Still Struggling

Apart from the marsh, the forest around Tadewara was quite active too. I came across several Blue-And-White Flycatchers, but still couldn't get any decent shot of the beautiful male. They were all singing high up on the trees. One adult male has already paired up with an even shyer female. I did at least get one record shot of the female which makes it the first photo of the female I've ever taken. After struggling with the shy birds, I finally found a much more showy one, but sadly it was a first-summer male. The bird looked pretty ugly with brownish smudges all over its face and underparts. It's always like this... whenever I get a chance to photograph the bird that I'm after, it's always either a female, juvenile or moulting bird that shows up.

First-summer male Blue-And-White Flycatcher

Despite the look, it sounded really sweet.

Showing white patch at the base of outertail feathers

One of the shy adult males

And the record shot of the female; the first I've ever got.

Kyushu's Problem

While birders in the northern parts of Japan enjoy breathtaking views of colourful summer migrants like flycatchers and robins, here in the south, it is always either the forest is way too dark or the birds are just not cooperative. After taking photos of the Japanese Hare in the earlier post, I walked up hill to Otobaru Waterfall. Along the way, I came across a pair of Narcissus Flycatchers which seemed to be nesting somewhere up on the slope. The female was repeatedly coming back with food in its mouth and the male was doing look-out while giving soft high-pitched call constantly. Believe me, below are already the best shots I could get.

Male Narcissus Flycatcher

Male birds in spring show bright orange throat.

Close but definitely not a nice angle

While photographing the Narcissus, I heard a loud bird singing just above my head and it was a male Blue-And-White Flycatcher, another common species that's really difficult to photograph in Kyushu or at least, Beppu. It didn't care much about me taking photos of it with flash but it just kept perching up there on the higher branches.

A more showy but never came down to lower branches, Blue-And-White Flycatcher

It was singing so loudly and aggressively.

Really never came down

Eventually, it got much too dark for me to take any photo, so I decided to walk back. Along the way, there was a small group of Varied Tit fledglings with their parents feeding in the bamboos. I think it's the first time for me to see young Varied Tit. I actually thought they were Coal Tits when I first saw them with bare eyes. Other birds found along the way included several Japanese Green Woodpeckers, a super shy species which I can never get a decent shot of, some calling Chinese Bamboo Partridges, several Ryukyu Minivets which kept flying over my head with their loud high-pitched call, and a pair of Grey-capped Greenfinches.

One of the Varied Tit fledglings

Male Grey-capped Greenfinch

Japanese Green Woodpecker, another species which I can never get a decent photo.