There were lots of swans with the geese…
The weather was nasty on the second and thirds days: rain and fog.
Late Winter Trip 2023 #15
Tag: Whooper Swan
Canon RF 600 f/11
Someone very kindly lent me his 600 f11 lens when he heard about my dodgy shoulder.
It was a nice sunny day today so I took it out for a spin. It might take a bit of getting used to but it seems pretty reasonable for a walk about lens…
No exciting birds around, the injured long-staying Whooper and a few common ducks and lots of Dusky Thrush.
Tokachi Autumn 2022 #3
We were focusing on the geese but the same area is also home to a large number of cranes…
And in addition to the geese there were lots of Whooper Swans…
A grey Sunday in late October
Winter birds are arriving…
An arrival and a passer-through
Quite a few Ospreys around now.
Only a few swans passing through:
I got my first Mandarin Duck of the year and other seasonal arrivals included Bull-headed Shrike, lots of Skylarks and Oriental Turtle Doves, groups of Eastern Buzzard on their way north, flocks of noisy Common Gull…
Late Winter Trip 2022 Day 5 #9
I only saw 1 Bean Goose (Taiga I think) amongst the main flocks in Mukawa. There was a flock of them a few miles east but they were impossible to get close enough to photograph.
There were also quite a few swans. Not photogenic in the harsh spring sunshine. Mainly Whoopers but I found at least 1 Bewick’s.
The nearest I could get to a comparison shot:
A late autumn trip #3
We were there for the geese but there were other birds around.
A sunny walk in October
I took a walk down the river this morning. A very mild sunny autumnal day with a few birds around. 7 (!) Great Egret were the most interesting and there was also this lone injured Whooper Swan. It’s probably been there all summer: I saw it in the spring.
Other stuff around included 4 species of duck including Pintail, a few buntings in the bushes, a briefly glimpsed Pale Thrush.
Not Eagles
We were in Yakumo the last couple of days. Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Waxwing, Brown Dipper, Japanese Wagtail, Great Egret and the above woodpecker and below swan were some of the species around……………
Take-off
Some swans from Onuma the other day………….
Heading north
The ricefields near Onuma had some visitors stopping by on their way north……..
Bean and White-fronted Geese, Bewick’s and Whooper Swans……….
Terrible day for photos but some interesting species around: Smew, Grey-headed Woodpecker, White-tailed and Steller’s Sea Eagles as well as the usual common stuff.
End of the Holidays #3
Eagles weren’t the only birds on show. Also around were Great Egret, Little Grebe, Smew, Goosander, Goldeneye, Pochard, Whooper Swan, a lone Goshawk, Japanese Wagtail and a flock of Common Crossbill flying overhead.
The swans are difficult to photograph at 700mm……
Goosanders regularly flew back and forth too……..
