A Few New Birds, Some Old Ones
Though I spent quite a long time out today, the crowds seemed to scare the birds off. As a result, I just caught sight of only a few new birds today. A lot of old ones were out–Wagtails, Tree Sparrows, Crows, Kites, Bulbuls, Thrushes, Starlings, Egrets, Cormorants, a variety of ducks, and even a Sandpiper, a few Black-faced Buntings and pair of Oriental Turtledoves. Had this been my first day I’d have been a bit overwhelmed.
However, I did see two new birds–only one of which I could identify, though. First was a Meadow Bunting (Houjiro • ホウジロ), which was flying around where there were a lot of Great Tits and Tree Sparrows, along a brush line near a bridge on the Tama River.
I only got two shots before it flew off, but by chance the focus worked for once, and I got the very nice shot above.
The second bird looked like it could be some kind of Bunting or maybe a Pipit, but I couldn’t quite tell which, despite a fairly original-looking set of markings around the eyes and ears. As usual, if any reader can identify this bird, let me know!
After that, the most interesting find of the day was a Japanese Cormorant–but this time I was able to get close. Usually I just spy them from across the river, and have to make do with long shots. This time, I saw one sitting at the edge of a field of stones at the edge of my side of the river, so I decided to see how close I could get, not expecting much to happen. But I ambled carefully over the stones, going just a few meters at a time, then stopping and waiting. Apparently, this was acceptable to the Cormorant, because it just sat there doing its thing, until I was about eight meters away–and then it almost casually slipped off into the water. But not before I got this close-up shot:
The first is reduced slightly to fit my usual frame size for photos here; the second is full-size but cropped a little closer.
For more photos from the day, click on the “Continue Reading” link!
Here are some more Cormorant photos. The first few involve Cormorants with ducks in the frame.
Here’s one of that last Cormorant fanning his/her wings in the strong breeze:
Here are some fair shots of Wagtails spotted today:
And here are a few of a Wagtail and a Sandpiper:
There actually were a few more unidentified birds, but they could have been familiar birds in unfamiliar poses.
Here are a few more good shots of Gray Starlings:
And finally, the obligatory Kite hovering over the Tama River: