Hole #4

A Ural Owl at Onuma this afternoon, the 4th different Owl hole since I started birding in Onuma. Shane it was obscured by twigs but I didn't want to walk any closer...............

Autumn still hanging on

A Varied Tit at Onuma yesterday. It was a very mild day with beautiful autumn sunshine, at Yakumoearlier in the day it was so mild I took off my down jacket AND fleece.

Autumn returns

A female Black Woodpecker at Onuma this afternoon. It was very mild today, all the snow has melted in Hakodate and Onuma.

A scarce visitor in the snow.................

Not a very good shot but this is a Red-breasted Flycatcher, a bit of a scarce visitor to Hokkaido. This is the second time I've seen this bird (or third.....I also got a Taiga Flycatcher which may or may not be a subspecies and anyway I can't really tell them apart in this plumage). Each time has been in mid to late autumn, long after all the other flycatchers have gone.

It was in a park in the east of town and difficult to keep track of. I also only had limited time and had to go home without any nice shots, just record shots.

As you can see there is a bit of snow, in fact yesterday was very wintry with about 10cm of snow on the car in the morning and frozen icy roads too.

Other common stuff in the park included Rustic and Black Faced Bunting, Siskin, Nuthatch, 4 species of tit, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Wren and Goldcrest. This was taken when I was waiting in vain for the flycatcher to appear again..............

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Winter 2013/14 begins...............

A Stellers Sea Eagle at Yakumo today. It was a day of blizzards and the first really cold day of the season: that's it atumn has gone and winter is here.

Hailstorms

Only common birds again today at Yakumo. The Hooded Crane appears to have left and the only kittiwakes were a small number of the black legged variety. There is (or was) supposed to be a Sandhill Crane a couple of hours drive to the north last week................would have been a nice find for the person who discovered it..

Winter is on its way, reflected in the birds. 8 species of gull, Great Egret, Whooper Swan, various common ducks, a few distant White Tailed Eagle, Black Necked and Great Crested Grebe, Brown Dipper and Japanese Wagtail.

There was a huge hailstorm in Yakumo, complete with thunder and lightning. The end of autumn is near.


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A quiet start to November

A very quiet Sunday afternooon with only common birds like the above Scaup and Nuthatch. That little rush of rarities and semi rarities seems to have come to an abrupt halt.

My initial impressionss after one week with my new lens: it's really really heavy.

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