Near Yakumo there were lots of birds in the fields, A full summer plumage male Brambling was a nice find but when we turned around the car to try and get a good photo it had moved. Luckily there were lots of Rustic bunting including this summer plumage male…
A lot of interesting birds in the park recently…the first Daurian Redstart of the winter, 3 species of woodpecker, lots of Nuthatch, 4 species of tit…
And near my apartment this female Bullfinch was skulking around.
A bit of a Rustic Bunting invasion: they’re all over the place out east.
Quite a few Rustic Buntings around again this winter…
Wow it was cold today…
Although east of town doesn’t have much snow.
Back in town there were blizzards.
In among the Crossbills (and Redpolls) were other winter passerines……….
Also around were Hawfinch, Brambling as well as various tits and woodpeckers, Eurasian Jay and Dusky Thrush.
Several White-tailed and at least 3 (!) Steller’s Sea Eagles were in the Esan area in addition to Eastern Buzzard, Peregrine and 2 Mountain Hawk-Eagles too.
The Rustic Buntings were finding seeds that had blown onto the road………..
I usually see this species on spring/autumn passage only but yesterday in Esan there were several small groups of them…………
The Rustic Buntings were in the same spot yesterday………….
Not the most exciting bird in the world but a species I don’t photograph so often.
A very cold icy start to the year saw us heading east. A few small birds were around including Asian Rosy Finch and 3 Rustic Bunting.
Usually in this area there are lots of Black-legged Kittiwakes at this time of year but not this winter. Gulls were surprisingly thin on the ground: a few Glaucous-winged and this lone Common Gull being the only vaguely interesting ones.
Other stuff around included Pelagic Cormorant, Brent Goose, Harlequin Duck, Peregrine, Red-breasted Merganser and Eastern Buzzard.
The Rustic Buntings were still in the same field as yesterday, the Spoonbill was still miles away and despite the warm southwesterlies there didn’t seem to be much about. Not a great day for photos again: I think I used up all my luck in the first 3 months of 2020.
Lots of birds on the move today including loads of Dusky Thrush and Rustic Bunting. The latter were all looking great in summer plumage but very tricky to photograph. The only halfway decent shots were obscured by the above twig………..
The Spoonbill was still around and was joined by no less than 4 Black-winged Stilts. Other stuff today and yesterday included White-fronted Goose, Osprey, Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers, Blue-and-white Flycatcher, Japanese Robin, Wryneck, Wood and Common Sandpipers, Common Greenshank, Black-throated Diver, Shoveler, Great Egret and Grey Bunting.
My bird saw and photographed a Hazel Grouse but by the time I got there, it had gone. Luckily I finally got this bogey species last year. Or I would have been really narked.