From Sunday midday until Wednesday afternoon I guided a visiting birder from Canada around places in Kumamoto, Nagasaki and Saga prefectures. Firstly we went to Yatsushiro and Hikawa Estuary, where we saw gulls and shorebirds, however the Black-faced Spoonbills that I had expected there were not to be found. The next morning we watched Streaked […]
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.
Amur Falcon | Falco amurensis
Each year at Isahaya, several Amur Falcons visit to stock up before embarking on their incredible journey to the east coast of Africa where they spend the northern hemisphere winter. It is only in autumn that they occur in Japan, as they return to their breeding grounds in the Russian Far East via a different […]
Pied Harrier | Circus melanoleucos
Pied Harriers are very rare birds to Japan, so it was to no surprise that when a juvenile male showed up at Isahaya, it created quite a stir among Japanese bird watchers and photographers. The young raptor was a regular around a certain section of reeds, where it snatched and consumed a wide variety of […]
Bird Tour Report
Last weekend a US couple residing in Shanghai came over for a few days of birding in my region of Japan. They arrived late Friday afternoon, and we had just enough time to briefly check out Isahaya. We missed the juvenile male Pied Harrier that has been patrolling the area, but it was a nice […]
Oriental Honey Buzzard | Pernis orientalis
This morning I had a chance to go to Mount Hiyamizu near Sasebo city, Nagasaki prefecture. This time of year is good for migrating Oriental Honey Buzzard at Hiyamizu, and although there were gale-force winds and generally cloudy conditions, the birds co-operated and I could see 68 of the raptors fly past the mountain observatory […]
Autumn Migration
Raptor and passerine migration is now well and truly underway in my region of Japan. The Chinese Goshawks have finished and now it is the turn of the Oriental Honey Buzzards, Grey-faced Buzzards, Eurasian Sparrowhawks and smaller numbers of Northern Hobby and Japanese Sparrowhawk. The Eurasian Kestrels have just arrived at Isahaya, along with the […]
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Review
After several outings with the 300/2.8, I’ve come to realise what an improvement this new version of the lens is over the Mk I. I’ve also identified the strengths and weaknesses of using both the 1.4x TC Mk III and 2x TC Mk III. Firstly, the lens used at its native focal length has no […]
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Today I received my new Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens together with Canon 2x TC MkIII and Canon 52mm C-PL Drop-in Filter. At the beginning of the year, I was interested in the new Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM, but trips to Australia in June, July and August convinced me […]