Getting ready for a trip

A Jungle Crow mobbing a Black Kite. A rather low key birding week with nothing particularly exciting about. Here's a Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker also at Onuma.




A male Mandarin at Onuma the other day.




I'm off on a 6 day trip on Sunday to east Hokkaido. Should get some nice species. I went twice last year and it's a pretty interesting place with lots of different habitats. Lakes, marshland, sea cliffs, mountains, forest and grassland.

Shame about the football the other night. I just knew Liverpool weren't going to score especially after Gerard fluffed those chances. Milan weren't even that good anyway.


Around May 25th down the years:

1984 (May 26th onwards) NE Scotland. A family holiday to Laggan Bridge. We often went there when I was a kid and stayed in the same cottage. Near the cottage were Twite, Siskin, various common waders breeding, Dipper, Ring Ouzel, Sedge warbler and Tree Pipit. Elsewhere I got Crested Tit and Wood warbler at Glenfinnan, Osprey at Loch Garten, my first ever Black Guilemot at Fort William plus Eider and Merlin at Arisaig.

1986 (May 26th) A big day in Lancashire. We were actually driven around by my friend's dad. We got a perfectly respectable 90 species (no Scope, no internet to get bird locations etc). No terribly exciting species. Bittern at Leighton Moss plus Little Gull and Little Tern at Seaforth being the most notable.

1989 (May 28th) Fairburn Ings. One of my rare forays into twitching to successfully get a Glossy Ibis.

1996 (May 26th) Ribble at Penwortham. Lots of migrants. Yellow Wagtail, Wheatear, Sedge warbler, Cuckoo and Common Tern.

1999 (May 29th) My first local patch Little Egret at Penwortham. Also around were Reed and Corn Bunting, Peregrine and (I think) a calling Quail. The latter is one of my 2 dodgiest local ticks. The other one being a Roseate Tern in May 1983. Hope the plans to develop the Ribble don't come into fruition.

2004 (May 26th) Mt Hakodate. All summer stuff present and accounted for including a singing Arctic Warbler.

2005 (May 25th) Yakumo. Good day for waders. Black Winged Stilt, Spotted Redshank (in summer plumage) and a lone Red Necked Pharalope (at close quarters instead of half a mile offshore).