6 March 2017

It hadn't left............


We spent the day in Onuma...............














The female Ring-necked Duck (top) that I'd seen in January was there again. This is a pretty rare bird in Japan, a vagrant from America. I guess it must have been in the area all winter then. Or was it on its way back north (or east or whatever, it is a vagrant after all) and chose to stop at Onuma again? Who knows..............

The lake is starting to thaw slightly. There were a dozen or so Smew, very shy as always.


Also around was my first Mandarin Duck of 'summer', Great-crested Grebe and a drake Red-breasted Merganser, a bird I'd never seen on the lake before.

A lone White-tailed Eagle kept its eye on the ducks.


The flock of Whooper Swans was still there of course.


Is that a Bewicks Swan with them? Or just a tick of perspective?

Grey Herons have returned too.................




4 comments:

  1. Your swan looks Bewicky to me Stu.
    Don't often see smew in flight shots and it's a long time since I saw a proper job male in the flesh, well feathers.

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Smew are so skittish I mostly see the back of them as they fly away........

      Delete
  2. There are many people, including me, who would love to see one male Smew, let alone a small flock. I don' t think I have ever seen a flight shot of Smew before so kudos to you for that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm surprised by your comment and the one above........they always fly off as soon as they see me!

      Delete

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