On this day (January 29th)..........................

January 30th 2012

A drake Smew at Onuma 3 years ago today. Normally very shy I surprised this one (it was with a female) and he was so unsure what to do he didn't fly off for a few seconds allowing me to take this close up shot (only very slight cropping). Not perfect but much better than my recent efforts with this species.................just a shame it was so dark.

More tired arms........................

I spent more time at Yakumo on Monday.................

A Monday afternoon in Oshamanbe

We spent yesterday afternoon in Oshamanbe...............

An eagle assault

Some more shots from Sunday's visit to Yakumo................

An eagle up close.............

I spent a couple of hours in Yakumo this morning..................

A real mouthful

A quiet week (with very mild weather) is coming to an end...................

Some local winter staples

Some shots from Monday afternoon in Kamiiso...............

A night in Onuma................

We spent Sunday night in Onuma................

A week is a long time in birding.............

A male Pine Bunting on a beach yesterday afternoon....................

Phoned in Nuthatch

Tame Nuthatch with wife bokeh. Processed in camera and on old Samsung phone tethered to my iPhone........

Back to the mundane

No more eagle shots to post (but I'm going back this weekend weather permitting). I spent a bit of time exploring locally last week, a couple of hours here or there. 2 Whooper Swans on the river in Hakodate were a surprise, I'd never seen them in town before. Also around were Long Tailed Rosefinch, Hawfinch, afew Dusky Thrush, Tufted Duck and a pair of Goldeneye. Yunokawa had more ducks including Pochard and Wigeon as well as a lone Brent Goose.

The place where the trees have been cut down is now covered with markers: I'd reckon it looks like the river is going to be 'improved' (ie concreted to provide a way to use up tax yen). I will try and at least send an email to raise my concerns, whatever good that will do................

Eagles at 700 #5

The last of my eagle photos taken in Yakumo a few days ago...............

Eagles at 700 #4

The before mentioned salmon corpse provoked a bit of an eagle free for all..................

Eagles at 700 #3

After the 2 White Tailed Eagles had had a go at the salmon it was the turn of the Stellers...........

Eagles at 700 #2

The windswept bridge in Yakumo where I've taken many an eagle pic did me proud this week...........

On this day (January 13th)..................

January 13th 2012.

Pine Bunting and Rough Legged Buzzard to the east of Hakodate 3 years ago today.

Rarely leaving south Hokkaido, I don't get many additions to my Japanese list these days. In 2012, 2013 and 2014 I only managed 4 new ones a year. On this day however I managed 2 within a hour or so of each other. Not great pics I know.  I've seen more of each species and taken better photos subsequently but sometimes you can't beat your first time............

Eagles at 700 #1

I had a prolific shooting day up at Yakumo with the eagles.........................

A quiet Sunday in Onuma............

A pair of Black Woodpeckers in Onuma this afternoon..................

The war against trees

A Great Egret on the river near my apartment this afternoon.

It was my first walk up the river for a few weeks and I had a bit of a shock................

Back to work.............

A brief break in the blizzards...........

Another snowy day, another harbour. I was hoping to get some Brent Geese shots but there was the grand total of ONE bird present (and it was miles away too). In another harbour last week there were only 2. What happened?

2015 begins........................

End of year blizzards #2

Some more shots from yesterday (last year!) in Yakumo.................

As you can see it was snowing. Again.