Even more buntings

I've been super busy throughout the month, so there was no chance for me to go birding at all after the short trip to Tadewara marsh on June 8th. The weather has also become worse. I think it didn't stop raining for almost 2 weeks. Anyway, so here's some more photos of the tame Chestnut-eared Buntings from my last visit to Tadewara. Most of the male birds were still quite actively singing unlike the Meadow Buntings which seemed to be already busy finding food for the chicks.

Male Chestnut-eared Bunting

This one was really close

This was one of male birds outside the board walk area. They were much shyer.

Still actively singing

With a group of hikers in the background

Male Chestnut-eared Bunting with male Meadow Bunting

Male Chestnut-eared Bunting

Another curious male

Looking better when perching on fresh green reed

Meadow Bunting

On the same day that I photographed the Eurasian Cuckoos in the earlier post, I had a nice time taking photos of some very showy Meadow Bunting parents. Both the male and female always came perching right by the board walk waiting for people to pass by before flying further to the nest, which seemed to be hidden somewhere low in the bush some 20m away from the board walk area. The parents were very active and the preys were relatively large, so I assumed that the chicks were pretty much ready to fledge soon.

Male Meadow Bunting

And here's the female

Another female from a different area

I later found another pair of Meadow Bunting in a different area. The parents seemed to be less busy and their feathers still didn't look as worn as in the first pair. I guess they were still in the incubating period or the chicks were still very young.

"Cuckoo - Cuckoo"

I went to Tadewara Marsh again on June 8th to look for the snipe. Surprisingly, there was completely none! I didn't hear even a single bird calling. It left me clueless about where have they gone. So I just had to spend my time taking photos of some other stuff. Chestnut-eared Buntings were common and showy as usual and I'll post more photos of them later. Other usual stuff including Meadow Buntings, Green Pheasants, Zitting Cisticolas and Eurasian Skylarks were also very active. The Northern Hawk-Cuckoo was heard once but I couldn't manage to locate the bird. Additionally, there were several Eurasian Cuckoos which were aggressively calling all day long. Too bad, they were all super shy, as expected, and I couldn't get any closer than 30-40m to any of them. As a result, these shots are quite heavily cropped as you might notice. At least, it is my very first time photographing this often heard but rarely seen species, so I'm somewhat satisfied with these shots for now.

Eurasian Cuckoo calling

Interesting to see the bare patch while calling

Often cocked up its tail while calling

They always held the wings up for a while after landing.

These 2 males were very aggressively chasing each other.

Showing the completely barred underwing coverts different from those of the Oriental Cuckoo.

Here and there

So here's some more photos from Furuichi and Sekinoe on June 4th, the same day that I took photos of the Oriental Reed Warblers in the post below. There were not many birds in the fields. I didn't find any painted-snipe, but instead I came across a pair of shy Ruddy-breasted Crakes in Sekinoe and another juvenile in Furuichi. A nesting pair of Common Kingfisher was seen flying in and out of the nest hole in Furuichi with food for the chicks. It is the first Common Kingfisher's nest I've ever seen. However, they would always fly directly in and out of the hole without stopping to perch on any branch, so it was impossible to get any good shot.

Shy Ruddy-breasted Crake

Stretching its wings

Almost perfect!

Juvenile Ruddy-breasted Crake

Looking cute with its tail cocked up

Probably a Reeve's Pond Turtle (Kusa-game meaning Grass Turtle in Japanese)

Another Reeve's Pond Turtle

Common Map Butterfly

Swallowtail Butterfly

Since there were not many birds, I spent my time taking photos of butterflies and turtles in and around the lotus fields. There were some interesting butterflies like the Common Map and Swallowtail. I didn't expect to see a Common Map in Japan though, since I thought it is only found in the southern hemisphere.

Apart from the stuff in Furuichi and Sekinoe, on the afternoon of May 29th I saw a flock of about 20 White-throated Needletails swifting right over my campus. I hurried back to get my camera but as soon as I arrived back in the campus, they were already super high up in the sky. At least, I could get some record shots to prove the existence of this incredible swift in Beppu.

White-throated Needletail

Flock of White-throated Needletails

Oriental Reed Warbler

I went to Furuichi area again on June 4th to look for the Greater Painted-Snipe chicks but failed to find any. The lotuses in the fields have become much too tall for me to see any bird. So instead I turned my attention towards the loud Oriental Reed Warbler which was singing from the rooftop!

Singing male Oriental Reed Warbler

It was really owning the stage!

There were several male birds in Sekinoe and Furuichi area but the one in these photos was the most approachable one. However, it still wouldn't allow me to get close to it even while singing, so these photos had to be pretty heavily cropped, except for the one on the pole. After taking photos of it for a while, I realised that there was also another bird hopping quietly the nearby reeds. Sometimes the singing bird would go into that same area where the other bird was staying too, so I decided to go and check out that patch of reeds. Turned out, the quieter bird was busy building the nest. It was the first time ever for me to see a reed warbler's nest. It was cup-shaped, made of tiny sticks, leaves and filled with some cotton-like material. Hope to see some progress on this nest soon.

The quiet female with nesting material

The male coming back to the nest

Female bird at nest with nesting material

This is already the best view of the nest. It was located deep in the reed.