Another typhoon is approaching and it brought more Red-necked Pharalopes. This time in Hakodate………..
There were 3 of them as well as 1 Terek Sandpiper, a dozen or so Red-necked Stint, a couple of Common Sandpiper and a lone Eurasian Oystercatcher. They were all very skittish. Except the Pharalopes.
There were some Red-necked Pharalopes around yesterday: 7 at Yakumo and 3 at Oshamanbe.
They were a variety of ages and plumages…………..
Must have been rough out at sea for them…………
Other waders around included small flocks of Red-necked Stints, 5 Sanderling, 2 Terek Sandpiper, 1 Kentsish Plover, 2 or 3 Mongolian Plover and 1 Great Knot.
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.
Very hot and humid the last couple of weeks…………
I’ve been pretty lazy and not gone out much. Today there were Osprey just outside town and at Kikonai there were Common Kingfisher, all 3 hirundine species and Pacific Swift but not much else. At Kamiiso there were Japanese Green Pigeon, 2 Terek Sandpiper and several Goosander. Last week at Yakumo there were a few Wood Sandpiper but other wise it was pretty quiet.
Roll on Autumn.
Very dark and grey this July. So far at least. Not much west of town today: a lot of Osprey, a few stray ducks stuck here for summer, Pacific Swift and the above Blue Rock Thrush, one of many individuals west of hakodate.
The coast is suddenly full of juvenile Ospreys practising their diving techniques. The light was awful but I had a pleasant couple of hours watching them fail to land any fish……..
At least I got some nice angles…….
Other stuff around included a small flock of Red-necked Pharalope at Shikabe, a stray Pochard and Goldeneye at Kamiiso but not much else of any interest. From mid July birding does tend to grind to a halt.
An Osprey west of town last week. Lots of them around the coast now including many fledged juveniles……….
Not much else around. a couple of Black-crowned Night Herons, a flyover Peregrine and a juvenile Grey Wagtail were on the river near my aprtment last week but otherwise very quiet indeed.
At Shibunotsunaiko there were several Siberian Rubythroat nests deep in the hamanasu bushes………….
Crows were watching and I saw a weasel running around too. Tough times to raise chicks…………..
The Yellow Wagtails must have had nests nearby as they didn’t fly off. We were able to spens a few minutes with several pairs being leaving them be………..
These are 2 common species which were both present on the Ohotsku grasslands although in slightly smaller numbers than down near Hakodate.
