"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.

More from Tadewara

So here's some more photos from Tadewara Marsh that I haven't posted. It's a pretty nice place for enjoying holidays. The marsh is filled with Chestnut-eared Bunting's songs as well as Zitting Cisticola's, Eurasian Skylark's and Green Pheasant's. The forest around the marsh is normally slightly less lively but some nice birds can still be found, especially the Japanese Thrush which is actually quite numerous but extremely difficult to photograph.

Japanese Primrose

Japanese Primrose

Marsh Marigold

Marsh Marigold

Grey Wagtail parent with a mouthful of food

Tiny spiderhunter

Singing male Meadow Bunting

Displaying Green Pheasant

Too bad it was extremely far away

The Green Pheasant was especially common around the marsh and their loud calls could be heard all day long. Too bad none of them came close to the board walk area, so I could only get some very distant shots showing their funny displays.

The abundant Red-billed Leiothrix

I just love the tail!

Common but extremely shy Japanese Thrush

Eurasian Nuthatch race S. e. amurensis

Unknown damselfly

Eurasian Jay race G. g. hiugaensis of Kyushu

Willow Tit

It has a slightly different impression from the Hokkaido's Marsh Tit, but I still can't quite figure out how.

Zitting Cisticola in breeding plumage

Monotropastrum humile

Singing Eurasian Skylark

View of the marsh towards Mt. Kuju