Yesterday morning I visited Daijyugarami for the first time this year. A little early for the rarer migrant waders, but there were plenty of Grey Plover, Red-necked Stint, Dunlin, Kentish Plover and Greater Sand Plover. There were also quite a few Black-faced Spoonbill slowly coming into breeding plumage, along with a sprinkling of Far Easter […]
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.
Wintering Birds of Lake Kawahara
Lake Kawahara is a small lake by the sea in Nagasaki prefecture, Japan. It is not far from Kabashima, one of the best places for spring and autumn migrants. Lake Kawahara is particularly attractive to thrushes and starlings, but smaller passerines also winter here as there is plenty of shelter for them in the forests […]
White’s Thrush (Zoothera aurea toratugumi)
I haven’t been doing much photography since returning from the Kagoshima & East Hokkaido tour, but this morning’s weather report looked great and I’d heard reports of a White’s Thrush at Kawahara Lake. So I thought I’d take the chance to photograph it. The taxonomy of Zoothera dauma (Scaly Thrush) has been disputed for a […]
Mammals of Eastern Hokkaido
During our time in Eastern Hokkaido we saw quite a few terrestrial and marine mammals, and managed to get some photos of a couple.
Seabirds of Eastern Hokkaido
A few images of some of the seabirds I was able to get reasonable photos of.
Blakiston’s Fish Owl – Bubo blakistoni
We had already listed two of Hokkaido‘s “Big Three”, Red-crowned Crane & Steller’s Sea Eagle, on the first full day of the Hokkaido leg of the tour. So to complete the set all we needed was the Blakiston’s Fish Owl, which we got on our third night on the island.
Steller’s Sea Eagle – Haliaetus pelagicus
Steller’s Sea Eagle were everywhere! Although most of the time we observed them while driving around, so I didn’t have that many opportunities to photograph them. They easily outnumbered other birds of prey (maybe even combined!), and what a magnificent sight they are!
White-tailed Sea Eagle | Haliaetus albicilla
We had some fantastic eagle action at the Akan International Crane Centre!