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Whooper Swan
Fukushimagata, Niigata, October 29, 2011 |
I was surprised by the lack of bird activity when I visited Fukushimagata last Saturday. I had been expecting the place to be bursting at the seams with ducks but the water was fairly vacant. It was a sunny, almost spring-like day. There were no signs of the goshawks I was expecting to see either. I regretted wearing a jacket for my long walk and yellow flowers about the place really made it feel like spring as well.
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| Brown Shrike |
I saw the above Brown Shrike fluttering in a net at the edge of reeds from the roadside at the back of the wetlands. Only metres away from him hung a notice that the nets had been set-up by a renowned research centre. A speaker system was playing finch calls very loudly and the grass alongside the road was alive with buntings and finches making their ways to the location. I was worried about the shrike as he seemed to be easily visible and out in the open. Although I didn't see any goshawks there were Marsh Harriers floating about nearby. I hope the researchers found him before the harriers anyhow. You can just make out the tops of the nets in the pic below.
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| female Mallard |
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| male Mallard |
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| Eurasian Teal |
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| I think this is a Rustic Bunting. Any other ideas on his ID most welcome! |
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| Northern Goshawk in the rain a week earlier. (October 22, 2011) |
5 comments:
Sad to hear that it's quiet up there, but it's also the same down here as well. I was also shocked when I scanned through my local patch and found nothing more than just a few Daurian Redstarts. There was not even a single duck. I looked up in my diary and there were already lots of teals including the 2 Bean Geese during this very same time last year, and the weather was already cool. Now it's still relatively hot during the day and still not so cold even at night. It really feels different.
I would be happy with these sightings.
Poor little shrike:(
Must have been hard not to free him.
Very mild in Hokkaido too Russell.....
I'm pretty sure it's a Rustic Bunting....
It's been mild here too Russell, until today that is. You have the Whoopers too I see.I'm sure that's a Rustic Bunting but I've only ever seen one here in the UK>
More great shots and story-telling. Maybe the researchers need to leave phone numbers so you can call to work out if you can let the non-target species free.
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