The ports in SW Hokkaido can be productive in late winter.................
One of the ports has a regular flock of overwintering Dunlin.
One of them was colour-ringed in Kamchatka so I guess they haven't come far...........
Waders are thin on the ground here in winter................
They were a bit jumpy................
Glaucous and Glaucous-winged Gulls are also common in the ports. These winter visitors are evocative of northern climes and places I'll probably never be able to go. Now they scavenge bits of scallops in the ports but in summer I like to imagine they scavenge from Polar Bear or Grizzly Bear kills.
These are Glaucous Gulls.........
And these are Glaucous-winged Gulls.................
Other stuff in the ports, in addition to the Long-tailed Ducks, included Harlequin Duck, Black Scoter, Great-crested and Black-necked Grebes. Here's one of the latter............
Do you get Purple Sandpipers there in the winter?
ReplyDeleteNo, they are only an Atlantic species I think. Rock Sandpiper occur but are very rare and localized in east Hokkaido only. Some inland/freshwater wader species (Long-billed Plover, Solitary Snipe and occasionally Northern Lapwing) are present in winter too. The only other shorebird I've seen in winter is Kentish Plover.
DeleteI probably say this every spring, but the Dunlin -and BG - are really attractive...
ReplyDeleteThanks John.........
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