I took a day trip out to Sagami today to do some birding, and didn’t have the greatest luck. A lot of nature out the way of Lake Sagami, forests, rivers and so on. I’m finding out that my vacation at least begins in a very dry birding season–as if the winter birds have gone but the spring birds haven’t arrived yet. I went to many places where there should have been a lot of birds, walked through miles of trails in forests, farmland and parks, and didn’t get very much. I probably would’ve done better at Tama Reien, now that I know where to look; I’ll probably head back there again as soon as I have a clear day.

But I did find a few things. First, in a tree by the first lake I came by, I spotted some finches. One of the finches is, I am pretty sure, an Oriental Greenfinch, same as I found on the Tama River a month or two back.

I didn’t see much of it, but got a glimpse of maybe yellow in its wings, and there aren’t too many brown-green finches out there.

But before I got on to that bird, I did catch another–so fleeting, so hidden that I didn’t get a good visual on it, but when I got home I could see that it’s a bird I’ve been looking for: the Hawfinch.

See this illustration for comparison, from this page. The white at the back of the bird’s neck is telling, if not the dark area around the eye and beak, and the orange back.

I was pleased to get it, but would liked to have gotten it more, not to mention more clearly. Maybe later.

There are a few more Greenfinch photos in the continued reading, by the way.

I also caught a few more photos of the Greenfinch preening and scratching: