Things moving..........

An immature/female falcon at Yakumo a couple of days ago. At first glance I thought it was a Hobby (Merlins are winter visitors only). Whatever it was, it was a bit of a surprise..........

Doh! A female Kestrel perhaps? Thanks to Unravel for that one. I've seen thousands of them over the years back in Europe but they're pretty scarce in north Japan and it completely slipped my mind............



We were looking for waders and on the local beaches and rivers there were 6 species present. Nothing too exciting,this Eastern Curlew was at Kamiso.

And these skittish Red Necked Stints were near Oshamanbe.






These are adults, the juveniles pass through later and are generally tamer.

In town a few migrants are passing through. Asian Brown Flycatcher and Stonechat mainly. I haven't managed to locate any young Night Herons yet.................

It's been overcast and humid, not great weather for photos. On Sunday there were fishing Ospreys everywhere as well as fishing Kingfishers but no decent shots of either alas. here's the best of a bad bunch.........



This Whooper Swan must have stayed all summer at Kikonai, 1 or 2 seem to do that every year.......



I did find this big horrible spider. the 100-400L is not a great lens for macro type stuff. I don't know the name of this species but they are very common in summer.



And here's an old fisherman looking for kelp..............



The 11 hours a day/7 days a week construction next door and opposite my flat continues and I'm beyond sick of it.

England reverted to type in the cricket but early on the 5th day of the 1st Test I'd have settled for 1-1 with 1 game to play.

I fell asleep watching the Charity Shield even though it wasn't on especially late, being woken at 7.30am every morning by the aforementioned construction is starting to take its toll.