Waders and divers, mostly.

March 4, 2018   

I spent a lot of late winter around rivers and estuaries, primarily looking for wintering water birds. I found a small flock of Black-faced Spoonbills (Kurotsuraherasagi) wintering at Tataragawa estuary.

A Ruddy-breasted Crake returned to the same stretch of Homan River, near my home. I was able to get a better photograph of it this time using a blind. They are quite secretive, generally foraging only in the morning and evening, usually near reedy areas where they hide during the day.

This winter I photographed four species of water birds I have never seen before. I include them here. Smew (Mikoaisa), Oyster Catcher (Miyakodori), Eurasian Curlew (Daishiyakushigi), and Shelduck (Tsukushigamo)

Smew

Oyster Catcher

Eurasian Curlew

Shelduck

Some Tufted ducks (Kinkuro Hajiro) coming in with landing gear down. This photo, and the Smew photo were both taken at a large pond fittingly named Duck Pond on Shikanoshima Peninsula.

This weasel (itachi) was trying to catch some Japanese carp from a small pond up on Yasukougen. (If you look closely, you can see it licking it’s chops in anticipation!) I couldn’t catch it in the act, but I heard a big splash as the carp dashed off from under the boardwalk. The weasel came up empty-pawed and bounded off over the hill.

    Last, but not least, a waterfall (Gotono Falls, in a previous post) about an hour drive from my place.  It was a rainy day, with not a soul in sight.

click on images for a larger view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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