Bird News from Nial Moores
Rain both days though with winds stubbornly from the north-east meant only a few new arrivals. Highlights on 27th included single Great Knot and Red-necked Stint; a half-dozen Grey-tailed Tattler; a group of 10+ simplex Japanese White-eye (still present there on the 28th, with a second flock of 5-10 in the far southwest too) and three or four Blue-and-white Flycatcher in the evening.
On 28th, the gardens in the east of the island held 15+ Chinese Grosbeak, single Japanese Waxwing and maleTaiga Flycatcher, 2+ Asian Brown Flycatchers and more than a dozen Blue-and-White Flycatcher (with 26 of the latter species in total counted during the day in the east and southwest – all males of which were black-throated nominates, with one female showing an odd blue spot on the side of the head). Best of all there, however, was a singing Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (poorly recorded through the camera). The southwest of the island was much quieter in comparison, with most notable a single Yellow-bellied Tit and at least eight Red Crossbill.
Blue-and-white Flycatcher Cyanoptila cyanomelana, © Nial Moores
Japanese Waxwing Bombycilla japonica, © Nial Moores
Red Crossbill Loxia curvirostra, © Nial Moores