One day at N-shima

I drove to N-shima on a cloudy but pleasant weekday. I don't remember what I expected, but certainly not this. It was quiet. There was nobody! No birders and no cameramen looking for their favorite Rosefinches. Ehh? I walked along the sealed road, and heard all sorts of birds, but saw little. Just Bramblings, Masked Buntings and Pale Thrushes. And they seemed to be all over the place. After an hour I realized why there were no others. No Rosefinches were coming out. I could hear them in the tall grass, and see them occasionally for a few seconds or so... No raptors either. 

Brambling, アトリ

Red-flanked Bluetail, ルリビタキ

Long-tailed Rose finch, ベニマシコ

No bright reddish pink colored feathers, just a pink hue. Young male?

A female, playing hide and seek.

Rustic Bunting, カシラダカ - Happy to see you. There aren't many around MF

Masked Bunting, アオジ

Overwhelmingly friendly

Oriental Greenfinch subsp, オオカワラヒワ

Weasel, イタチ, maybe Siberian

Bullfinches and some more, 2

Who knows when we will see them again... Hence the Bullfinches, ウソ once more

Feeding again on the fruit of Utsugi, ウツギの実

Also in the finch family: Long-tailed Rosefinch, ベニマシコ

Flying in and out, but not stopping for long

Eurasian Siskin, マヒワ in small and big flocks, decorating the tree

Elegant or Yellow-throated Bunting, ミヤマホオジロ. Quite skitterish and reluctant to stay put.

Such a pretty flower Japanese Star Anise, シキミ

Chiffchaff and others

 A cold but sunny day at the well-known location of the Chiffchaff. The bird was mostly absent, but halfway through the morning made an appearance across the water. The rest of the time was filled with watching other birds and talking to friends. I had a good day!

Chiffchaff, チフチャフ

Long-tailed Rosefinch, ベニマシコ male

female

Female Hen Harrier, ハイイロチュウヒ was flying all day long

Eastern Buzzard, ノスリ

Eurasian Sparrowhawk, ハイタカ

Black-faced Bunting or Masked Bunting, アオジ feasting on some spilled bait for wild pigs

 

Long-tailed Rosefinches, ベニマシコ in the NE

Driving out of town, I come to this place that I like to visit occasionally. This season I went twice and met the Rosefinches on both occasions.

to be continued