The Osprey was just about to leave Hokkaido for the winter and the Rook had presumably just arrived.
An arrival and a leaver
Category: Raptors
Still hunting
We stopped at the Japanese Green Pigeon beach on the way back and pigeons and Peregrine were still around………..
Pigeons on the beach #4
The Peregrine eventually nabbed a pigeon only to lose its prize…
Pigeons on the beach #2
The pigeons attracted a Peregrine…………………
Another juvenile
It’s the season to see juvenile Peregrines along the coast. This one was bothering the waders near Yakumo. Shame about the lighting………..
Well-named
Bar-tailed Godwits are aptly named as you can see when they fly………….
Off the same beach, a couple of Ospreys were fishing……..
Juvenile on Juvenile
This roadside juvenile Peregrine had just killed that unfortunate juvenile Black-tailed Gull………………..
A classic old lens
Someone has very kindly lent me his old 400 f5.6 lens and I tried it out at the weekend. I’d always wondered about this ‘classic’ old birding lens.
6 species of waders near Yakumo but the 400 wasn’t quite long enough for any decent shots.
But in this hot weather it was a relief not to be carrying one of the big whites.
And this Osprey was close enough at least……………
The quietest of quietest months
July is always a quiet month in south Hokkaido and for various reasons July 2021 has been even quieter than usual.
It’s been really really hot too. Last Sunday it was foggy in the morning which provided temporary relief. Not great for photos but juvenile Ospreys were practicing fishing and the first of the ‘autumn’ waders were passing through.
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.
