1 of a group of 3 Great Knot at Oshamabe yesterday, the wader season is well underway.
It was extremely hot and humid and the waders were on several long beaches. The Great Knot were fairly approachable at least.
Here's one with a couple of Red Necked Stint in the background.
There was a large(ish) flock of 50 or so Red Necked Stint on another long deserted stretch of beach, they kept flying ahead as I floundered in the sand in their wake. A hot sweaty business it was too I might add, it must have been in the low to mid 30's yesterday afternoon.
In amongst the flock were a couple of Terek Sandpiper and a Grey Tailed Tattler.
We headed back to Yakumo and I saw this bird, a 100% crop of a distant Black Faced Spoonbill.
This was reported 3 weeks ago, I'd been 2 weeks ago but couldn't find it and had assumed it had upped and left. But no, here it was. This is a rare bird, only about 2000 or so individuals in the world apparently. We waited for an hour or so to see if it would do anything (such as fly closer) but it just stood on a dead tree in the middle of the river watching the world go by.
There were some Stints near Yakumo too, here's one in the very late afternoon, I'm still looking for that perfect running wader shot.
Thanks for clicking this link.
Wonderful to see the black-faced spoonbill; that is an impressive bird! I think the last photo is a great "running" shot; the legs are stretched out into a very long stride, the back foot is a little off the surface, and there is a bit of reflection. What else are you looking for? ;-)
ReplyDeletecheers,
Wilma
Black-faced Spoonbill in Hokkaido!? Never thought it would fly up there. The Great Knot shots are all great. I especially like the 4th one from the top. The bird looks strangely short in here.
ReplyDeleteWow wonderful pictures of the wader Stu and well done on the spoonbill!!! I agree with Wilma and think that this picture of the spoonbill is quite nice already ;-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting to know BFS gets up to Hokkaido.
ReplyDeleteI like the wader shots...worth the effort even if it was a hot slog to get the pictures.
Is this what they mean by "Life is a beach" ? :-)
The top shot of the Great Knot is just spot on. It looks in really nice plumage. The last one of the running stint looks pretty near perfect to me. A great set of pictures Stu.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments, I'm looking forward to more wader action over the next 2 or 3 weeks, just hope the weather cools down a bit.........
ReplyDelete