I’ve been a bit negligent in posting my most recent birdwatching finds. Not much new, but a few okay photos from a recent visit to Oi Wild Bird Park and Kasai Rinkai. Some of these photos were taken the day I got hit by lightning; some are from my birdwatching a week after that.

First, the juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron I saw the last time, except now it’s taking up a new roost–and it turns out there are two of them. I found this out by pointing out one I’d found to a nice couple who were peering through the same blinds as I was. After a minute I discovered that they thought I was pointing to one close by, when actually I was trying to show them the one far away–I hadn’t noticed the close one. This is also the first time I’ve seen an immature Black-crowned roost on the pillars like this–they’d always been in the swampy area across the way, like they were the previous time I’d been there.

Usually, the adults roost there, as in this photo from August last year:

There were many of the usual suspects as well, including a Kingfisher…

Some Black-winged Stilts…

Some Common Sandpipers…

And some Little Terns:

The terns are harder to get shots of, of course, as they tend to be always flying over the water; you can get them only when they hover before diving (note the bird looking down in most of the photos).

It was also a time for juvenile birds; the Heron above was just one example. The Wagtails are young–adults are sharply contrasted with white and black, but the juveniles are greyish in color:

And you can spot young Little Grebes at this time of year as well, easy to spot with their striped heads:

And even a Bull-headed Shrike that I happened upon seemed immature–note the spots on the top of the wings (the larger spot on the middle edge of the wings is one thing that identifies the bird), and the not-so-contrasted head markings–adults are more striking than this young fellow, which I happened upon by pure chance:

One that was probably not young was also not a bird. Right in the middle of the lake, we spotted something–and a look at zoom showed a bump with two more bumps. A bullfrog, apparently–unless the lake has become populated with crocodiles…

And finally, one of the more regular, but also striking birds in the Oi Park at this time of year, the Little Ringed Plover. In the first shot, I caught him with wings raised:

And in these two shots, the little guy was very close up; click on the images for larger versions: