A Bunch Of Unproductiveness

Even though I have already complained about the lack of birds during this winter in a few other posts, this post is also dedicated to the same topic. Sekinoe kept disappointing me so bad that I have lost my motivation to visit it again. I've been thinking of going to Oita River for a few days now, but I also fear of not seeing any decent bird. This winter seems to be much delayed too, so I am not sure if interesting migrants like the Baikal Teal that I found last winter or the Japanese Waxwing that I missed, have already arrived or not. Anyway, at least I have found 2 Beppu's firsts during this season, which are the Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis) that I found both at Hamawaki and Rakutenchi, and the Common Coot (Fulica atra) at Sekinoe and Furuichi.

Juvenile Japanese Sparrowhawk (Accipiter gularis) at Hamawaki on December 6, 2011.

Possibly different juvenile Eurasian Sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus) at Sekinoe

The only Accipiter hawk that I've found in Beppu has always been the Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). This winter has been a little bit different because 2 Japanese Sparrowhawks were found in the southern part of Beppu including Hamawaki and Rakutenchi entrance. I was actually unsure about the identification of the bird in the first picture at first, but after sending it to a raptor expert, I was confirmed that it is a juvenile Japanese Sparrowhawk. It has different streaking and barring pattern on the underparts with a much shorter tail. Juvenile Eurasian Sparrowhawk has no vertical streaking on the breast with a much longer tail.

Male Common Teal (Anas crecca)

A flock of Common Teals resting in the afternoon

Eclipse male and female stretching wings

Comparing to other years, the number of waterfowls at Sekinoe is quite disappointing. Normally, a large flock of Common Teals (Anas crecca) would be filling the whole lotus fields by late November. However, this year there were only about 20 birds. There was a pair of male Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) among the flock of Common Teals and a single Common Coot (Fulica atra) swimming in the river.I was so shocked to see the emptiness of the fields. Only a pair of Common Sandpipers, a lone Buff-bellied Pipit, a Grey Wagtail and a pair of Japanese Wagtail were found feeding in the fields at Sekinoe. Things are a little bit better on Furuichi side. I flushed up a single male Greater Painted-Snipe and an extremely shy Ruddy-breasted Crake was seen moving and calling in the grass.

Male Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos)

Ruddy-breasted Crake (Porzana fusca erythrothorax)

Male Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)

And the female

This year even the Daurian Redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus) which normally passes through Beppu in a large number seems to be fewer than ever. I've always got decent shots of this species during autumn either at Sekino or Beppu Park easily without much effort. However, this year it was more difficult for me to get any decent shot of the birds. Apart from these usual migrants, I also found a single Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) soaring above Sekinoe field and a few Black-faced Buntings (Emberiza spodocephala personata) flicking within the reeds. It's the species that I'm still waiting to get a decent shot of. On my recent visit on December 4, I also found another Common Coot feeding in an open lotus field along with a small flock of Common Teals at Furuichi.

Common Coot (Fulica atra)

Male Bull-headed Shrike (Lanius bucephalus)

Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)

Female Black-faced Bunting (Emberiza spodocephala personata)

A Cold Morning

The night of Janaury 15th saw a minor snow storm hitting the little town of Beppu. By the morning of the 16th, the city was all covered with white sheet of snow, such a different view. It's not common for Beppu to have such scenery, and I was so excited and headed to Sekino-E to take some photos as soon as possible. I spent a few hours there taking photos of birds and scenery before going to the Mochi (rice cake) festival. My target for the day was actually to photograph the 2 Bean Geese in the snow, which would be something new to the collection, but unfortunately, they kept staying in the river and didn't come up to the snow covered field until the afternoon, when the snow has already melted.

A selection of shot photographed on the morning of Jan 16 and the night of Jan 15
A never before seen view of Sekino-E

Most part of the water in the field was frozen.

I was surprised to see the 2 Bean Geese flew up and circling around the area for about 3-4 times before landing down to the river again. They've never been active in flying before. Guess the spring migration is heating up and they feel the need to exercise... I tried to get some flight shots of them, but for some reasons I often couldn't catch up to them. They were really big, so when they came flying too close, I just couldn't fit them into the frame. Below are a few of the acceptable shots.

Tundra and Taiga Bean Goose

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

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)