Ryukyu Minivet

I went out to Beppu Park today in hope of finding some interesting thrushes. Last January, there was a very good number of thrushes in the park feeding on a specific kind of berries. A few Naumann's and a single Red-throated Thrush were found among the abundant Dusky and Pale. As I arrived at the park, I found that all the berries have already fallen, so there was no chance for the thrush. I walked around the main pond and surprisingly came across a lone Ryukyu Minivet (Pericrocotus tegimae), which was perching nicely on a dead tree near the footpath along with a few Japanese and Varied Tits. It reminds me of the first time I saw this species here in this very same place. It was on 2009 January 11th! It was a very cold day, like today, and I found 2 Ryukyu Minivets perching on the dead treetop among the flock of tits, white-eyes and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers. Here's the post about that visit to Beppu Park.

Ryukyu Minivet (Pericrocotus tegimae)

At first, the bird was perching very low, but after I finished setting up my camera, a crow came hawking by and all the little birds just flew away into the dark trees. I waited for half an hour but they didn't come out, so I walked to the other areas to photograph other birds. About an hour later, I walked back to the same place and luckily found that the minivet was already coming out to the open again.

Ryukyu Minivet (Pericrocotus tegimae)

The bird was not shy, as you can see, but the weather was awful. It was really dark and cold, thus not a good condition for photography. I had to use flash in order to get the colour of the bird. It started to get darker as the bird began to be more friendly. Finally, the snow began falling and I just had to leave the park as it's getting colder and darker. Hope it'll stick around for a few more days, so I can go back and get some better shots again.