Grebes still around..............

The grebes were still at Kamiiso this afternoon. The top one is a Slavonian Grebe and the bottom one a Black Necked Grebe.

Both the above shots are uncropped as are many below: they were pretty tame..............


There were far fewer today. Only 1 Slavonian, 3 Great Crested and 6 or so Black Necked.

When I first came to Japan I struggled to tell the two smaller grebe species apart in their winter plumage. I only had very limited experience of them in Europe. Now it's second nature and I can tell them apart instantly. The Slavonian is much paler and also chunkier. And the bill and head shape are diagnostic too. Top one is  a Slav...........

Anyway I enjoy both of them.....................although with the Slav being less numerous it tends to get more of my attention. The following are all Slavs..............

It dives a lot longer than the Black Necked though and it can pop up quite a distance away, Black Neckeds are much more predictable. Slavs also seem more solitary whereas the Black Neckeds occur in small to large loose flocks................

These are all Black Neckeds.............

They will  start changing into summer colours in late March when they become quite stunning, Now we just have to make do with those bright red eyes..............

Not much else around................a few Scaup only.

The roads in town are terrible after the heavy snow of earlier in the week, it started snowing again about 3pm so we headed home..............