White-bellied Green-Pigeon

I've been thinking of going to Shiraki to take photos of the White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii) ever since I came back to Japan. Too bad time and weather never quite cooperated. Whenever I'm free, the weather always sucked. Finally, I could pay a visit there on a sunny afternoon of October 27. I arrived at the place around 1:45pm. The light was perfect, the colour of the ocean was perfect. The only thing missing was the bird! Wait, no, the small ladder that I used to climb down to the shore 10m plus below was also missing. I thought I could just go down by myself without the ladder and I even gave it a try, which I failed miserably. It was too high and dangerous for me who's never done something quite acrobatic. So I kept looking for an alternative and I finally found another ladder some hundreds metres away, so finally I could go down to the shore (even though I had to hop along the strange looking rocks used to absorb tsunami for hundreds metres until I could finally reach the place where the birds are and this part was the most exciting, I could break my legs if I had just a slight slip!)

Male White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii)

I set up my hide as soon as I reached the spot and kept on waiting. Time went by for almost an hour and still no bird came to the rocks. Normally there should be large flocks circling all through the sky, but today there was none. I almost thought I wouldn't get any picture back. But then 2 birds appeared on the rock in front of the hide. They were a pair of male and female birds. Although they were a bit too far, the colours were amazing. The male didn't stay for too long. It flew away before coming any closer. The female stayed much longer and even came a bit closer. I kept asking myself why there weren't any more birds. Maybe they don't need much salt during winter?

Female White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii)

After the female bird has left, nothing came to the rocks for more than an hour. I kept waiting hoping that there might be a big flock coming before sunset. Instead, there was just 1 male bird came flying down from the forest above and perched on the rock just a few metres away from the hide. I was the closest I've ever got to these birds (well, except the sick one that I found felling off from a tree at Mt. Takasaki). The bird was so close that in one of the shots, the one on the header, I had to clone the tail from another photo because I couldn't fit its whole body into the frame! It stayed for about 5 minutes before flying back into the forest leaving me with nothing until sunset. So that's the story of my return to Shiraki this autumn. Seems like summer can surprisingly be much more productive.

Male White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii)

Mission Accomplished

After the short 2 posts below, here comes the full story of my 2-day mission at Shiraki from July 29 to July 30. So after my almost failed attempt to photograph the beautiful White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii sieboldii) on July 29, I went back there again on the next afternoon. This time, I brought a photography hide I bought in Thailand with me, in the hope that the birds will eventually come closer. As I arrived at Shiraki around 3pm, I was surprised to see some stuff lying on the rocks below. There was a beach bench, some containers and a big umbrella. I scanned the area but saw no one. But then I spotted something moving in the sea close to the rocks, and I realised that there's someone snorkeling! I never expected someone to be snorkeling down here, where just going down from the highway is already life-risking. I think he must be some kind of a researcher rather than an amateur snorkeler. The only way to go down from the highway to the sea below is by climbing down a small ladder built by a homeless person living just below the highway. I even briefly saw him on both day, but he often disappeared after I saw him. I was actually a bit scared, but the desire to get good shots made me overcome the fear. So I set up a hide down there on the rock and waited for the bird. After waiting for about 20 minutes, the birds finally came circling above the hide and landed just about 10 metres away. I was so happy to see that the hide actually worked. The birds didn't seem to care much about the existence of the hide, and I could fire many shots before they quickly flew off as a juvenile Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus japonensis) came dashing in.

Male White-bellied Green-Pigeons (Treron sieboldii sieboldii)

Females are duller with no maroon patch on the shoulder

I even unconsciously held my breath while taking their photos when they came so close to the hide, afraid that they would fly away. It actually turned out that they didn't even care even when I panned my camera from left to right or up and down, so I felt so happy and relaxed while shooting them. More male birds came closer to the hide, so after I went back and checked the photos I've taken, I found that there are many more photos of the male birds than the females. Guess I have to focus more on the females when I go back there next time. It was so entertaining watching them swifting through the sky in large flocks and landed down on the rocks altogether. I also enjoyed looking at their eyes. They're just so amazing, with all those sky blue, deep blue and magenta layers. One of the most extraordinary eyes I've ever seen.

The problematic young Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus japonensis)

The setting sun really brought out the bright yellowish colour of the male.

Some more shots of the male birds

And the duller females

The birds seemed to like this spot.

The birds kept visiting the rocks until it got quite dark. Furuso-san was also there on July 30, and we watched the birds flying up and down the rocks until almost 7pm. It seems like they are most active around 5:30pm - 6:00pm. Unfortunately, I've already packed up my hide and climbed up to the highway since before 5:30, so when the birds began to gather in the greatest number, I was already high up on the road looking down at them with a sad face, as it's so difficult to go down there again.