A couple of days away..............

I just got back from a short break................


We spent a couple of days in the Tomakomai/Mukawa area. A bit of an odd time of year though, too late for the winter stuff and too early for the spring stuff. There were a few interesting things about but not many photo opps..................

This Dunlin was part of the Oshamanbe flock on the way..............

A nale Merlin was also at Oshamanbe.

There were quite a few White Tailed Eagles in the Tomakomai/Mukawa area, here's one with its catch at Utonai-ko.

Mukawa was pretty quiet, I did see a skittish distant flock of small drak headed passerines that had me puzzled, I think they must have been Lapland Buntings coming into summer plumage.

Glaucous Gulls were very common everywhere on the trip................

I was hoping for one of the rarer geese species on this trip but at Utonai-ko there were only a few small groups of Whitefronts and a coupls of Bean Geese as well as a large flock of Bewicks Swan. I waited until sunset hoping for some large flocks of geese to come but nothing happened, here's one of several Great Egret that were around.

Tomakomai is also famous for its Magpies, the only place in Hokaido where they occur.

On the way back it started raining, here are some Black Scoter in the gloom at Oshamanbe..........