My trip to Thailand has been spent mostly with the family, which together with adverse rainy-season weather has left little time for photography. However I did get the family together for a quick day trip to Doi Inthanon, and the weather cooperated nicely. I had a quick look at Checkpoint 2, where a group of […]
Author: John Wright
John Wright is an Australian wildlife photographer and bird guide based in Kyushu, Japan. John became seriously engaged in nature photography while living in Japan and then Thailand. He returned to Japan in 2008 and has since concentrated on wildlife photography, especially birds. John visits Southeast Asia and Australia regularly, but usually travels within the Japanese archipelago, where he also guides visiting birders and wildlife photography enthusiasts.
Mount Aso Highlands
Last Friday afternoon I revisited the highlands near Mt Aso, Kumamoto prefecture, Japan. Usually I visit this location in the early morning, but I wanted to see what was happening in the late afternoon. Also, the light direction is better in the afternoon, so more options to photograph species active in the area. The scenery […]
Mount Norikura, Gifu Prefecture
Last weekend I decided to go up to central Honshu island and search out some personal “firsts” seeing as I had a total of four days. I was planning to visit both Mt Ibuki (Shiga prefecture) and Mt Norikura (Gifu prefecture), the first location for Golden Eagle and the second for alpine birds such as […]
More Japanese Reed Buntings
I had planned a longer photography trip this weekend, specifically to look for Pleske’s Grasshopper Warbler, however the typhoon that was supposed to pass across from the Japan Sea to the Pacific Ocean promptly decided to turn itself into a depression and sit just off the western coast of Kyushu! After a bit of procrastination, […]
Japanese Reed Bunting | Emberiza yessoensis
Yesterday I visited the Aso-Kuju area in central Kyushu. Specifically I wanted to see Japanese Reed Bunting (aka Ochre-rumped Bunting), but also other summer birds of higher altitudes. Although this was the middle of rainy season, the forecast seemed promising so I arrived at dawn. Soon after starting off a trail famous for having my […]
Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha)
One bird I’ve long been wanting to see while in Japan is the beautiful Fairy Pitta. The numbers of this globally-endangered species in Japan seem to have been steadily decreasing, or else they are moving from historic breeding grounds such as Mi-ike to more secretive locations deeper in the mountains. Every year a few migrate […]
Azamidani
This morning I spent some time at Azamidani, Mount Unzen. There was an outside chance of migrant warblers and thrushes, however only the usual summer breeders and residents. The highlights were seeing the male Narcissus Flycatcher, Blue-and-white Flycatcher and Japanese Thrush. In particular, I observed what seemed to be some kind of courtship display by […]
