The Front Line Migrants

Though Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) can be seen year round in Japan, it's a winter visitor here in most part of Thailand. Only a very small population breeds along rivers and streams in deep evergreen forests. The first record of the migrating Common Kingfisher for this autumn passage in Thailand was reported on August 13, pretty fast. I found and photographed this young female on August 24 at the small exercising area in Huai Hang village. Last year I also managed to get quite a series of decent shots of another young female at the same spot. Most of the approachable ones are always juveniles, which is not surprising. It's never easy to get good shots of the kingfishers, so I'm quite happy to start the migrating season off with this set of photos.

Immature female Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

The number of this colourful little bird is gradually increasing, and right now I can them pretty much everywhere. By mid September, there should be more beautiful adults arriving and less juveniles, as they should be traveling further south. Below are some photos of the dragonflies I photographed along the paddy fields. They were extremely numerous in the fields. There were several species I could recognise. Lots of Barn Swallows and a few Wire-tailed Swallows were also seen busy swifting all over the fields catching small insects, which were flying low close to the ground.

Chalky Percher (Diplacodes trivialis); male with blue body

Male Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum

Ospreys And More

Since the discovery of the White-winged Scoter, I've been going to Sekinoe beach much more often. However, the bird never came any closer to the shore, so I've still got zero better photo of it. While walking around the area, I spent my time photographing a small group of Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) that were feeding in the harbour. I believe there were more than 3 different individuals. They came to the small harbour nearby to catch small fish at low tides along with a pair of Black-eared Kites and a small Common Kingfisher. I could get lots of their flight shots at close range as I was hiding behind a bush. Sometimes they even came too close for me to fit into the frame. Photographing birds in flight can surely be fun!

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Most of the catches were successful and I guessed that's why they liked to stay around in the area. There must be a very good number of fish near the harbour at low tides, when they become very easy to see from the sky. However, I still haven't managed to get a decent series of diving shots of the bird. It's always exciting and fun watching them stooping down into the sea and come flying up with a fish in their talons. Once they caught something, they always flew away really far. I just wished that they'd perch and eat the prey somewhere near, so I can also take photos of them while perching as well...

Male Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Not only big birds like Ospreys and Black-eared Kites that were taking advantages of the abundance of fish at low tides, a single male Common Kingfisher was hanging around in the area as well. But as any Common Kingfishers around here, it was wary and didn't let me get close to it. The above Great Crested Grebe was from the Spa Beach in front of my dorm. You can see that it was already moulting into a breeding plumage. This year doesn't seem to be good for this species, and this individual always stayed far in the sea as well. To finish this entry, below is a sequence of shots of an Osprey catching a fish. This was the best I could get, but the light was awful. It'd have been much better, if there were a little bit of sunshine.

Bungo Toyo-oka

These are quite old photos taken on November 10th. I visited Bungo Toyo-oka (豊後豊岡), a small town just north of Beppu, as suggested by Furuso-san. It only took a few minutes by train from Kamegawa Station (亀川駅). As the train rapidly moved through the field of Sekino-E, I saw the two geese standing nicely in the warm morning sun of autumn. The town of Bungo Toyo-oka is very quiet and peaceful. The weather was brilliant and I had a good time walking through the urban area out into the wild. There are more rice fields here than in Beppu, all were harvested. Black-eared Kites were very common. I saw lots of them throughout the morning walk.

First-year Vega Gull (Larus vegae)

First-year Common Gull (Larus canus Kamtschatschensis)

There was a big flock of gulls bathing in a small harbour near the town. Most of them were Black-headed, Black-tailed and Vega Gulls. There were also a few first-year Slaty-backed Gull (Larus schistisagus), and an odd first-year Common Gull (Larus canus Kamtschatschensis), a bird I don't see very often around here. There were also fresh footprints of a weasel on the sandy shore, too bad I couldn't find one. Common Sandpipers and Little Egrets were feeding along the small canal nearby as well.

Female Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus)

Male Eyebrowed Thrush (left) with male Brown-headed Thrush (right)

Male Brown-headed Thrush (Turdus chrysolaus)
Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Male Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis bengalensis)

I chose to walk upstream to the mountain side. Along the way, I came across a very big flock of thrushes, mostly Dusky, Pale and Eyebrowed with several Brown-headed. The Brown-headed and Eyebrowed are not the birds that I often see in Beppu. The birds seemed to be enjoying some kind of wild berries fruiting along the riverside. Unfortunately, all of them were so shy so I couldn't get any decent shot of them. All of the above shots were cropped.

Japanese Weasel (Mustela itatsi)

Male Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus)

While I was photographing the thrushes, a Japanese Weasel popped out of the bush in the river below. I tried to get some nice photos of it, but it was really difficult to catch up with. It moved so fast through the bushes and the rocks. The above shot was the only acceptable shot of it in the open. There was a Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) soaring high up in the sky while I was watching the thrushes as well. It was later chased by a flock of Large-billed Crows. Daurian Redstarts and Common Kingfishers were along the river in quite a good number. I later took a bus back to Beppu around 11.30 as the wind started to get too strong and the birds began to disappear.

November 3

Well, in case you're getting bored of those Bean Geese, here's some photos of other birds from a nice morning at Sekino-E. The area proved to continually be productive since the start of the month with an influx of Daurian Redstarts and thrushes. I even came across a pair of Chinese Penduline-Tits (Remiz consobrinus) at the edge of the reedbed near the lotus field. It's the first record for Beppu, but I've already seen many of them in Saga. Too bad the birds were too active and I couldn't get any record shot of them. A female Common Kestrel was also presenting in the area, but was constantly chased by the crows. I was quite surprised to see several Red-rumped and Barn Swallows still lingering around instead of migrating to the southern hemisphere.

My best shot yet of the Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)

Male Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)

I was very pleased to get the above shot of the kingfisher. It was something really unexpected, as the bird always flew off before I could get any closer than 20 or 50 metres. However, for some reason the bird in the picture didn't seem to notice me, and gave me a rare chance to photograph it at close range and in good light. The redstarts, on the other hand, are so easy to get photos of. They always stay within their territories and are much less wary than the kingfisher.

Female Daurian Redstart