The Osprey was just about to leave Hokkaido for the winter and the Rook had presumably just arrived.
An arrival and a leaver
Category: Kikonai
Quiet time again
Pretty quiet the last few days. Ospreys are everywhere, I heard the first Lesser Cuckoo and White-bellied Green Pigeons of the summer, lots of Rhinoceros Auklets offshore too.
Too late
As we pulled into a beachside car park there were 2 Ospreys fishing inshore very close. I grabbed my camera and didn’t really have time to adjust the settings.
Not too bad but the shutter speed was too slow and I was in crop mode. If I had been waiting for a while in this spot I may have been ready. Next time, next time.
A big one
This Osprey really struggled to pluck this fish out of the water. I thought it was going to get dragged under. The action happened too far out for any photos but it flew back inland reasonably close.
Locally quiet
Had a quick drive west of town 3 days ago: not much around. A fishing Osprey, thousands of Common Gull and a flock of Rooks were the most noteworthy stuff……………
A grey Friday out west
Very dark yesterday so crap for photos but a few interesting birds around: various grebes including a couple of hundred Great Cresteds, several Black-throated Diver, a lone White-tailed Eagle, lots of Brent Geese and huge numbers of Common Gull.
And my first Osprey of the year too.
#300
A crap photo but quite a scarce bird in north Japan and the 300th species I’ve seen in Hokkaido.
A Chinese Pond Heron west of town today. It flew off and disappeared into the trees before I could get a decent shot.
Not much else around: lots of Osprey fishing off the coast, a couple of stray Great Scaup, flocks of Japanese Green Pigeon etc.
Large numbers of Black-tailed Gulls were hunting flying ants everywhere.
Novices
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.
Quiet time here
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.
Kentish Plover
One of the few breeding wader species near Hakodate is Kentish Plover. They nest on some of the local beaches and around now the eggs are hatching.
Not much around last weekend: a couple of stray Goldeneye, Osprey, Goosander. Near my apartment the Gray’s Grasshopper Warbler has stopped singing (I guess a lone male that has given up and moved elsewhere) but a Black-browed Reed Warbler continues trilling away and the bushes are full of the sounds of Chestnut-cheeked Starlings feeding their fledglings.
Golden Week 2019 begins
An Osprey at Kikonai yesterday. Not much around: Pacific Swift, Common Sandpiper, Black-throated Diver and Great Egret being the most interesting. Inland the first Eastern-crowned Warbler of the year and a few common species were present but that’s all.
Nearer Hakodate there were a few ducks still around including Pintail, Shoveler, Scaup and Wigeon as well as Great-crested Grebe offshore. 5 species of gull included summer plumaged Black-headed………..
There were also 11 Brent Geese………….
Beautiful spring weather as you can see but when the weather is so clear migrants just pass straight through.
In Yakumo/Oshamanbe yesterday there were 40 or so White-fronted Geese, Great and Little Egret, a dozen or so species of duck including at least 8 Garganey, Eastern Marsh Harrier, osprey, Buff-bellied Pipit, Little-ringed Plover, a lone Whimbrel, and 7 species of gull.