Isahaya in February 3

Starting with a picture of the scenery on an early morning, showing the soft colors of winter and Harriers perched in the trees. There were 4 females and one male

 Hen Harriers, ハイイロチュウヒ  ♀ ♂ 

♀ 

A Brown-eared Bulbul, ヒヨドリ eating berries with real natural frosting. Were they frozen? Was it tasty?

More female Hen Harriers, ハイイロチュウヒ ♀  during the day

Whooper Swans, オオハクチョウ disturbed by workers in the reeds

Eastern Buzzard, ノスリ on the tallest look-out

This last picture is of 6 Wild Pigs, イノシシ that we met at the end of both days. We counted 9 all together

Small birds in the park

 It's a short ride to Imazu and I can often steal an hour or so to go and see the waders, but I am not doing well with other birds. I visited the parks were Grey-streaked Flycatchers, エゾビタキ were seen, but I didn't find any. Just a few Asian Brown Flycatchers, コサメビタキ. Actually, only 3.

The Varied Tits, ヤマガラ were an easy object as long as the Snowbell, エゴノキ tree had fruit

I finally found some Long-tailed Tits, エナガ to play with. It lasted just a few minutes

No birds, not small, not even in a park. But they were there. And I learned the meaning of Uribo

Oriental Cuckoo, ツツドリ

September 4th it was heaviy overcast, raining on and off a little and generally dark when I got here at 4pm. There was some activity, but it took another hour before birds really came out to eat. There were 3 cuckoos. 1 Stayed out of sight mostly, 2 came out briefly. I think they were Oriental Cuckoos, ツツドリ

Also around a female Blue-and-white Flycatcher, オオルリ

Grey-streaked Flycatcher, エゾビタキ

Due to the wet weather of late: Japanese Tree frog, ニホンアマガエル

Momma wild pig　イノシシ leading her 4 kids to a safe place. (Though my Frankie was the only car around)

Japanese Prickly-ash, カラスサンショウ and Mugimaki flycatchers, ムギマキ

November 7th I finally set out to find Karasusansho, カラスサンショウ (Japanese Prickly-ash). It took the biggest part of the day to find a tree that had the edible berries that the birds love so much and that was visible from a higher position, so I could see the top of the tree and the birds from the side. I didn't want to see just their bottoms :-) It was a bit late in the season and I didn't expect to see any flycatchers, but then I did get lucky. At first I sat quite concealed near a small tree and 2 female Narcissus Flycatchers came flying in. A very agitated Redstart sent them flying off before I could take any photos. The same happened when White-eyes and Leiothrixes appeared. I left after an hour in search of another place. Then there was this big tree, but a bit far. Too far maybe, cause I clearly saw the action of 2 or 3 mugimaki flycatchers, but I didn't do well with the camera. Lucky a handsome male Narcissus Flycatcher made up for it.

Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ male

Japanese White-eye, メジロ

female Mugimaki Flycatcher, ムギマキ in the back

 And a male (?) in flight

This is the best I could do :-(   female Mugimaki Flycatcher, ムギマキ

male Narcissus Flycatcher, キビタキ

Unexpected oncoming traffic on the way back