Red-breasted Merganser, ウミアイサ etc

I want to see the Boobies diving, but I'm out of luck there. Finding the Harlequin Ducks was a treat, but here is what else was around.

Pelagic Cormorants, ヒメウ

Japanese or Temminck's Cormorants, ウミウ

Other birds around included some far away female Red-breasted Mergansers, ウミアイサ ♀ 

After a while a male Red-breasted Merganser, ウミアイサ ♂ made its appearance close by

I like crab as well

Blue Rock Thrushes, イソヒヨドリ - Always fun to watch

Tsunoshima 1

The bird I came for wasn't there and I was slightly disappointed, but others made up for it.

Cormorants on the rock. Between the big Temminck's Cormorants, ウミウ were several Pelagic Cormorants, ヒメウ. Smaller and more kind of elegant, with a metallic green glow on their feathers that shines when the light is right on sunny days.

The quiet and gentle sea of the early morning 

Between the rocks the thick soft velvety leaves of the Haeguk Aster, ダルマギク

Black Kite, トビ

Male Blue Rock Thrush イソヒヨドリmatches the colors of the red rocks and the blue sea

Eastern Buzzard, ノスリ stayed in the same place for several hours

Eurasian Kestrel, チョウゲンボウ about to move north

Lots of purple in the fields. Henbit Deadnettle, ホトケノザ

Spring green had just started to show in Sun Spurge,トウダイグサ

Flower of the Sago Palm, ソテツ

Last photos of the day: Sunset 

Ito 1: Gulls

Outside the bay is a place where gulls come to rest. There were not as many as other years. However, having a teacher with me was good. We could see 1 Mongolian

Mongolian Gull, モンゴルセグロカモメ in the center

Temminck's Cormorants, ウミウ

A few days later I went back to see what I could find on my own among the juveniles. This young bird is a 1st winter Vega Gull, セグロカモメ 

The one below looked different. A Mongolian 2nd winter maybe, モンゴルセグロカモメ

Usually around, inspecting strangers and singing its beautiful song, Blue Rock Thrush, イソヒヨドリ  male

Shikanoshima, Fukuoka

Checking out what's going on in the east

Temminck’s Cormorant, ウミウ

There is always some kind of argument going on...

The audience

Herring Gull, セグロカモメ

Black Kite, トビ

Another trip at sea 2, Cormorants etc

Cormorants again. In grey-ish weather we can't quite see the birds' colors, however their profile doesn't look too bad.

Again a bit of light makes all the difference

Below 2 Pelagic Cormorants, ヒメウ (in front and far left) and 3 Temminck's, ウミウ

Temminck’s Cormorant ウミウ

This time we scored 3 Falcons, all of them seemed to have a nest. Peregrine Falcon, ハヤブサ

A pair of Ospreys, ミサゴ on the very top;

And the dark morph of Pacific Reef Egret, the only one we can see here in Japan. クロサギ

On the other side of  Genkai Island Loons were feeding in a big flock.

Pacific Loon, シロエリオオハム

It must be good to live around Genkaishima