January Birds 4

On very cold mornings the lakes and river start steaming when the sun rises

Big flocks of Finches, like these Bramblings, アトリ circle the fields towards the west

Male Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ posing for his portrait

From the thrushes the Dusky Thrush, ツグミ seems best represented in the rice fields

Ms Bull-headed Shrike, モズ as she watches over her territory. 

Common Snipe, タシギ - a common sight in the reeds

Left: Wintering Reed Bunting, オオジュリン.  Right: residing Meadow Buntings, ホオジロ.

Tiny Penduline Tits, ツリスガラ climbing to the top to warm up in the sun light

Small flocks of Water Pipit, タヒバリ and I look out for different feathers, but so far they've all looked the same

 

January Birds 3

Coots, オオバン on a mission

Great Crested Grebe, カンムリカイツブリ

Red-breasted Merganser, ウミアイサ

male above, female below

Herons, left the real juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, ゴイサギ, right a Grey, アオサギ  trying to look like one :-)

January Birds 2

I didn't spend much time watching these Mandarin Ducks, オシドリ after an over-dose in Tottori

Click here

It:s too dark for the colors to come out. Long-tailed Tit, エナガ

Yellow-throated Bunting, ミヤマホオジロ

Japanese White-eye, メジロ eating from the last fruit on a persimmon tree. Did it become sweet at last?

January Birds 1

It was terribly cold sometimes, and some days were so dark. No unexpected visiting birds showed up, but the regulars were there. When the snow fell I grabbed the camera and hurried out to a fantastic winter wonderland with ice sculptures like I'd never seen before. Spending all my free time there I now end up with all these images for the January Birds posts. Way too many of course

Early morning in Imazu

A grey view of the mud flat at low tide. Shelducks, ツクシガモ and Great Cormorants, カワウ stand out among other ducks etc.

The usual population of Dunlins, ハマシギ often stopped by

the Mute Swan, コブハクチョウ  that hung around for quite some time. 

Ducks, a quick fix when I need one.

Common Teal, コガモ

Eurasian Wigeon, ヒドリガモ

Gadwall, オカヨシガモ

Kestrel, チョウゲンボウ vs Carrion Crow, ハシボソガラス

Who is chasing who?

Naumann's Thrush, ハチジョウツグメ

The end of winter is near, The proof is here, birds are on the move. There were several common Thrushes, Pale and Dusky and 2 Naumann's. One hopped out on the road, too close.

Another one too far, quarreling with a Dusky Thrush

At the same time: Water Rail, クイナ

male Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ

Snow and ice

With the first snow we headed for Mt Raizan.

View of the mountain range southwest of Fukuoka city, Mt Raizan straight ahead

We drove up as far as possible, parked the car in an icy parking lot (scary!) and hiked up to the Raizan Sennyoji Daihioin temple

 (雷山観音)

To see that big maple tree

We hiked further up, following a small stream and discovered....

....ice!

Spectacular formations and a lot of it

  

Looking for birds we saw a flock of Goldcrest, キクイタダキ in the trees, but the slippery path made it impossible to take clear pictures. The Bluetail, ルリビタキ I was hoping for was not seen.