6 May 2010

Golden Week 2010 #3


A very confused male Grey Headed Woodpecker near my apartment a couple of days ago. I'm sure it thought it was behaving normally, sitting atop a grey tree calling for a mate and drumming.



The only problem was it was in downtown Hakodate.




And it was drumming on metal lamposts,. I took some jerky video (difficult handheld with a 400mm lens in a busy street).


It has gotten warmer and the cherry blossoms have finally opened, rather later than usual this year........




I didn't go far in the last few days so all my birding was on the local river. Lots of common spring arrivals like this Oriental Turtle Dove.




2 of the commonest summer visitors are Red Cheeked Starling and Bullheaded Shrike.

The Starlings are pretty wary (except when the young leave the nest in mid June when they seemingly ignore pedestrians). This is the male.










And this is the female.







The Starlings nest along the river in small colonies. The Shrikes nest there too, usually 2 or 3 pairs. These are also tricky to photograph and are as wary as the Starlings. This is the male.




I saw the first Oriental Reed Warbler of the spring today, this is another common/wary breeder along the river.

Other stuff passing through has included Pale and Japanese Thrush, Eastern Crowned and Japanese Bush Warbler, Red Flanked Bluetail and Long Tailed Rosefinch. Some of the winter birds are still hanging on: Dusky Thrush, Hawfinch and a few Teal.




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I got up to watch the Spurs/City game, quite exciting stuff and I'm glad it was Spurs who finished 4th and not City.......................Ledley King for England at the World Cup? I reckon so.


6 comments:

  1. Ouch that should hurt! The woodpecker must be thinking why these trees are so thick. That's not a normal behaviour.

    BTW some really nice shots as usual. The starling is my favourite. Hope I can finally get some nice shot of it soon...

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  2. Hi Unravel, I think it was just drumming to attract a female rather than trying to make a hole in the streetlight, actually the noise was rather good and if I was a female Grey Headed Woodpecker I'd be impressed with its improvisation.

    I always thought Woodpeckers didn't migrate as such. I'm surprised this individual turned up in town, where was it going from/to I wonder?

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  3. I see. Then I have to agree with you that the sound is more attractive!

    About migrating woodpeckers, about half of the population of Grey-headed Woodpecker in Thailand is winter visitor. But it's a different subspecies than the one in Japan though...

    ReplyDelete
  4. HMMMMmmm I Knew Spurs would beat us as our record against them speaks for itself.
    Are Liverpool in Europe next year I'm not sure how far down the Europa Cup places go.
    Torres up front for City next season?

    Lets hope you get rid of Benitez and get a decent manager in early in the summer.

    Derek

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  5. Hmmn, I feel sorry for the woodpecker. I guess the local mainstream ladies aren't up for a such a techno/street smart/ alternative kind of guy. Great records.

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  6. That woodpecker should be reported for attempting to vandalise public property.

    Oriental Turtle Dove looks good - it is a rare migrant to SL and I am yet to see one.

    ReplyDelete

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