4 May 2015

A lull




It's a busy holiday week in Japan..................


We avoided the busy roads north and drove around a lot the last coupe of days, east and west of Hakodate.......................and didn't see much at all. A bit anticlimatic as the start of May is usually one of the high points of the year.

The first Oriental Reed Warbler of the summer, a Mountain Hawk Eagle. small flocks of Black Throated Diver offshore as well as summer plumage Great Crested and Black Necked Grebes, Osprey, Peregrine, Brent Goose, Blie and White and Narcissus Flycatchers, Grey Wagtail, Eastern Crowned Warbler. Mandarin Duck, Japanese White-eye etc etc.....................but none of these were close enough to photograph.

This is a male Chestnut Eared Bunting, a very shy species that is difficult to approach unless they are up high.............


The only waders around were summer visitors. no passage migrants at all: Common Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover, Lathams Snipe and these Kentish Plover are all local breeders.




8 comments:

  1. Have the passage migrants come and gone, not arrived yet, or just bypassed you altogether? That is a lovely bunting.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Wilma, well the weather has been very clear and fine so I guess they may be passing straight through.................but to be honest I don't really know. Maybe we'll get a deluge this week (when I'm busy working of course).

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  2. You've managed to see some nice birds even though they were far off. I went out Sunday and just got some buntings, warblers and flycatchers but none were photographable. Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

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  3. Back to work huh? Bummer. I finally retired completely at the end of last year and it's great!

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    Replies
    1. Only another 20 years for me to go.............

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  4. Gorgeous bunting - there are a few really nice species I greatly envy there. The Plover is pretty mega for me - I have only seen 2 in the UK, approximately 20 years apart!

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    Replies
    1. That's 2 more than I ever managed in the UK.....................

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