It was pretty hot yesterday. The Chinese Pond Heron was still around but flew off before I could try to get any pics. Otherwise not much about: lots of Ospreys, some Pacific Swift, several species of duck braving a Hokkaido summer, Sand Martin and Black-crowned Night Heron.
Another crappy photo of the Chinese Pond Heron which was still around today.
Even with at 700mm it was too far off. Today was also a very hot day with harsh sunlight: not ideal for photos.
Plenty of Ospreys around.
So my 7DM2 has seen better days. The main dial on top has broken and other bits are loose or stiff or falling off: but nothing major I thought. I could just about manage to get by using the dial on the grip and the Q screen for a few months but as July is generally a birding lull I sent it off to Canon expecting them to do some minor repairs for between $100 and $200.
I still have my 7D Mark 1 so these photos and the last post were taken with that 11-year-old antique. For perched birds at 700mm, it’s still OK .
It was lousy for BIFs with the T/C attached but otherwise didn’t seem so bad. This Osprey on the way home was in better light and without the T/C.
When we got back Canon had been in touch. They want about $700 to fix the camera. The shutter count is so high apparently they want to replace the mirror and shutter as well as the other bits and pieces I had sent it in for. $700 to fix for a 6-year-old camera no longer in production? No way. Especially one as idiosyncratic as the 7DM2. We asked them how much it would be to just fix the top dial but they haven’t got back to me yet.
I’m not really in the position to buy a new camera for a while. The New Canon R bodies look very interesting but are way out of my price range at the moment. I guess the unrepaired 7DM2 will come back and I’ll use it until it dies but then what?
The Osprey family on the west coast is doing well. 3 juveniles, all of them flying around a bit. the female (above and below) was getting harassed by the local Black-tailed Gulls.
Every so often the male dropped by with a fish…………..
After several weeks of generally clear sunny weather the clouds have come………
These Ospreys were very close, wish I’d had blue skies………
Whilst I was watching the terns there were several Osprey fishing very close by.
The ight was awful so the photos are not great.
They were being overambitious: 2 or 3 times they couldn’t lift the fish out of the water like this individual……….
Woule have been a nice picture if it had been facing the other way………….
This diving Osprey caught me a bit by surprise………
It’s almost in focus.
Other stuff around this weekend included all 4 species of cuckoo, Eastern Marsh Harrier, straggling Scaup and Goldeneye, Great Egret and Rhinoceros Auklet plus all the common summer stuff.
This Osprey seems to like the local port. It was there again this afternoon.
I haven’t seen it catch anything there. Yet.
I sometimes complain about how dull summer birding can be around here but then I think well at least we have Ospreys fishing in the local ports………..
Also around town today were Goosander, late Scaup and Goldeneye as well as Chestnut-eared Bunting, Oriental Reed Warbler and Siberian Stonechat.
We were east of town today under heavy grey skies. Not great for bird photos but there were lots of interesting birds around. 4 species of goose (a record for me in Japan!): in among the many skeins of White-fronted and Bean Goose heading north I found 3 Cackling Goose. There were also Brent Geese flocks feeding along the coast.
Lots of Common Crossbill around as well as White-tailed, Steller’s Sea and Mountain Hawk-Eagles (only singles of the latter 2), Harlequin Duck, Black-necked Grebe, Glaucous-winged Gull, Red-breasted Merganser and Asian Rosy Finch.
Shame about the dark gloomy skies.
Still quite a few Eagles around today. They are dotted randomly up and down the coast………..
There was a flock of 7 Asian Rosy Finch east of town today but they flew off before I could get a decent picture.
The local Steller’s Sea Eagle has returned there…………….
Annoyingly it stayed high up on the hillside and didn’t do anything all afternoon.
Several White-tailed Eagles and 2 Mountain Hawk-Eagles were around as well.
