Japan 10Feb13

From Yamane

I had birding at Oi Wild Birds Park in Tokyo in this morning. I send some pictures(*).

Little Grebe
Great Cormorant *
Mallard *
Northern Shoveler *
Tufted Duck *
Common Pochard *
Black Kite *
Common Buzzard
Oriental Turtle Dove
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker *
Japnese Pied Wagtail (White Wagtail)
Brown-eared Bulbul
Dusky Thrush
Pale Thrush *
Daurian Redstart *
Japanese Tit (Great Tit)
Japanese White-eye
Black-faced Bunting
Oriental Greenfinch
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
White-cheeked Starling *
Jungle Crow (Large-billed Crow)

Changi, SBWR 27Dec08

From KH

Again the number of waders at Changi today was quite pathetic:

1 Long-toed Stint
1 Little Ringed Plover hanging out with the stint as before
3 Wood Sandpipers
1 pair of Malaysian Plovers at the end of the rocky beach and >3 at the sandy cove
1 Common Sandpiper

Little Ringed Plover ©Tan KH

Male Malaysian Plover ©Tan KH

There were no harriers today. The only migrant raptor was a single Peregrine Falcon.

Of course, there were also the usual residents: WBSE, Brahminy Kite and BWK.

Subadult White-bellied Sea Eagle ©Tan KH

Then, there were the usual suspects: munias, Baya Weavers, Lesser Coucals (below), Barred Buttonquails, etc

Lesser Coucal ©Tan KH

Escapee/Released:
3 Pin-tailed Whydah (2 males and 1 female/juvenile)
1 Golden Bishop (escapee) hanging out with munias.

Golden Bishop ©Con Foley

Closed to lunchtime, we got an SMS regarding a Northern Shoveler at SBWR! Finally, we got our long-awaited migrant duck.

Northern Shoveler almost blending in with Whimbrels ©Tan KH

An male Emerald Dove was very tame and perched so close to us that we've to step far back to get full frame with a 300 mm.

Male Emerald Dove ©Tan KH

Then there are the usual birds, such as:

Arctic Warbler © Tan KH

Ashy Tailorbird ©Tan KH

Non-avian creatures that surprised us were a 10cm long reddish centipede and a >1 m long Estuarine Crocodile! ©Tan KH

Japan 02Jan07

From Yamane

Happy New Year! I send pictures of Japanese birds in winter. They're my presents of New Year to you.

Black-headed Gull (Winter Type (It's no black head!))

Panorama of the pond

Shoveler (Male). It's a kind of "Marsh Duck".

Spot-billed Duck. It's a kind of "Marsh Duck". It's a resident. Others are migrants in winter.

Tufted Duck (Male). It's a kind of "Bay Duck".

Tufted Duck (Female)