30 March 2015

The prodigal Owl


A Ural Owl at Onuma this afternoon, the first one I'd seen in this hole for over a year............

My first Oriental Turtle Doves and Siberian Meadow Buntings of the year had appeared on Sunday but birding is still pretty slow. Out west there quite a few birds on the sea though...........including 4 species of grebe and several Black Throated Diver. Here are 3 types of grebe: Black Necked, Slavonian and Great Crested.




 Red Necked was the 4th but like the divers were too far out for any photos. I got Little Grebe at Onuma later to get the full set of 5 for the day................

This Osprey was at Kikonai, they are present in several locations now.


It was good to see the Ural Owl again.............



The lake is unfrozen now. There were lots of Great Cormorant and quite a few Mandarin Duck too................sadly in Hokkaido these seem to be very shy and I've never managed a good shot of one.


After the strong westerlies of the lasy week or so I was hoping for a Hoopoe but there seemed to be very few migrants about except a few Dusky Thrush.

14 comments:

  1. That ural Owl is really gorgeous. Good that it is back.

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  2. Love the owl it looks so at ease too. Do you remember my first Long eared on the Ribble? Gosh that takes me back !!!

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    1. Hi Derek, I remember it well. Still the only place I've ever seen Long Eared Owls................

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  3. The owl looks as if it has always been there ...

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    1. It does look like part of the furniture...................

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  4. A great collection. It must be a wonderful time of the year as new birds appear every week. It's difficult to imagine seeing 5 species of grebe in one day - we only have 3 in total.

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    1. Spring is a great birding season as I'm sure you'd agree, the unpredictability is why we go out with our camera/binoculars/scopes etc. Mind you, yours is back to front!

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    2. That all depends how you look at it!!!!!!!

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    3. Yes we are back to front to a lot of people too I guess......................

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  5. I could see the owl shots as Greetings cards... lovely subtle colours.

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  6. I have a real passion for owls and I have never seen a Ural Owl. Great shot.

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    1. I think Canada has many more owl species and they are also easier to see. In Japan they are pretty thin on the ground.................

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