The mudflats of the Ariake Sea

I come here mainly to watch the birds flying in swooping flocks, rising and plummeting, twisting and turning, in tune with their calls. It never stops amazing me. I could watch it for hours. My mind relaxes and the worries about the declining bird population at home ease up a bit. Nature will survive!

The 1st of April was a cloudy day. High tide was not very high, but good enough to see the birds close to shore. A little sunshine every now and then would have been nice... The Little Terns made up for that in a big way. In this post I show some of the other birds.

オオソリハシシギ · Bar-tailed Godwit

Red Knot,コオバシギ 

 Great Knot, オバシギ 

Eurasian Curlew, ダイシャクシギ 

They look odd, standing in a line like this. As if they are practicing for a marching parade

Far Eastern Curlew, ホウロクシギ 

Other birds were Grey Plovers, Dunlins, Green Shanks, Kentish Plovers, Lesser or Siberian Plovers, 

Vega Gulls, Saunders's Gulls, Red-necked Stints, and some more maybe.