A dark rainy Monday, not ideal for either birding or bird photos.
We went back to one of the Crossbill spots but there were only a few around and there weren’t many other birds either, only common stuff.
A miserable Monday
Category: Esan
A hungry Eagle
A White-tailed Eagle eating a Slaty-backed Gull this afternoon.
Still working out the best settings/most comfortable customizations for my new camera.
Breaking in a New Camera
I picked up a new camera yesterday: The Canon R5. I took it out today and tried it out for the first time………..
The Crossbills were in the same place as a couple of weeks ago. The new camera is taking a bit to get used to……………a lot of new things to think about.
Afternoon Crossbills
Some Crossbills from later in the day on Monday………..
More Redpolls
There was a small flock of 8 or so Common Redpolls. The pink ones are the males………….
Coming down for a drink
The snow/ice wasn’t melting so the Crossbills had to drink snow…………..
Some other small birds
In among the Crossbills (and Redpolls) were other winter passerines……….
Also around were Hawfinch, Brambling as well as various tits and woodpeckers, Eurasian Jay and Dusky Thrush.
Several White-tailed and at least 3 (!) Steller’s Sea Eagles were in the Esan area in addition to Eastern Buzzard, Peregrine and 2 Mountain Hawk-Eagles too.
Some Redpolls
There were some Redpolls in among the Crossbills………….
It’s been a good winter for small birds actually…………….
Some more Sunday Crossbills
Crossbills seem easy to photograph near Hakodate: there are lots of lowish pine trees for a start……….
This particular spot has lots of pine trees on a windy cape. A very quiet place with hardly anyone around especially on a wintry weekend.
These are all females.
Some Sunday Crossbills
There were about 50 Crossbills in a loose jumpy flock. Only Common Crossbills: no Two-barreds among them sadly.
Tamer
The Crossbills out east were tamer than last week………….
But not that tame yet.
Some Crossbills on a windy cape
It was sunny out east yesterday and there were a few Crossbills around. Not as tame as last winter. Not yet anyway…………
Also around were Rustic Bunting, Steller’s and White-tailed Eagles and the usual common gulls and ducks.