John Andrew Wright's Photo Blog

As usual the forecasters got it wrong…..rain during the night clearing by dawn with sunny skies from noon…….alas, rain, rain and more rain. In fact, it’s still raining now at 19:45! Anyway, I left home at 03:30 in order to catch the dawn and see if any migrants were around at Kabashima. The conditions meant I could have left at 07:00 and had plenty of time to catch the morning’s action but it’s nice to know I didn’t miss anything by arriving late. There were many birds calling, but all were skulking until mid-morning when a few began to show. Of interest were Siberian Blue Robin (glimpsed in the undergrowth), Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Tristram’s Bunting. I decided to also check some of the fields around Nomo town (the main township in the area) and turned up a small flock of Chestnut-cheeked Starling as well as a Little Bunting (rare in Japan). A nice Red-throated Pipit in breeding plumage was active in the fields but very flighty. Finally, as I was about to leave the area, a male Red-bellied Rock Thrush appeared beside my car with a centipede! It quickly disarmed the centipede by plying off its stingers before toying with it a bit more prior to flying off.

Blue-and-white Flycatcher (male)

Tristram’s Bunting (male)

Chestnut-cheeked Starling

Little Bunting

Red-throated Pipit

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Red-bellied Rock Thrush (male)

Yesterday afternoon was very wet and while photographing Grey-headed Lapwing at Koga, Fukuoka, we observed dozens of Barn Swallow flying among the flowering clover and other seeding grasses. At first I was mystified by this behaviour, but photographs confirmed our suspicions that the birds were feeding on insects. The heavy rain must have prevented insects from flying around and thus be taken in mid-air as per usual Barn Swallow hunting techniques, so the birds had to adapt to snatching prey from the tops of vegetation. It was a great spectacle to watch, and I managed a nice sequence of shots with the 1D-X in the dull conditions.

This morning I tried Azamidani to see if any migrants were passing through…. Seems a bit early still, as the Grey-bellied Bullfinch and Red-flanked Bluetail were still there, however all the wintering thrushes had gone. It seems likely that migrant warblers should be passing through any day now. Among the Grey-bellied Bullfinch was one male that seemed very red on its chest and belly…almost like a Eurasian Bullfinch…..however they should all be Pyrrhula pyrrhula rosacea……. Red-billed Leiothrix were also active.

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male)

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (female)

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male)

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male) bathing

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male) bathing

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male) bathing

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male) bathing

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (male) bathing

Grey-bellied Bullfinch (female)

Red-flanked Bluetail (female)

Red-billed Leiothrix