Hakodate had its hottest every day last week but amazingly we had another cool Monday (the high temps will return later this week…again).
The above Kestrel at Yakumo was a nice find; not a bird I often see in Hokkaido.
The storms were pushing the waves right up the beaches so it was tricky to find waders; only 3 species around today. And terrible conditions once again for photos.
Sometimes it’s worth getting up early…
There was also a pair of Grey-headed Woodpecker around…
A common bird of campsites and parklands…
The most interesting bird for me was White’s Thrush. Not a bird I often see. The first time I’ve even photographed one.
A bit shy…
We had a night on a campsite last night…
After being serenaded by Jungle Nightjars all night (including a brief glimpse in the twilight) we were up at sunrise and there were lots of birds: a flyover White-tailed Eagle and Osprey, Japanese Green Pigeon, Brown Dipper, Grey Wagtail, several species of thrush…
…and several species of woodpecker…
Breeding season in full swing as you can see.
My second godwit species of the week…
This bird was at a tidal pool we often go to. The tide was out but the sun was in the wrong place for photos…
We returned later but the tide had come in and there was no exposed mud anywhere.
Lots of waders scattered around yesterday; in addition to the stilt there were Ruddy Turnstone, Grey Plover, Eurasian Curlew, Grey-tailed tattler, Wood Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Bar-tailed Godwit.
Plus a flock of Sanderling.
Not quite in full summer colours yet…
But almost…
Not only ducks, grebes and divers…
The wintering Dunlin flock are showing some summer colours…
The tagged individual (from NE Siberia) didn’t return this winter sadly…
The light lens day continued…
So surprise surprise neither the RF 600 f/11 or the EF 400 f/5.6L are as good as the EF 500 f/4L but on days like yesterday sometimes it’s great to not worry about heavy lenses and dodgy shoulders.
Actually I used the big lens this afternoon and the camera/lens started shuddering and making loud noises and an error message appeared in the viewfinder. Hopefully just a case of cleaning the contacts….