Sunday, March 3, 2013

Redstart Surprise

Redstart

Part 6 of the winter birds of Japan.

Went out on a photo safari with Prof. Ewan today to a nearby wildlife preserve that has a large lake that attracts a number of winter birds. We saw a dozen wild swans, which we hadn't seen around here in previous years. There were an equal number of blue heron and numerous cormorants and ducks, most of which were too far away to get good photos of with our limited equipment. It was a good day though, out in the cold, enjoying the fine weather and getting some exercise. The big surprise was waiting for us on the way back though. Riding bicycles we nearly ran over what I thought was a sparrow hopping about the road, but a splash of orange caught the eye, and we dropped everything when we found ourselves eye to eye with this redstart. We'd been hoping to get a good image of one since late autumn when we caught a glimpse of another in the neighborhood, but this was a pure piece of luck : )

Small white dots are a group of swans.

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