In The Park

Photos taken from Beppu Park earlier this month. After the finding of the Ryukyu Minivet on January 12th, I went back again on the next morning hoping to get some better shots. The bird was nowhere to be found, by the way. So I spent time taking photos of other common birds around the park instead. I was surprise to see that a small flock of Eurasian Siskins was still lingering inside the park. I thought all of them have already moved further south. There were a few Hawfinches, as well as a pair of White-bellied Green Pigeons, of which I could almost take some nice photos while they were coming down to drink, but flew away just before I pressed the shutter button. Other stuff like Pale and Dusky Thrushes, Grey-capped Greenfinches and Daurian Redstarts were all presenting well as usual.

This male Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) was staying at the northeast gate of the park. It was so tame that I didn't have to crop all of the images above, well, simply because there's already no space to crop. It was foraging on fallen berries underneath a fruited tree. There were a few more individuals in the other areas of the park, but not as numerous as during the autumn passage.

Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus)
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)

A flock of Eurasian Siskins (Carduelis spinus)

There seemed to be an influx of Olive-backed Pipits (Anthus hodgsoni) in the pine zones of the park. More than 10 birds were busy walking all over the ground looking for something to eat, not really sure what. I tried to photograph these birds and found it really difficult. They were all very energetic and didn't stop walking for even a second. I had to use flash to help make the photos sharper, since the area where they were feeding was very dark. Some of the birds looked really pale, while some looked much buffier. I wondered if a single or two Tree Pipits (Anthus trivialis) might have sneaked in, but after checking all of the photos, I found none.

Olive-backed Pipits (Anthus hodgsoni)

Sick

I've been sick for the last whole week, such a bad time to be sick when exams are coming. I went to the doctor and he said that I got influenza. After days of doing nothing but lying in bed and taking medicines, I could finally be able to get up again. There are still many photos I've been keeping since the last few weeks. One of them is this set of the Black-necked Grebe shots that I took at the same harbour behind my dorm. These were taken on January 14th, a day after I first photographed another individual. At first, I thought it was the same individual I took earlier, but then its strange, even scary, bill struck me and I realised that it was a new one, a sick new one, to be precise.

Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

It was feeding exactly in the same pattern as the first individual. When it stopped feeding, it spent time preening in the middle area of harbour. I even thought that it might be the same individual but something happened to its bill the night before. But after looking closely at these photos I took, I found that there are many delicate differences between the two individuals, most notably the amount of black on the cheeks. This new individual stayed around in the harbour for a few more days before moving to the Spa Beach near by, where it was joined by its much larger relative, the Great Crested Grebe, which finally showed up for the first time of the season. However, both of them have already disappeared from the beach for almost a week now. This year seems to be good for the Black-necked Grebe. Three more were regular at Sekino-E as well. About this bird's bill, a guy in BirdForum suggested that it's a serious infection, but he also have no idea about how the bird got it.

Some more closer shots of the bird

White-winged Scoter

My latest lifer #1,028 and #140 for my Beppu list, the White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi) was found at Sekino-E on January 15th by Furuso-san. Three days later, I went to twitch and successfully found it feeding along with a small group of Red-breasted Mergansers far away in the sea. At first, we thought that the bird was a female but after looking at the photos I took, I realised that it was actually a first-winter male. Female bird should have completely dark bill, unlike this individual which has faint pinkish band near the tip of its bill. I easily spotted the bird as I arrived at the place, as the bird flew passed in front of me showing its white wing patches clearly. Too bad it landed much too far away from the shore.

1st-winter White-winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi)

Looking up in the internet, I just knew that the subspecies found in Japan, M.d.stejnegeri, is also sometimes recognised as a full species, Asian White-winged Scoter or Stejneger's Scoter (Melanitta stejnegeri). I have very little knowledge about how to distinguish each subspecies though. Even identifying it from the European Velvet Scoter (Melanitta fusca) is already difficult. This individual found at Sekino-E was quite active in feeding. It constantly dived down for food in every 1 minute. After feeding for a long while, it took a nap for about 10 minutes, then started feeding again.

It's already practiced the courtship display!

A brief moment of sunlight revealed the bird's actual brown plumage.

There were 2 non-breeding Kentish Plovers (Charadrius alexandrinus) feeding along the beach as well. I couldn't find the male bird I saw earlier in December. May be it has already moved to the other area. These plovers are just so difficult to approach. They always fly away too soon before I can get into a good range. If it had the size of a pheasant, I wouldn't be as troubled as this. If I could have a 800mm lens, there would be no trouble as well lol.

Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus)