Tag: Junsai-ike

Goshawk Takes a Bath

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japanese Birds
Northern Goshawk wading in water, Niigata, Japan
Northern Goshawk, Niigata, Japan

My friend Mr Honma visited a few weeks ago and advised me to go to Junsai-ike to see flycatchers. It took me a while to get there but I did today. I failed on the passerines, though I did see them fluttering about me. The highlight was when l looked back-over my shoulder and seeing this Northern Goshawk wading knee deep for quite a while. Eventually it went in deeper and splashed around for a bit. Birds do seem to find joy when taking a bath.

Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1225
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1232
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1263
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1325
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1392
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1416
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1420
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1464
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1467
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1524
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1619
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1621
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1518
Northern Goshawk bathing, image 1562

Teal in Petals

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan

Well, Golden week is finally here. It really is gold this year. I have buckets of files to stoop down through from both Australia and Japan for the last few months and I hope I can finally start to get into it. Many dragonflies, birds, reptiles and mammals.

For a start to the holidays, it”s nice to see some spring blossoms. Here are some from last week.

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Some Golden Birds 2017

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized
Narcissus Flycatcher

Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

May 4, 2017
Golden Week Holidays now. I went to Junsai-ike for a few hours yesterday and again today. 

Patience pays off with some flycatcher encounters. I also saw the below heron catch a massive fish but dropped it when an excited family approached it. 
It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I’ll have to stay happy with these.
Grey Heron

Blue-and-white Flycatcher

May 3, 2017

Search for the Blue Blue-and-white Flycatcher

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized
Cyanoptila cyanomelana cyanomelana

Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

April 23, 2016

**UPDATE** as of Friday, May 6, 2016. I asked Mr Honma about this and he seems to think it is a common variety of young adult Blue-and-white Flycatcher as seen in Niigata. Also known here in English as Japanese Flycatcher, or in Japanese as “Oruri“.

I’m glad I got a number of pics of it and it was of interest. To be honest, I was curious but felt in my heart it is a typical specimen found here.

PREVIOUSLY:::
 May 3, 2016

I went to Junsai-ike today looking for this bird and I failed so here are left-over pics from last week.

I received an interesting observation from Matt Poll of Snowy Owl Lost that the above and below mentioned bird could possibly be a Zappey’s Flycatcher. To be honest I had never heard of a Zappey’s and just thought this to be a pre-adult Blue-and-white Flycatcher. The interesting features are the bluish throat and breast, unlike an adult male Blue-and-white Flycatcher which is predominantly black from the face to the chest. 
All of these photos have just been resized with no other editing other than converting them to web colour. The top pic has been intentionally saved in Adobe 1998 to keep the colours true. 
Today, I got to Junsai-ike just after 8am and stayed till noon. Just walking back-and-forth, where I’d seen this beauty last week. The photos here were taken on two separate visits last week, although I believe they are of the same bird.
I hope all of these edits shed some more light on what it truly is. Today I didn’t see any male Blue-and-whites although I saw a female drop into the covers. There were buckets of warblers, Oriental Goldfinches and Pygmy Woodpeckers. The latter chased any similar sized birds and ruined my only chance at a male Narcissus Flycatcher.
Today was the first of a three-day-Golden-week-holiday. Tomorrow will rain but hopefully Mr Honma and I will put on our armour for Thursday. Will keep you posted.
Thank you for keeping me on my toes, Matt. I will be aware of possible Zappey’s from now on!

Spring Flycatcher Time

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

Blue-and-white Flycatcher

Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

April 29, 2015

Here are some flycatcher pics from this morning’s outing with Mr Honma to Junsai-ike. Today was the Showa holiday to kick off the Golden Week holidays. We didn’t really see much else but I was happy to see these. There seemed to be a few of these flycatchers about the place but they are becoming more wary. 
Still, a good morning. Back to work for a couple of days then 5 big days off for the real Golden Week!

Golden Week Birds Niigata 2014

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

I guess this is a female Narcissus Flycatcher

Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

May 3, 2014
Don’t let these beautiful birds fool you, I’ve been rather miserable for the last week. We had a nice start to the four day Golden Week holidays last Saturday morning, arriving at Junsai-ike before 8:30am. It was nice sitting beneath the blooming trees but most of these photographs were taken in about a 20 minute period just after 1:30pm when I could see small insects coming out of the trees and bringing the birds. 
We went to a nice restaurant that evening and my nose began to run.
I don’t remember the two middle days of the holidays but I did lots of sneezing and couldn’t sleep well for a blocked nose. 
Tuesday was the last day of the holidays so we went back to Junsai-ike for more but I got only a single shot of the Blue-and-white Flycatcher sitting on a small waterfall just 5 minutes after we arrived – the final picture in this set, which I have framed for you.
We sat, walked and watched again to about 1:30, but no more birds appeared. In the meantime my cold was becoming unbearable with sneezing and shivers and running nose. I took off my glasses and gasped to see them coated in yellow, sticky, dusty, pollen. Time to call the holidays to an end. I realised, it wasn’t a cold.



Blue-and-white Flycatcher

female

Blue-and-white Flycatcher

male

Narcissus Flycatcher

male

Eastern Crowned Leaf-Warbler

Blue-and-white Flycatcher

male

May 6, 2014

Black-faced Bunting

May 6, 2014

“Oruri” – “The Colour Earth” Junsai-ike, May 6, 2014

Mejiro and the Moon

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized
A variety of Cherry Tree at Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Mr Honma and I braved the crowds in the hope of finding flycatchers at Junsai-ike last Sunday. We failed. Apart from a brief encounter with some White-eyes, we didn’t find much to excite us. 

Both of us haven’t seen either Blue-and-white Flycatchers or Narcissus Flycatchers this year. They usually show before the blossoms appear. Mr Honma found several Japanese Waxwings at Junsai-ike just days before. A new record for him. I didn’t get to see them.

I had a go at photographing the moon this week. I practised on Monday night, then it was overcast and stormy here on the night of the blood moon so nothing to see. I took more pics on Wednesday night and the moon was noticeably more orange than on Monday night. It quickly disappeared into the mist.

Not much to report but I thought they two subjects are nice together. All photos are uncropped today.

“Mejiro” (Japanese) > Japanese White-eye

Monday April 14th, 2014, Niigata, Japan

Wednesday, April 16, 2014 same place…and below..

First Buzzard

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

Dragonfly

Fukushimagata, Niigata, Japan

September 2013

We’ve had a long summer this year in Niigata. The last real bird adventure for me was watching the Northern Goshawk fledglings back in June. It has been quiet ever since, so much Australian content has been added to this blog in that time.

I’ve been trying to find the signs of seasonal migrations but mostly I have just found the lingering signs of summer. I have been searching Fukushimagata, Sakata, Mt Yamamoto, and Junsai-ike the last few weeks and uploaded my findings now. Mostly all the images are summer.

This week has seen the biggest typhoon to hit Japan in ten years and the temperature is dramatically dropping so things should look different in the coming weeks. The buzzard I have posted here is from last Sunday morning and is a sign the cooler months are arriving. I have only seen them in summer high up in the mountains. I also saw a sprinkling of ducks with a dash of distant Bean Geese at Fukushimagta on Sunday.
In the dark hours of Tuesday morning I heard swans flying over my bed. It will be a long winter next.
Fukushimagata, Niigata

Tiny Tortoises

Fukushimagata

Fukushimagata

Sakata, Niigata

Giant Tadpoles

Sakata

Junsai-ike, Niigata

Help needed to identify this chick, please?

Junsai-ike

Eastern Buzzard

Fukushimagata

Ducks

Fukushimagata

Little Tern

Fukushimagata

The observatory at Fukushimagata is to be torn down over winter and rebuilt for spring.
Too bad everyone wants to use it at winter the most. I can see the top deck is already being dismantled.

White Wagtail with dragonfly

Fukushimagata

Fukushimagata

Fukushimagata

Fukushimagata

Too bad about the dirt spots on this one :(

Bulbul in the Shadows

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

Brown-eared Bulbul

Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan

May 26, 2013

Nikon D800 AF-S Nikkor 80-400mm VR handheld

Click on the image for a closer view!
 Got these pics last weekend. Very quiet as most of the spring migrants have gone. It seems we’re now left with the summer regulars. I’ve posted these photos because I’m happy to see green after a long grey winter. I’m also pretty happy with the work my D800 does in the shadows. I usually take raw but the originals of these are j-pegs. I’ve sharpened a couple as I didn’t focus them properly to start with. 

Golden Week 2013 post 2

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized
Nagaoka Castle

Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan

Pentax K200D with Pentax 17-70mm – a nice kit for scenery, I think.

April 28, 2013

Part two of my Golden Week 2013 and we start off with views of Nagaoka Castle last Sunday afternoon. Don’t be fooled. There were many, many humans about the place.
The bird photos were all at Junsai-ike, Niigata City on Monday morning. There was a nice variety of species to seek but bundles of tripods and agile walkers made for speedy record shots only.

Blue-and-white Flycatcher
Junsai-ike, Niigata City, Japan

April 29, 2013

All winter I schemed getting stunning shots of one of these in the sakura with Mt Fuji in the background.

After the rain and blossoms have gone I have had to settle for this record shot. Seconds after I found it a nice old man came over to me and stirred up a conversation and the bird departed up into the canopy. It’s not that I’m a grumpy old birder, nor am I making excuses, it’s just that…

This Great Spotted Woodpecker was wary and flew away as passers-by passed by.
He returned often but was unapproachable.
I guess everyone deserves a holiday. 

Had to shoot it as soon as I saw it as someone was stomping up behind me.
I think it is a Grey Bunting.

Again, I let all good birders down identifying these guys. I believe it is some kind of leaf warbler….
Please help Stuart and Ayuwat!!!??

Oriental Greenfinch

Actually I had a nice three day holiday!!!

Golden Week 2013 post 1

by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized
View at an inlet up along the Shinano River Niigata, Japan

April 20, 2013

The first two pics were taken last week but hopefully this is the first post for this year’s Golden Week. We just had a three day weekend with Monday off. Two more work days for me til we get a big four days off. Hope the weather will let me do another Golden Week post in a few days.

Japanese White-eye

Junsai-ike, Niigata City, Japan

April 27, 2013

Brown-eared Bulbul

Junsai-ike, April 27
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Junsai-ike, April 27th.

Tulips alongside the Shinano River, Niigata City late afternoon April 27th.