But since the long hot summer is coming to a cose and I have managed to get out birding the last few weekends, I thought I would share a few pics of the nice Painted Snipe I saw over the last two weekends.
I visited two sites, one is a small mudflat in Hatsukaichi City. A Greater Sand Plover, Redshank and Turnstone had been reported there, all scarce in Hiroshima..but off course all had gone. I was left with the blazing hot sun, a few Red-necked Stint, Dunlin, Greenshank, Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tatler, Terek Sandpiper among the commoner Kentish Plover.. and after 10 minutes found myself sticking to the tarmac between the cracks...yuck!
A visit to Minami-Iwakuni, an area of Lotus fields, produced little of note, with it still being early in the season, and many areas remained uncut. Among the hordes of Moorhen, herons and Egrets were a few waders, a couple each of Green, Wood and Common Sandpiper, a few more Little Ringed Plovers and a very photogenic pair of Painted Snipe in the same place as an immature bird last week. As the tide receded on the nearby estuary I was able to find 5 Whimbrel, 2 Grey Plover, 2 Terek Sandpiper and 8 Great Knot, as well as a few Black-tailed Gulls and the off fishing Osprey. I missed the best two birds of the weekend, a Black-browed Reed Warbler (rare here) and a Swinhoe's Egret reported among the large numbers of 'white' egrets and Night Herons. Still no snipe either.
A few weeks back I did manage to add Grey-headed Lapwing to my Hiroshima list from the back of a cab...but not much else to report birdwise. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll be adding some more images of other autumn migrants,,,big and small.
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