Toyanogata – Russell Jenkins Stoop Files

Dark, Quiet,

January 2, 2025 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

Bull-headed Shrike at Toyanogata, Niigata.

Apart from my visit to Australia, my 2024 was fairly uneventful birding wise. I’m on holidays at the moment but rain, rain, rain, wind, wind, wind, has been the schedule since December started. Snow is on the menu for tomorrow. The max will be 3, but it has been steadily going between 3 and 5 Celsius for a while now. It is dark. The middle of the day is too dark for bird photography. I’ve had my eye on the Nikkor 600mm f6.3 for a while, but it’d be too dark at that aperture. Even f4 struggles in the middle of winter here.

The photos I’m adding today are from a stroll through Toyanogata on the first day of 2025. It was a better day than last year. I ended up huddled on a rooftop with the threat of tsunami after the earthquake, and the year before I was sick in bed. Yesterday was dark, but I could go for a walk. I saw a Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Northern Goshawk and a Japanese Green Pheasant, but I was too slow to get clear shots. I did see lots of shrikes however. I don’t have many photos of shrikes, so I might try and get some if I have a chance in the days ahead. Birds were the usual suspects, and I was focussing on a Brown-eared Bulbul when it narrowly escaped a charging shrike. The shrike was much smaller, but very fast and aggressive. I always see these things and forget to take the photo!

Bull-headed Shrike

Woodpeckers of Winter

January 7, 2024August 25, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds, Winter

Usually this time of year, I head to the wetlands searching for raptors, but to be honest, I just keep taking the same photographs year after year. Don’t get me wrong, I love fleeting encounters with raptors, but my image folders become stale looking at the same birds with similar poses. This year, my biggest resolution is to attempt to photograph difficult and elusive birds such as woodpeckers. I have seen three species this year, and as aways they appear briefly, then flick away to another tree, or they stay on the back of the tree, and we play stupid hide-and-seek games. One thing is for sure though – They are pretty lovely. Even just a brief glimpse is a joy. Thus, I will make an effort to improve on my woodpecker photo collection. Here are some images taken at Toyanogata, Niigata, last Friday. Maybe I was just there for ten minutes so I’m sure I can do better with greater effort. These photos are of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but I discovered Niigata can have two versions, the “Eurasian” and/or the “Japanese”. I still think this a a “Japanese Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I did have a nice encounter with a young White-tailed Eagle on December 28. My photos are pedestrian but it’s always thrilling to have the breeze cross over your shoulder.

The Seasons, They are a Changing.

April 18, 2023August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japanese Birds

Female Daurian Redstart at Toyonogata, Niigata. (April 18, 2023)

It’s been a while to post on this website. I think it was at the end of last Autumn I did anything here. A whole winter has come and gone, and now we are coming towards the end of spring. It seems quite recent that we were planning to see Bob Dylan in Tokyo in 2020, but the concert was cancelled due to the new pandemic. Well, it’s nice to know that Bob returned and did his show last week. We didn’t attend, but it’s nice to know things are falling back into place, even if the forces do their best to hold things up. I was out and about through the winter and have been getting some photos that I’m happy with. I just like taking photos more than searching through computers and editing things. I had lovely views of an Orange-flanked Bush Robin this morning with my binoculars and it was nice being live in the moment. Hope things are going well with you. Here are some recent images from Toyanogata, Niigata.

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Black-backed Wagtails

enjoying spring.

(Video) A Dusky Thrush enjoying a spring bath

More bath action! Japanese White-eyes enjoying a communal outdoor Japanese spring bath.

Varied Tit

The Springing of Spring

May 18, 2022August 24, 2026 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japanese Birds

I often feel time isn’t moving but then I awaken in the middle of the year. Winter is long gone. I keep going out and taking photos, but I spend less time downloading and looking at them. It is more fun to take them. When I do download them I just quickly upload some to Instagram or, more recently, Flickr. There are millions of amazing images being uploaded every minute and they keep flowing by me. Here are some from March to present that I just edited for Instagram. It’s good to upload them here. I can find them again myself someday.

Above is a brief encounter with a Narcissus Flycatcher. I usually only get my best views of them during Golden week in Niigata. I also saw a Eurasian Spoonbill at the end of March but it flew away before I got close enough with my little 300mm lens. Also had a nice view of an Eastern Blue Rock Thrush along the Shinano River.

Nikon Df for Birding in 2021

April 29, 2021August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

These days, I use three cameras, a little beaut, Sony RX100iii, a super Nikon D500, and a passionately stoic Nikon Df. They are all different, and I usually use them for different purposes. I have found though, more and more, in poor light, especially in dull Niigata winter days, I am very sensitive to the grain or noise in my D500 pics. It is a great camera to capture action, but I have been getting too disappointed with grain in the atmosphere of the photographs. More and more, I have been turning to the Df for everything. The Nikon Df is famous for not having high resolution, no video, average frames per second, one card slot, old fashioned dials, not such powerful autofocus. To conclude, it is such a great camera. The photos from it just capture a true, unclouded atmosphere, with an ambience you can walk into. I hope I can use it for a long time.

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

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Brown-eared Bulbul

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Japanese Pigmy Woodpecker

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From Winter to Spring

April 18, 2021August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japanese Birds

I have been out actively trying to get wildlife pics around Niigata. At the end of March I took a day off and had some good views of an eagle and I found another older individual a week later. Since then we’ve already had the cherry blossoms come out and go away, followed by some snow in the mountains. This weekend has been blown out by heavy rain and strong winds. Last weekend, I found some waders but I am poor with their identities, and even worse at photographing them. I hope to improve in my attempts next weekend.

In the meantime, I have seen some raptor action with a peregrine stoop about 300 metres towards a Great Egret, and a young goshawk, which landed in plain sight in front of some Eurasian Teal before deciding win a failed strike. I’m wanting a better, faster camera now. The Nikon D500 can take 10 shots in a second which sounds a lot until you have a peregrine at full speed. I see the Sony A1 has broken records for speed and quality. Dare I save and wait for the new Nikon Z9? I sold my D800, but miss it’s full frame sensor. It was too slow for action. Oh, birding woes.

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Goshawk attack

Adult Northern Goshawk

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Observatory at Fukushimagata

Long-tailed Tit

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Osprey

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Peregrine Falcon

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Great Egret realising a Peregrine Falcon is about to strike

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Eurasian Skylark

Whooper Swans in afternoon light

Cherry Tree at Toyanogata

Fire at Fukushimagata

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Misty

December 30, 2020August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japan, Japanese Birds

The large hut at the entrance to Fukushimagata. A beautiful wetlands in Niigata.

Well its been very dull and misty and wet. I haven’t really gotten any decent bird pics for a while. Yesterday was my first holiday of the winter break so I went out at 7 and came home about 6. My back and legs are tired today, which is an even duller and wetter day. A blizzard has been forecasted for later on, so good I got out. I took mostly scenery pics for the day with my Nikon Df and a newly acquired Tamron 35mm f1.8. I love operating the Tamron but the images seem to have some kind of fringing. I guess I will accept that as artistic licence.

I was hoping to find an eagle or two but the best raptors to be seen were Eastern Marsh Harriers and a couple of Eastern Buzzards. I visited the Long-eared Owl at the library at Toyanogata and it was the most colourful bird encounter on this dull day, with bright orange eyes. I fear, I was spotted looking at the owl by an excited family who surrounded me unmasked to announce their discovery to the world. I escaped quickly but with guilt over the impact on the owl.

Thank you for visiting. I hope you have a peaceful and creative new year,

Black Dragons

July 19, 2019August 17, 2023 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Japanese Dragonflies

Dragonflies have been becoming more numerous in Niigata since the start of July. I visited the pond in the park near Big Swan at Toyanogata a couple of times. The weather has been humid but not so hot. I photographed several kinds of dragonflies, but my favourites are the black ones. Depending on the angle they shimmer with various hues. Purple, then green or blue and their movements are very graceful.

Atrocalopteryx arata, Haguro Tombo (Black-winged Dragonfly) Actually a large damselfly. — *Atrocalopteryx arata*, **Haguro Tombo** (Black-winged Dragonfly) Actually a large damselfly.

The beautiful damselfly above is almost 7 centimetres in length. I saw just the one and was lucky to get these shots before it disappeared through the green. It was a very nice encounter indeed.

A more common beauty is what reminds me of the “flutterer” group of dragonflies I saw in Australia earlier this year. There are quite a few “Chou Tombo” or “Butterfly Dragonflies” getting around Toyanogata. I first found them there 11 years ago. Rhyothemis fuliginosa. They are really graceful and make me feel like I’m wandering around in a Tomb Raider video game. See the images below:

Rhyothemis fuliginosa, Chou Tombo, Butterfly Dragonfly — *Rhyothemis fuliginosa,* **Chou Tombo,** Butterfly Dragonfly

I’ve captured a number of other dragons too, and the season has a long way to go. Let’s hope I get more.

Summer Shadows

September 3, 2016 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

Summer scenery at Toyanogata, Niigata, Japan

August 28, 2016

At least I tried to do a spot of birding and I was even hoping for dragonflies, but I just ended up getting into the summer shadows at Toyanogata to finish August off.

I saw a lot of dragonflies on Wednesday but they quickly disappeared.

Hopefully, the next big thing will be the raptor migration at the end of September.

Azure-winged Magpie

Oji-ro and JPW

January 10, 2015 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

White-tailed Sea-eagle
“Oji-ro washi“

Toyanogata, Niigata, Japan

January 10, 2015

Enjoyed a late morning at Toyanogata with Mr Honma. He kindly showed me where to see the lone White-tailed Sea-eagle and I was very happy to get such close views despite lots of branches and twigs between us and the subject.

We also saw plenty of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a couple of Japanese Woodpeckers and a number of the Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers. Quite a few Great Tits and Mallard out on the water.

Thank you Mr Honma. A very satisfying outing.

Finally some sun

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Toyanogata, Niigata, Japan

Sunny and Dull

January 5, 2015 by Russell Jenkins, posted in Uncategorized

Fukushimagata

Niigata, Japan

Nikon D800

December 28, 2014

Welcome back to this blog for a new year.

After whinging on Phil’s blog that I had to work on Christmas Day, I then had 9 days off over New Year. (Sorry for the whinge, Phil).

Of those 9 days, just one; Sunday, December 28th, was fine and even sunny. All the other days were plagued with heavy winds and rain. -Not even decent snow, which I find more bearable to be out in.

SUNNY: On the sunny day, I went to Fukushimagata and wandered about ankle deep in very white, clean snow. The bright sunlight reflecting upon it really made for nice lighting, especially when birds flew overhead. The one thing that didn’t excite me however was that it was quiet for birds. All the accipiters and harriers of past weeks had gone as well as many of the waterbirds that I guess had attracted the raptors.

I did see a single White-tailed Sea-eagle sitting in a tree across the wetlands but it was far away and only visible with binoculars. Hence, December 28th was good for a healthy walk in nice scenery but not exciting for bird pics.

Then the week was very bleak and miserable. Perfect for DVDs and fluffy slippers. When Friday, January 2nd arrived we headed to the shops for the Japanese New Year Sales. After about a year of considering it, I bought a Nikon D7100. Exciting, huh? I got a nice deal and the kind staff at Yodobashi Camera gave me some cool presents; not one, but two real Nikon bags. Expensive accessories when you have to pay for them. I am very pleased.

I still love my D800 but there are times and places when and where I just don’t need full-frame, such as vast wetlands and kestrels along the Shinano River. I always just felt too far away with a 400mm lens on full-frame and almost always used crop mode. I realised a golfer doesn’t meander around the course with a single club so I am happy to expand my kit. I’ve read many nice things about the D7100. I’d looked at it often but was nervous of its small size and light weight. I came to the conclusion that people don’t complain that their iPads are getting smaller and more light weight.

According to my weather app, Saturday was supposed to be sunny but again the light was poor and and small but windy snowstorms were again more common than birds. I still went out for a walk with my new camera….

DULL: I went to Toyanogata and meandered ‘neath dark trees without any good bird chances. Finally near a waterway I sighted a very pale thrush-like bird and struggled to get it focussed in a very “twiggy” bush. I set the focussing system to single-spot focus but the bird flew out the back and I never saw it again. I was enjoying listening to music with earphones connected to my phone and shrugged the chance away as I stumbled onto a walk-bridge. I looked upstream and immediately picked up a peregrine in seventh gear and accelerating coming right at me. No time to think about camera settings, just point and shoot! …..Messed up! What an idiot! What was I doing? Dreaming about the place for hours just to mess up a fleeting chance. I guess there are lessons to be learned. A rough test for a new camera; a speeding peregrine in poor light, with the camera set to single-spot focus and earphones pulling at my ears as music fogged my mind. It’s such rare chances I want a responsive camera setup for. I just wasn’t expecting it first up. I probably won’t get such a chance again for some time.

I continued around Toyanogata for another couple of hours but snowstorms outnumbered photo opportunities. I know times are quiet when I spend time photographing corvids. Still happy to have time off and get fresh air. Will have to be more serious when I set out again.

Greater White-fronted Goose

Bean Goose

The new observatory at Fukushimagata. Very open. Not really a “Hide”

Black-eared Kite
Looks nice with the light beaming upwards
(above and below)

Grey Heron
(Above and below)

There were many dinosaur footprints about the place.

Carrion Crow

The light reflecting up from the snow even brings out the details of crows.

A mix of Geese

Great Cormorant

Another dark bird that looks attractive with the light reflecting upwards

Peregrine Falcon

First pictures with Nikon D7100 (cropped)

Photographic Tips: Don’t use single-spot focus! or Bose SoundTrue in-ear headphones when trying to photograph birds in flight.

(The headphones are great otherwise)

Toyanogata, Niigata, Japan

January 3, 2015

unedited and uncropped

Brown-eared Bulbul
Toyanogata
(above and below)

Bean Goose

Toyanogata

Japanese White-eye

Toyanogata

DULL: Black-eared Kite

Carrion Crow

Toyanogata…time to go home