in the spring.
Other stuff around included 4 species of duck including Pintail, a few buntings in the bushes, a briefly glimpsed Pale Thrush.
We were in Yakumo the last couple of days. Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Waxwing, Brown Dipper, Japanese Wagtail, Great Egret and the above woodpecker and below swan were some of the species around……………
