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.

Other Birds From Fukuoka

This will be the final post for my trip to Fukuoka during the year's end and new year vacation. I found Imazu a very nice place for birding, even though I couldn't get any photo of the Black-faced Spoonbill in close range. Apart from the c. 100 Falcated Ducks in the earlier post, there were tonnes of many other ducks staying at the river mouth. Most of them were Mallards and Chinese Spot-billed Ducks, but I also found interesting species like 1 male Baikal Teal and at least 5 Common Shelducks among the flocks as well. Northern Pintails and Eurasian Wigeons were also numerous, with some Red-breasted Mergansers, Northern Shovelers and Common Teals. I believe that if I had a telescope with me, I'd be able to pick out some more.

A view of Zuibaijigawa (瑞梅寺川) at Imazu

Chinese Spot-billed Ducks (left) and a male Baikal Teal (right)

A flock of Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo)

Two resting Common Shelducks (Tadorna tadorna)

A crappy record shot of a 1st-winter Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi)

On my second visit to Imazu, I also spotted a first-winter Saunders's Gull (Larus saundersi) resting on a sandbar along with the ducks. It is another globally endangered species which occasionally spends its winter in Kyushu. I've seen quite many of them back in 2009 when I visited Ariake Sea in Saga Prefecture. On the right side of the river, there were patches of rice fields where a pair of Tundra Swans was spotted earlier in December. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to see them. There was a flock of about 10-15 Northern Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus) in the rice fields though. I've never been able to get close to this shy species. Below are my best attempts of getting their photos.

Northern Lapwings (Vanellus vanellus)

They liked to hide among the dried grass.
Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica japonica)

Non-breeding Dunlins (Calidris alpina)

Eurasian Magpies (Pica pica japonica) were occasionally found in people's garden and along the roads. However, they were not as easy to photograph as I thought. After all, I could only get one (relatively) decent shot of it standing on the grass while picking up the food. In one of the small canals that flows into Zuibaiji River, I found a flock of about 50 Dunlins (Calidris alpina) resting and chirping like little chicks. I've never heard their voices before, but they seemed to be especially vocal at the time that I found them. They later flew out and made a nice aerial show for a few minutes before landing on the opposite side of the canal.

Female Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) carrying quite a huge lunch

An adult Eastern Great Egret (Casmerodius modesta) with nice breeding plumes

A young female Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)

Juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)

Non-breeding Dunlins (Calidris alpina)

From the little research that I made before going to Fukuoka, Tataragawa River (多々良川) seems to be another great place to see Black-faced Spoonbills at close rage. I went there by walking quite a distance from the Kaizuka Station and asked local people about the area where the spoonbills are normally seen. I could finally find the place where the spoonbills are said to come and roost, but there was no spoonbill in sight. I waited until it was almost completely dark despite the biting cold wind and rain, but still no spoonbill came to the roosting site. Finally I had to leave for a warmer place and go back to the city without any photo of the spoonbill. To end this long post, below is a video of Dunlins that I took while waiting for the spoonbills at Tataragawa. I certainly need to pay a second visit to Fukuoka!

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.