30 March 2016

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..........


8 comments:

  1. Hello Stuart1:) The Magpies are interesting,...they look different from ours.
    All your in flight shots are ofcourse fantastic. I don't see the Glaucous Gulls very often on bird blogs, that's a really fab capture.
    As I need a break too, I'll be taking one next week.
    Best Regards.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment. I think it's the same species as in Europe..............but I may be wrong.

      Have a nice break.

      Delete
  2. I've never seen a genuine Magpie. Only the Azure-wings here and Australian Magpies. I'd be thrilled getting eagle shots like these. They would be the highlight of my winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nagpies are very common in England and frequent visitors to my parents' garden. Much scarcer in Japan though..........

      Delete
  3. That Glaucous Gull is an impressive beast....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Magpies are underrated and often reviled for some strange reason.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In England they have a reputation for stealing shiny objects (like jewelery)!

      Delete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...