Foxes and cherry blossoms

The cherry blossoms have opened but I've been mostly stuck inside with work and a sore throat. I did manage it up Mt Hakodate on Wednesday and later made it out to Onuma and Asabu. Spring migration on Mt Hakodate is underway but the deluge hasn't quite begun. Pale Thrush, Whites Thrush, Grey Thrush, Red Flanked Bluetail and Red Cheeked Starling were the main visitors on show. There were also these 2 oddities. A deformed crow and a strange looking Coal Tit.





Is the Coal Tit a fledgling? Surely not in April? Is it covered in yellow pollen? God knows. Here are some not so hot shots of several of the commoner species at Asabu. Black Faced and Chestnut Eared Buntings plus a male Siberian Stonechat.







There seems to be some development going on near the river at Asabu that may not bode so well for the birds. Little Ringed Plover and Osprey were also around and my wife was happy enough buying some of the tasty local mushrooms (maitake and shitake). Over at Onuma we saw quite a lot of birds (including Black Woodpecker) but not many were hanging around to be photographed.........except for the Marsh Tits. So a special thank you to this Red Fox.







The Ural Owl wasn't in its' hole. I hope we didn't spook it last Sunday.

Today (Friday) I popped out and took these shots.........the 100-400 lens isn't ideal for this sort of picture but I can't be arsed changing lenses.





Only a brief foray due to the sore throat, not many birds about at all. A Red Flanked Bluetail flashed around for a few seconds but the only birds I could get on camera were these 2, including a failed takeoff shot.





I couldn't believe Riise's last gasp own goal on Tuesday night (or Wednesday morning here in Japan). It was a real roll your eyes heavenwards muttering 'oh for f**ks sake' moment. I suppose Liverpool got a fair share of luck earlier on in the CL (those 2 red cards for Inter, the penalty decisions against Arsenal) so I'm not going to complain.........but...........oh for f**ks sake.