Late Morning at Shimabara

I revisited the forest at Shimabara Athletic Park late this morning for an hour or so. Although the Grey Bunting did not reappear at the pond, the other birds were all there and I could get good views of Hawfinch. There were a lot of Oriental Greenfinch along with Brambling, Eurasian Siskin, Elegant Bunting and the male Red-flanked Bluetail.

The thrushes were mainly Pale Thrush with a few Dusky Thrush among them, accompanied by Brown-eared Bulbul. The birds were more nervous than the last time I visited, probably because of the presence of raptors – an Eastern Buzzard was patrolling the area and a Northern Goshawk attempted an ambush.

This morning I made a concerted effort to photograph female birds, as I am guilty of usually concentrating on the males…

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.

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