14 May 2010

Early morning in Onuma


A male Narcissus Flycatcher at Onuma this morning, one of many in fact.

I got up at 4.45am (!) in order to catch the earliest local train to the east side of Onuma. The forest was once again full of birds but it was a little overcast and this together with the increasing leaf cover meant photography was a little tricky sometimes. May is definitely the best month for birding but not for bird photography.

This Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker was very photogenic though.







This was one of 4 Woodpecker species I saw today, the best was a briefly seen male Black Woodpecker. 

The Pygmy Woodpecker was very tame.

 

I took a couple of short videos of it. This one was with my compact camera.


And this was with the 7D and 100-400 lens, not ideal for a handheld video at all..........


Lots of summer visitors in the forest. Narcissus, Blue & White and Asian Brown Flycatchers, Japanese and Brown Thrushes, Short Tailed Bush, Japanese Bush, Eastern Crowned and Sakhalin Leaf Warblers,  Japanese Grosbeak, Russet Sparrow, Japanese White-eye, Oriental Cuckoo, Common Kingfisher, Grey Heron, Bullheaded Shrike, Oriental Turtle Dove, lots of Swallows and House Martins, Hawfinch, the usual resident Treecreepers, Tits, Nuthatches and Woodpeckers, Little Grebe, Coot, Red Cheeked Starling, Black Faced and Rustic Buntings.........

Here are some shots of male Russet Sparrows, not a bird I often get to photograph......










There were a lot of Marsh Tits too.




Treecreepers are a bird I struggle with, so fast and difficult to focus on.......






And here are a couple of record shots.

Blue and White Flycatchers are beautiful but I have yet to get a decent shot, only heavily cropped ones like this.




A male Rustic Bunting in summer plumage (not something we often get to see in south Hokkaido), shame it didn't come any close, this is another biggish crop.




Black Faced Buntings must be the commonest small bird in Onuma in the summer, here's a female.




The only waterbirds were Little Grebes and Coots...........




And here's a view of Mt Komagadake to finish with.........




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Guess I can start thinking about the World Cup now, only 4 weeks off. I'm old enough and wise enough not to expect much from England but that wisdom is always put to the test during the heat of a game and after a few beers....................

I may watch the FA Cup final this weekend and the 20-20 too (if it's on at a reasonable time). England might win a World Cup this summer after all................

*EDITED TO ADD*

I just approved some comments and they seem to have disappeared, apologies if you left a comment. They have gone somewhere in internetland, perhaps never to return..................






7 comments:

  1. That early start seemed to have paid off. Wow that Narcissus Flycatcher is a very pretty bird. Good luck to England in T-20 finals!

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  2. Wowwww much better than the forest here in Beppu! I'm so jealous! Definitely love the Narcissus shot, and the treecreeper also looks very good. I've yet to see the species here in Japan.

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  3. Hi Gallicissa, 20-20 seems so random, as I've said before I prefer the 5 day game.............still i'll be happy if the English/English South Africans beat Australia........

    Hi Unravel, dunno about that, I feel jealous when I look at your shots too!

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  4. Your bird photography is excellent. I love taking bird pictures too. I was in Japan for almost three years but never saw any birds in Sendai. I guess it was too close in time to when the city didn't have any trees left.

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  5. very cool pictures. Congratulation!

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  6. What a birding feast. Lovely pictures too. I have also lost some comments when I tried to publish them. ...and Australia did lose!

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