These photos were taken back on April 12th at Furuichi area. At least 3 Little Ringed Plovers had arrived and occupied the lotus fields. The presumably male birds were being very vocal. Despite some difficulties at getting close to them at first, they became quite approachable later on. They probably got used to this weird human being with long white tube pointing at them. The subspecies C. d. curonicus of Japan has larger black patches on the forehead, lore and breast with thinner eye ring than the subspecies breed in SE Asia, C. d. jerdoni, which I'm familiar with.
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| Little Ringed Plover in breeding plumage |
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| Looking extra cute! |
Apart from the plover, the fields were pretty lively with a flock of Common Teals, a pair of Bull-headed Shrikes which seemed to be nesting somewhere, several Dusky Thrushes and many Common Snipes. I was surprised that the number of Dusky Thrush was so small this year. No idea what happened. I have a feeling that there were even more Pale Thrushes than the Dusky, which is unusual. That's why I even bothered to follow a male bird in full breeding plumage around the lawn to get some photos of it.
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| Male Dusky Thrush in breeding plumage |
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| One of the male Common Teals |
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I found this dead Black-crowned Night-Heron on the way back.
Wonder what killed it. |
Looks like the plovers are really getting use to your presence. Another nice set of images. Pity about the night-heron though.
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