20 September 2016

48


A Pacific Diver near Yakumo this afternoon..............

The seasons are changing.


On Sunday we went to Muroran to watch the raptor migration. I was hoping to get Oriental Honey Buzzard and Japanese Sparrowhawk shots but we were too late for both species. Just one of the former and none of the latter.

There were lots of Common Buzzard as well as Eurasian Sparrowhawk and Goshawk.

Not great pics: the birds were usually high in the sky.



Grey Plover, Sanderling and Mongolian Plover were on the beaches near Yakumo but they were all pretty skittish. At Yakumo there were White Winged Scoter offshore and large numbers of passage ducks, mainly Pintail and Teal. These were getting buzzed by a Goshawk and a Peregrine but I missed the shots as I had a teleconverter on in anticipation of seeing distant waders.

A family of Kingfishers put on a display but 700mm is not good for small BIFs.



I got several mosquito bites at Yakumo which sit nicely on top of my sunburn. It's been a fine last few days weatherwise and it's my 48th birthday today...........some premium beers should take the edge off.

Back in Hakodate not much around. A few Asian Brown Flycatcher and Black Headed Gull are passing through and this Whooper Swan was in Kamiiso a few days ago.


Autumn is fast approaching. the first salmom are in the rivers and the first hints of autumnal colours are on the hillsides.

12 comments:

  1. Happy birthday, Stuart. I hope that as you look back on the first 48 years and look forward to the next you are well satisfied. I bet that in your early years you could never have imagined living in Japan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the nice comment David, yes it's funny where life takes you sometimes...............

      Delete
  2. Happy birthday! Great pics even if they are high up....they still are great shots. These are birds I'd love to see one day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Stuart. You certainly saw quite a lot of birds and I love the shot of the Whooper Swan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy Birthday Stu. Sorry, don't know the Greek words. Not seeing tooany birds either - far tooany clear nights and sunny skies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have clear skies here too but I was hungover this morning and had to work from the afternoon.......

      Delete
  5. 48 ? A very belated "Happy Birthday" - year of the Monkey. I'm a "Monkey" too, but a cycle ahead of you !

    ReplyDelete

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

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...