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A Few New Birds, Some Old Ones

March 28th, 2005

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.

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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!

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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:

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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.

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Here’s one of that last Cormorant fanning his/her wings in the strong breeze:

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Here are some fair shots of Wagtails spotted today:

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And here are a few of a Wagtail and a Sandpiper:

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There actually were a few more unidentified birds, but they could have been familiar birds in unfamiliar poses.

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Here are a few more good shots of Gray Starlings:

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And finally, the obligatory Kite hovering over the Tama River:

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