North Hokkaido 2015 #2

We spent a couple of days in the grasslands near Monbetsu................


This is a great place for birds in summer. We were here last year but a week or so later. This year the Siberian Rubythroats were still very active....................

Here's a video I made:



Last year I got some nice pics of the same species but generally against blue backgrounds (the sea or sky) in harsh light. This year the backgrounds were a softer green................

It was worth coming all this way just to see this species.

There were several pairs in the area and the males sang atop small bushes making them easy to photograph.....................

Sometimes they went to ground acting like the little thrushes that of course they really are...............the second one is a female.

The other species I was trying to photograph here was Middendorfs Warbler but although common they were impossible to photograph this time.

Here's a male Long Tailed Rosefinch instead.........