Swarming Ducks

Northern Pintail

Fukushimagata, Niigata, Japan

September 30, 2018

Well. It's that time of the year again. It's exciting to see so many ducks arrive at Fukushimagata. Many Pintail went overhead without landing but in front of me were thousands of Common or Eurasian Teal. I visited last Sunday too, but there was only one single teal then. How a week has changed things. Raptors were on the go, but I failed to get any decent shots. Two peregrines, three goshawks. I could see a spectacular adult goshawk sitting out in the middle of the water but it was way out of reach of my lens. When it moved, so did the ducks and I totally lost sight of the raptor in the crowd. Hopefully some exciting months ahead.

I only stayed a short while as a felt the wind building its power behind my back. I decided to get home before the typhoon got here. I feel sorry for all those birds that have travelled far only to arrive in time for a typhoon.

Mt Yamamoto Raptor Migration 2018

Eastern Buzzard

Mt Yamamoto, Ojiya, Niigata, Japan

September 24, 2018

We made it to Mt Yamamoto briefly this weekend and we saw a number of thermals carrying some raptors. There were a heap only briefly between 9-9:45am yesterday morning and I didn't take as many photos as I should have. I was saving my film for more later, which didn't come. Some patchy weather at times too. Anyway, it only happens once a year so good to see it even briefly. In past years, I got more sparrowhawks and occasional falcons but this time I only photographed Eastern Buzzards, Grey-faced Buzzards, and Oriental Honey Buzzards. Maybe the latter will end up on islands off the coast of Western Australia in about a month's time.

Grey-faced Buzzard

Oriental Honey Buzzard

On the Move

Eastern Buzzard
looks young

Sakata, Niigata, Japan

September 19, 2018

I was lucky enough to have a few days off mid-week this week and the weather was much better than the previous weekend. Sunny and warm, but not too hot.

I went to Sakata yesterday and encountered a few raptors on the move: a pair of peregrines, one osprey, usual Black-eared Kites and my first encounter with an Eastern Buzzard for the coming cold months.  It was nice to see them as I think I'll miss seeing the raptor migration this year from Mt Yamamoto.

There are still lots of insects but I spared you from them. Many the same and others I'd have to identify. It might be a good exercise for me on a rainy day but I'm not in the mood today. I walked between rice fields and large numbers of green grasshoppers parted like the sea as I moved. Not good for the farmers I'd say.

I set my camera for j-pegs last week and forgot to reset it back to RAW and although my tired old computer found it easier to edit the files I'm not so excited by green/purple casting and a soapy finish to the images. 

Sorry, I've failed to put subheadings to my images. Maybe I will edit them sometime in the future. I have to attend to a needy, howling dog at the moment.