I was surprised to see a pair of Hawfinch taking a bath in the river near my apartment…don’t really see this species much in summer.
There were other birds bathing too:
And using the river’s other facilities..
Other stuff around included lone singing Japanese Bush Warblers and Oriental Reed Warblers (both probably just passing through), Bull-headed Shrike, Asian House Martin and Masked Buntings.
Plus the usual…
Some common species from the local park…
A grey sleety, windy day was terrible for photos but there were 1 or 2 interesting species around town at least. A flock of a dozen or so Common Crossbill was near my apartment. Terrible photos in the gloomy light.
The Brambling flock and Dusky Thrushes are still around and one of the Hawfinches stayed on the ground and didn’t fly off immediately for a change.
The Waxwings have all left town but there are still plenty of Hawfinches around.
Best bird of the week was a Naumann’s Thrush in amongst the growing number of Dusky Thrushes. Also around were a few Brambling , a male Daurian Redstart and Varied Tit.
A Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker near my apartment today, not a bird i see so often in town.
Unlike Hawfinches in winter………..
And Great Egrets too…………
The Brambling flock was still around but otherwise still quiet.
Another couple of Hawfinches from last weekend. The above one is an adult I think and it was posing in nice light at a reasonably low angle for a change.
I think this one is a first winter bird maybe as it is much duller.
Hawfinches are pretty stout finches………
Only ever saw this species once in the UK but they are pretty common here especially in winter. 2 or 3 have been in the same park as the Waxwings for the last few weeks.
The other morning with the Waxwings was very sunny and we got clear blue skies for a while.
I was concentrating on the aforementioned waxwings but occasionally I glanced up and the Hawfinches were up in the trees feeding on what was left of the berries.
There were still some Waxwings around yesterday, here are the 3 other species that have been in the same places………
There was also a Long-tailed Rosefinch in the park but no pictures.
It was a grey grey day but the local high street was lit up with hundreds of Waxwings. They were feeding on the main street which is very difficult for photography: you can’t predict which tree they will swarm down to, there are loads of cars, buses and pedestrians going past which spooks them and it is impossible to cross the road quickly. Plus it was very dark and gloomy.
The Dusky Thrushes, Bramblings and Hawfinches were still around too.
A typical view of Waxwings………….
The Waxwings appear to have left. They were still around yesterday but today all I could find were 2 stragglers in a different park and a small flock flying off somewhere. Have they all gone? There are still loads of berries left. Maybe there will be a second wave next week or next month……………
The Hawfinches (above), Brambling and Dusky Thrushes remain.
A Hawfinch in town this morning. The Waxwings were not so co-operative today so I concentrated on some of the other birds in the small park.
This is a common winter visitor in Hakodate but is one of those birds that I associate as being rare in England therefore interesting………
It is a pretty nice characterful bird anyway.