Spring, I think...................

A sunny springlike day in Hakodate, well it is the end of March I suppose.

This afternoon I was in the harbour at Kamiiso.............

Still in the park..............

 The Crossbills were still around today, I had another brief break from work................

They were in the trees behind the public toilet (which is closed in winter). Not the nicest place......................

They're everywhere

I was able to slip out a couple of times today to the small park near my apartment. Crossbills were here too............the 4th location in Hakodate I've photographed them in this year.

It was mild today and the snow is receding leaving muddy grass covered with pinecones. And litter as well actually.

The crossbills were pillaging the pinecones on the ground................thry must have eaten all the ones in the trees I guess.

f4 and sore arms

A Crossbill in the east of town this morning....................there were quite a few of them around as well as lots of Redpoll................

Both of the above are males................

Although it was a bright, sunny (even warmish) day most of the time the birds were in shade. I was handholding the 500 f4 lens and it was wide open most of the time. I should have used a monopod or tripod: after a couple of hours my arms were pretty tired.

A surprise addition to my Japan list

A not especially good photo of what appears to be an injured bird (check out its bill) but this Eurasian Curlew was a Japan tick for me. An early migrant: waders don't usually start passing trough until late April. All the curlews I'd seen up to now have been Eastern Curlews which lack the white rump............

This bird was over in Esashi, I noticed it while we were watching 2 Seals in the harbour............

Not sure which species it is.

We had a long drive west, not much going on birdwise. Most of the winter waterbirds were around but not in great numbers and almost none in harbours. This winter has been very poor for harbour birds and I have no idea why. The first Osprey of the year were at Asabu but not much else.

Spring

A pair of Slaty Backed Gulls in the harbour at Kamiiso this afternoon. They are paired up and in breeding plumage...............it must be spring.

Quietish mid March

Great Egret and Crossbills in Hakodate yesterday afternoon................

A bit of a quiet time birdingwise.............I'm busy with work being the main reason.

Crossbills in the slush and drifts

Amazingly it wasn't snowing AND I had a spare 2 or 3 hours so I went down the river to see if the crossbill flock was still around. It was.

East Hokkaido 2014 #5

After the eaglefest at Rausu I didn't do so much birding...................

East Hokkaido 2014 #4

Some more eagle shots from Rausu after I swapped my lens, these are all with the 100-400.

The 100-400 isn't as sharp as the 500 f4 but was more useful for these subjects at this range............

An invasion...................

There are loads of Crossbills in town at the moment, these shots are all from yesterday..............

Back down south

A break from my East Hokkaido posts...............

The Gyrflacon was still at Sawara yesterday...........

It has been fairly mild since we got back but the strong wind at Sawara yesterday made it brutally cold (especially as I wasn't well wrapped up).

After some very long posts recently I've started inserting these 'jump breaks'..............so please click if you want to see more pictures and read my pearls of wisdom.

East Hokkaido 2014 #3

I did the boat trip out to the sea ice at Rausu last week and it was fantastic.

I had been on the same boat trip five years ago nut the sea ice was way offshore and the weather was too rough to stop the boats alongside the ice. There were no such worries this time. The light was great and the eagles were very close. All the pics in this post were taken with my 500mml lens.

East Hokkaido 2014 #2

A Japanese Crane at Akan last week.

I have to admit I was there for the eagles really, although they are beautiful and elegant I find the cranes a little dull in their winter feeding areas, it is almost like a zoo.

It was also a little dark when we were there.

East Hokkaido 2014 #1

A White Tailed Eagle at Akan a few days ago.................

We just got back from a weeklong trip to east Hokkaido and back. I was with 3 non birders so it was a birding trip as such...............but I managed to get some in of course.