Eagle trio

We headed east on Sunday................


Hakodate was grim and snowbound yet again but as you head east the weather mysteriously improves and the piles of snow at the side of the road get less and less...........

 I was hoping for some birds in the ports but there wasn't much around: not a single Kittiwake anywhere and hardly any ducks either (although there were plenty offshore)..

I did however see plenty of raptors. At the harbour we chose there were 2 Stellers, 2 or 3 White-tailed and 1 Mountain Hawk Eagle.

The adult Stellers is regular here in winter and was feeding on a fish it had caught in a pine tree up on the hillside. It flew low one time though...........

I haven't been up to Yakumo for a while now and I guess all the eagles have already left. Eagles scattered around the coast (like today's) are not so tied to one food source and seem to linger longer into late winter.

Here is a scruffy young White-tailed Eagle...........

And here is an immature Stellers Sea Eagle.............

And the rarer Mountain Hawk Eagle put in an appearance too............

Other stuff around included Peregrine, Common Buzzard, Siskin, Siberian Meadow Bunting, Blue Rock thrush, Red-breasted Merganser, Harlequin Duck, Goldeneye, Brent Goose plus both Glaucous-winged and Glaucous Gulls.

The blizzard resumed as soon as we got back to town............