Chinese Egrets, カラシラサギ

On May 3rd I found the 2 Chinese Egrets, カラシラサギ feeding together in the middle of the mudflats - far away. The tide was out and the birds didn't come any closer. I left to run some errands. 

When I returned it was after midday and the waterline had risen, so I could expect the birds to be closer to shore. I found one near the island...

...and the other one towards the east.

Before the tide was completely in one bird came to rest on the partly submerged concrete slab

Besides the Great Egret,ダイサギ there were Whimbrels, チュウシャクシギ as 1 Far-Eastern Curlew, ホウロクシギ flew in

  The 2nd Chinese Egret arrived soon

All in a row, from L to R: Chinese, Great, Chinese, Great and Little Egret

カラシラサギ、ダイサギ、カラシラサギ、ダイサギ、コサギ

In the meadows were a few Cattle Egrets, アマサギ

other birds included Grey-tailed Tattler, キアシシシギ

...and Common Greenshank, アオアシシギ

Chinese Egret, カラシラサギ

I set out to look for the Chinese Egret yesterday morning, the 25th despite the forecast for rain. The moment I found it that rain started to come down real hard and I could not take any other photos. 

When it cleared a bit I tried again, but the bird was gone... I drove around and looked everywhere. 

Several Crakes crossed my path. Ruddy-breasted Crake, ヒクイナ

Skylark fledglings, ヒバリ were sitting on the concrete, barely moving when I came close.

2 Whiskered Terns, クロハラアジサシ perched on the wire near the 2 lakes

The Black-faced Spoonbills, クロツラヘラサギ quickly moved to higher ground when thunder and lightning came with more heavy rain

I wondered what I was doing here, but sometimes it cleared and a Zitting Cisticola, セッカ landed right in front of me, as if to say: Go on, you'll find it

And I did. When the tide ran out it appeared on the mudflats. Still in heavy rain, but it eventually dried up indeed, though it was much later than the weather forecast had predicted. 

The Spoonbills also came to the mudflats and got into a feeding frenzy. Chinese Egret joined them, but didn't catch any fish. 

He stood there just watching and thinking: How do you guys do this?

Higashiyoka on the 1st of May

Small selection of the many birds on the tidal mudflats of the Ariake Sea at Higashiyoka in Saga

Chinese Egret, カラシラサギ

Much smaller than the surrounding Great Egrets, ダイサギ

And very active

The tide didn't come in much, so the birds feeding on the water line stayed out a fair bit. 

The following 3 pictures show the Curlew Sandpiper, サルハマシギ in summer feathers.

The 2 reddish brown birds in the center.

On the left

On the left with 2 Red-necked Stints, トウネン

The search for Asian Dowitcher, シベリアオオハシシギ was on. I think I captured a few.

The plump red bird with straight bill in the center of the of the image

2 birds fast asleep

Waking up, but looking the other way...

Many Spotted Redshanks, ツルシギ had turned black now

Watch out, Spoonbills on the move

Pitch black

2 Little Terns, コアジサシ

1st Sunday in October

Early in the morning a lot of small birds were active.

 Zitting Cisticola, セッカ with a bug (spider?) for breakfast

I'm hiding😉!

Stejneger's Stonechat, ノビタキ a few more than 2 days before

Common Snipe, タシギ on a dried up rice-paddy One of many

And a very quiet Oriental Reed Warbler, オオヨシキリ

I thought I should catch up on warblers, but din't get any more then these. Where are all those Grasshopper Warblers???

The meeting of WBSJ was well attended. Ofcourse we all wore mouthcaps and tried to keep a social distance. In Japan this is usually not a problem. People don't touch each other generally. There were no real surprises, though the talk of the sighting of a Vulture nearby had everybody kind of excited. And there was that moment of a diving duck, as small as a Gargany but with markings of a Spot Bill. Hey, What's that? 

Afterwards at Izumi River. The Chinese Egret, カシラサギ was still scuttering on the mudflats...

...chased by resident Small Egrets, コサギ as before

4 Terns on the wires. 3 Had the black cap markings, 1 had a bit of an ear patch. If only...

But no, all were Whiskered Terns, クロハラアジサシ