8 August 2010

Back in circulation


Some Sanderling up at Oshamanbe this afternoon. The wader season is underway, this was one of 6 species around today. My gout is receding (I'm still limping though) so I was back out with the camera........

It has been so hot recently, hovering around the low 30's and humid as hell. Others living elsewhere in Japan may scoff at this news but let me tell you in Hokkaido we generally don't have aircon. Except in the car...............

There were 5 Sanderling on the beach, I think they were adults. The light was a tad harsh...........










I got sunburned on the beach and soaked too as I wasn't paying attention to the surf.............










On a nearby beach there were 5 Red Necked Stint, these were still showing a lot of summer plumage...................









A single Grey Tailed Tattler was sharing the beach with the Stints........








At Yakumo there was a single Curlew (Eastern I think, the hill seems a bit short, I didn't see the rump) and a couple of what I think were Marsh Sandpiper, here are a couple of BIF record shots.




A couple of summer plumaged Grey Plover were also around.

Last week there was a Black Faced Spoonbill ( a very rare bird) at Yakumo. I looked for it for a couple of hours but to no avail. There were lots of Great Egret, Grays Grasshopper Warbler were still singing, Sand Martin were flocking ahead of migration, Black Browed Reed Warbler families were everywhere...............but no Spoonbill..............

I was kept entertained by the Ospreys, shame they didn't come close enough for a decent shot.......





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Hope this hot spell ends soon, it is rare when we can't get to sleep at night because of the heat...........

The footy season kicks off next week (the Premier League that is) but I'll be away Saturday I think, after the World Cup my appetite for football has lessened somewhat. J Sports (the TV channel that usually show it) are still negotiating the contract anyway so they may not even show the first round of matches (this happened 2 or 3 years ago)....................I'll be home for the Liverpool/Arsenal game though which I'm sure can be watched on multiple internet feeds of varying qualities. The England v Pakistan cricket feeds have been of pretty poor quality so I'm currently listening to TMS with a cold beer in my hand, one of life's little pleasures.......


  


10 comments:

  1. Wow it's 30+ in Hokkaido as well!
    These shots are all very good. I've yet to get any decent shot of the Sanderling. They all seem to be moulting out of their breeding plumage. The curlew is Eastern as you think. Though the photo doesn't show the bird's rump, its barred underwing coverts can also be used for identification.

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  2. Hi Unravel, I've never seen a Eurasian Curlew in Japan (seen countless ones in England though), they seem to be rare at least up here.........

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  3. Wow that's a surprise for me!
    I've only seen Eurasian Curlew in Japan. The species seems to be much commoner than the Eastern in the south. The length of the bill depends on the bird's age as well, so it's pretty risky to use that for identification.

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  4. Yeah I tend to use the rump colour for ID, I've checked a lot of curlew rumps in Japan and none of them have been white.........

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  5. Hard to beat Sanderling as a species they are so photogenic with their various plumages. I wouldn't mind seeing a tattler, especially over here but I can make do with your pics for now. Like the Osprey shots too.

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  6. Great day at the beach! Nice to see new picture, hope you go well ;)

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  7. Looks like you've had a good trip to the beach. We hardly see Sanderlings like that. Great BIFs as usual.

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  8. Mr. Price,
    Take a butchers
    http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/10/science/20100810angier.html

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  9. Ugh! That Blobfish is the champion.........

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