On this day (October 24th)....................

October 24th 2006.

Not a great photo of course but how often do you see a Dunlin running around on a picnic table next to a big ashtray?

This individual was in a big busy car park up in the hills in Shiretoko. What the hell was it doing there?

Taken with a cheap nasty compact digicam.

Very quiet in Hakodate the last week or so, nothing to photograph except Night Herons and no migrants except the ultra common ones.

Some interesting stuff passing through town.

An Oystercatcher on the beach at Kamiso this afternoon in between some very heavy showers..........

Mid October is a great time for birding as there is lots of stuff passing through. It's the time of year when you think you may find rarities............

It isn't a great time for bird pictures though, despite the generally nice light everything is so darn busy and active.........

Yesterday at Onuma there were at least 3, maybe even 4 or 5 Mugimaki Flycatchers, a scarce bird here (I'd only ever seen one before). Here's a crappy record shot of one, a female I think.

It was a quite beautiful autumn day...........

Lots of stuff coming through Hakodate too. Pale, Japanese and Brown Thrush, Arctic Warbler, Red Flanked Bluetail, Japanese White-eye, Black Faced and Rustic Buntings. I just hope I can turn up something else rare this next week or so.

Today I met Kim and he told me where to find this Oystercatcher.

Very common back in the UK of course but this was only the second time I'd seen in Japan and it was a local tick.

And I think these are Bewicks Swans. Another local tick.............

They winter further south than Whoopers but seeing as they pass through Hokkaido I guess it was just a matter if time before I got them on my local list. I'd seen a couple of individuals elsewhere in Hokkaido before.

For some heavily zoomed pics go here.

I make these #197 and #198 on my Hakodate list. This isn't a full species as far as I know, if so I may be on 199.

The status of this bird is uncertain, the consensus seems to be that it is a hybrid between Vega Gull (the common 'Herring' Gull in NE Asia) and Heuglins Gull (a darker variant from central Asia). It is sometimes called 'Tamiyr Gull' but I'm afraid I can't count it. Actually Kim told me of half a dozen species he's seen in Hakodate in the last year or so that have yet to make my local list. I've seen almost all of them elsewhere in Hokkaido but not in the all important within 10 miles or so of downtown Hakodate area...............

Lots of Gulls on the beach now, the aforementioned Vega becoming more common, lots of Black Headed Gulls and the first Glaucous Winged Gull of the season. Offshore were Scaup and Black Necked Grebe, a flock of what I'm pretty sure were Rook flew over and the numbers of common Ducks on the river in Kamiso is rising, lots of Wigeon plus a few Tufted Duck and Pochard today........

The Night Herons are still around near my apartment.

I was feeling creative so.................

I got up to watch the second half of England's plucky draw with the mighty Montenegrins.

If someone had offered my 7 points from the first 3 games i'd have taken it after the dire World Cup. i'm struggling to get my head round Montenegro topping the group at this stage though.......

Liverpool seem to have sorted themselves out. If they can finish in the top 6 and win either the Europa or FA Cup it'll be just about acceptable.................hahaha who am I kidding, just to not get in a relegation battle would be OK for now..................

I watched 'Life during Wartime' last week. It is a follow up to 'Happiness', a movie I'd seen just before I came to Japan and, in my humble opinion,  a minor classic. The sequel used different actors for the same characters which was just bizarre. The film was OK but not a patch on the first one. Still it's not every day you can watch and even enjoy a movie in which a central character is a child molester.

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Lull #2

A pretty quiet week, not much to write up plus I was feeling a bit lazy. A bit repetitive, apologies for that.

Migrants continue to pass through, the above Asian Brown Flycatcher was sharing a tree with this Grey Streaked Flycatcher.

I've been checking the grass and bushes for Siberian Rubythroats but didn't find any alas. I did find a few Arctic Warblers.

The first Dusky Thrush of the season, Narcissus Flycatcher, lots of Bullheaded Shrike and a build up in duck numbers show that the season is changing although the leaves haven't really started to change colour in Hakodate yet.

We went to Onuma this afternoon, a grey rainy day much too dark for photos. I did see a Black Woodpecker and lots of Japanese Thrushes in the thinning forest, the leaves are falling here at least.

The Night Herons are still around.

This young one provided nice views from a bridge just near my flat..........

The adults were harder to photograph as always.

There were a few BIF opportunities including Grey Heron too.

Liverpool's plight is turning into a huge joke now, if they get that 9 point penalty they'll be facing a relegation dogfight for christ's sake.

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Slow start to autumn............

A Grey Streaked Flycatcher near my apartment a few days ago. Autumn is a pleasant time in this part of the world, warm and bright and with lots of interesting birds passing through. Most of these birds flit around in the bushes however. Arctic Warbler and Asian Brown Flycatcher have been very common this last couple of weeks.........

Grey Wagtail, Common Kingfisher, Grey Heron, White Wagtail, Mallard, Pintail and Teal have been around, all birds familiar to any UK local patch watcher. More exotically I got a brief view of a young Goshawk this afternoon and of course the local Night Herons which are a photographic staple this time of year.

Their habit of hiding in the shade and undergrowth can make it difficult to get decent shots though. Very tricky to get the exposure right.

Getting a bit repetitive, sorry.............

It's been a year since I got my 7D and I've taken nearly 30,000 shots with it, I'll blame machine gunning at BIFs for that figure.

Liverpool aren't so hot but I'm kind of past caring. Let's just hope they stay competitive this season and can sort out the ownership issue once and for all.

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