Coming back from Kumamoto, we inserted an overnight's stop at the Ariake Sea. Just 1 or 2 hours in the morning before work was enough to see the Green Pigeons drinking seawater again. Some sports fishermen with rods and reels walked on the pier and I thought I wouldn't get a chance. Was that why there weren't any photographers? But the guys left and the birds came.
Raptors have always been kind of underdogs for me. On the bottom of the list of birds I like to see, they don't appear on the blog much. I don't know why exactly. Partly because I don't like to eat animals myself. Partly because they are so big. For some reason I always seem to find excuses for not joining the hawk watch. My photos are usually poor. Sorry.
The following day many stints were still there and among them a different bird
Red-necked Stint, トウネン
After the rain on September 21st, lots of small birds had come to the west. The rice fields that were drying out contained a bit of water again, though it didn'tlast long...
I spent some time with the Pacific Golden Plovers, ムナグロ because I had missed them earlier in the season.
After Jaap finished hiking we left Mt. Kuju and drove south towards Kumamoto. We stopped to check out some wildlife on the way.
Grey-streaked Flycatcher, エゾビタキ
