A spring Sunday in Hokkaido

A pair of Red Cheeked Starlings near Yakumo this afternoon, the background is a mishmash of old fishing nets and stinky port stuff.

We got up very early and took lots of pics of this species near my apartment in amongst the cherry blossoms, I'll post those pics tomorrow................

It was warm today and there was an odd mix of winter and summer birds.

These were part of a flock of a hundred or so White Fronted Geese that briefly landed in the soon to be flooded ricefields in Ono. When they flew off I turned the dial on my 7D to 'B' instead of 'C1' (my BIF setting). 'B' is for long exposures, I messed up there.

Cuckoo, Oriental and Black Browed Reed Warbler, Siberian Stonechat, Skylark and Chestnut Eared Bunting were in the same area.

At Yakumo there were still Scaup, Black Scoter and Red Breasted Merganser offshore and elsewhere today we also saw Pintail, Shoveler and Pochard. A few Glaucous Gull were at Yakumo but the most interesting bird of the day was this, an Eastern Marsh Harrier. Here's a record shot.

Not a vintage BIF day at all. Ospreys continue to resist all attempts to get a decent pic...........

At least Black Kites fly closer.

I was hoping for some waders at Yakumo but we only saw Little Ringed Plover, the first Lathams Snipe of the year and Grey Tailed Tattler. The Red Cheeked Starlings were common here too though........

We ended up at Onuma, lots of stuff in the forest as per usual but nothing posing for the camera.

Like Ospreys, Mandarin Ducks avoid my camera........

I'm knackered and am hitting the sack, I'll sort through my Starlings in the cherry blossom shots tomorrow........

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