In The River

Few weeks ago as I was walking along the Spa Beach, I spotted an eclipse male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator) feeding along the shoreline. Its eyes seemed to be infected and the eyelids were swollen. I took a few snapshots before it flew out towards the sea. The next day, I found the same bird feeding in the small river near my dorm along with an Eastern Great and Little Egret. It seemed to be very healthy and active despite its swollen eyelids. This time it wasn't as wary as when I saw it at the beach and I could take photos of it easily from the bridge.

Eclipse male Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

It was feeding in the shallow area, chasing schools of fish around in circles attracting the Little and Great Egret to come and take the opportunities. I was quite amazed how it could still manage to catch the fish even with those infected eyes. It was quite entertaining watching it feeding in the river. Even though it didn't care much about my existence because I was sitting very still, whenever someone came walking by, it swam out towards the sea but always came back within a few minutes. I could identify it as an eclipse male because it already showed a few breeding feathers on its flanks.

Diving Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)

Non-breeding Eastern Great Egret (Casmerodius modesta) and Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Apart from the 3 species, there was a small number of Black-headed Gulls (Larus ridibundus) swimming in the river. While flock of approximately 700 birds was also seen flying around and resting in the sea near Spa Beach as well. Normally I don't feel like taking photos of these gulls anymore, but the reflection on the water surface was just so pretty that I couldn't help but taking photos of them swimming around and also while some of them were landing. I just love the shutter speeds that I got. Even with ISO200, I could get the shutter speed as fast as 1/2000sec! I love the light in Japan!

Non-breeding Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus)

Part of the c. 700 flock of Black-headed Gulls

Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Male Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)

Recently there has been a flock of about 70 Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) residing near my dorm. Few weeks ago when I took these photos, most of them still had black head. Yesterday, I saw the flock again and was surprised to find how many birds have moulted into breeding plumage with smart whitish head. I've never taken any decent shot of the cormorants in breeding plumage before. Maybe I would have to try taking their photos soon. Hopefully they will come closer to the shore some day.

Ducks in Ohori Park

January 1st in Fukuoka was overcast with constant showers. I went to a park called Ohori Park (大濠公園) which is located not very far from Tenjin Station. It is a big park with a large pond inside. Despite the rain, I was quite satisfied with the photos of ducks that I got during my brief visit. There were lots of Common Pochards (Aythya ferina) staying in the pond with a some 20 Tufted Ducks (Aythya fuligula). Some of them were really tame and even seemed to be asking for food. However, it seemed like the park doesn't encourage people to feed these ducks. There were signs telling what will be the negative impacts if the ducks are fed (for example, they will become so fat that they cannot walk!).

Part of the Ohori Park (大濠公園)

Male Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Since I've never got any decent shot of both Common Pochard and Tufted Duck, I enjoyed taking photos of them up close despite the rain. I think there were approximately 100 Common Pochards in the pond. Most of them were staying in the middle of the pond though, so I mainly focused on the ones that came to ask for food. It was interesting to see that most of them were males. I just realised once I got back to the hotel that I took very few photos of the females and they were not nearly as good as the males'.

Female Common Pochard (Aythya ferina)

Male Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)

There were much fewer Tufted Ducks in the pond but most of them were even more approachable than the pochards. Again, most of the were males with only a few female birds. I didn't even get any decent shot of the females. All of the them seemed to be pretty lazy and slept throughout most of the time, except for the ones that came begging for food. Because the light was really bad and it's really difficult to get the correct exposure, I decided to use flash which, as a result, helped bring up the feather details both in the shadow and highlight parts.

Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo)

There were also many Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) staying in the pond as well. There was a large tree in the middle of the pond and it was all covered with cormorants' droppings. It was quite shocking for me, as I first thought that it was some kind of lichen. Other birds found in the park included a pair of Gadwalls, some Eurasian Wigeons, lots and lots of Black-headed Gulls and Mallards.

Oita River

January 2nd saw me catching a train to Oita since early morning. I wanted to take some photos of the tame ducks at the same spot I took last year. Unfortunately, the tide was too low and the ducks were all floating far in the middle of the river. A few Common Teals and Northern Shovelers were swimming around closely in the area though, but they happened to be so much shier than last year, so no photos taken. The weather was great, by the way. A bit windy, about 10km/hr, but not very cold, and the sun was shining brightly for most of the time too. There were lots of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) roosting on the rocks along the river. As the sun slowly rose up, even more of them came flying in from the sea direction.

Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)

I remember seeing the description for the Great Cormorant in a Japanese Bird Guide, which I borrowed from my birding pal, noting Oita Prefecture as one of the well-known breeding sites of this species in Japan. I think that's the only line where the name Oita is mentioned in the book. Anyway, that's just me trying to feel good about having just a few other birds to photograph on that morning other than the cormorants.

Beppu Ropeway viewing from Oita River

Even more photos of the Great Cormorants

Male Baikal Teals (Anas formosa)