A nervous Cormorant that had just evacuated its' bowels.
September is typhoon season in this part of the world. A couple of days ago a typhoon (that was already fizzling out) hit south Hokkaido. High winds, lots of rain. Lots of bedraggled looking Gulls standing among the flotsam and jetsam on the beaches. Just before the typhoon hit the Bar Tailed Godwit was still around as was a lone Terek Sandpiper and yet another group of Red Necked Stints (apparently this year is seeing very high numbers of this species throughout Japan).
Not much else going on in Hakodate. Some White Rumped Swifts passed over yesterday and I tried unsuccessfully to get shots of 2 separate Black Crowned Night Herons.
The above bird was sitting motionless in a tree next to the local river. Over at Kamiso the same species was standing in a photogenic pose but flew off as soon as I raised the camera to my eyes.
Nice result for England last night. 3-0. At one stage I had the cricket, rugby and football going on 1 TV and 2 computers in 2 separate rooms.
I bought a small saltwater tropical fish tank on Thursday. We have to wait 10 days before we put any actual fish in it (my wife has already decided which. Clownfish). We got a few snails and hermit crabs..........one snail died immediately and the hermit crabs started eating it which caused a hysterical outburst from my wife who is sensitive to such matters.
My last post inspired someone to attach not one but two comments. They seemed to have been offended by the fact I made tongue in cheek comments about locals in northwestern Scotland staring at strangers (they did) and there being lots of drunks in Glasgow bus station (there were). Oh and he called me an a**hole too. Which may well be true of course but for someone to write rather abusive comments on a birdwatching blog read by about only 25 people a day about flippant comments written by a nobody in Japan about events that happened 16 years ago............the mind boggles. I deleted the sentences that raised this person's ire anyway (as well as his/her comments). And I'll have to moderate comments in the future. Kind of pathetic on a crappy little blog like this but hey.
Unless it was someone who knows me taking the p*ss....................
People do more than stare in NW Scotland...they talk in hushed voices when you enter post offices on remote islands too....so I sympathise.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you are still getting plenty of waders up there.
Was fortunate to get down to Fukuoka this weekend and managed 27 species of wader in a day.
Highlights were the three or four Spoon-billed Sandpipers I saw for about a minute. A lifer and totally weird little bird. Managed a Japan tick too in the shape of 2 Little Stints.
Managed to see some Broad-billed Sands too, about 10 or more, as well as 500 Red-necked Stints. Other good waders (i.e. scarce)..2 Ringed Plover, 3 Knot, 3 Ruff and perhaps most pleasing of all as i don't see them in this part of Japan too often, around 60 Sanderling and 4-5 Turnstone.
Thaflight shot of the Night Heron is half decent. Do they stay the winter up there? I have never seen in Hokkaido, so they must be at teir northern limit in Hakodate.
f*&k 'em is what I say. Narrow minded a*holes in my opinion. Anyway, nice pics once again. So not much dumped up you way after the typhoon? Pity. Hirobirder connected with Spoon-billed Sand in Hakata Bay (Fukuoka) on Saturday....I'll say nothing.
ReplyDeleteHi Minnsy. 27 species of wader in a day is amazing especially considering the quality of some of the species you saw.
ReplyDeleteNight Herons are actually fairly common around here and I've seen them at several locations in SW Hokkaido. They appear to be summer vistors although some were around last winter (which was very mild as you no doubt remember).
Hi Carmo. Afraid to say the typhoon dumped nothing except lots of garbage on the beach..........