Spectacled Skylark

Oh, dear. I didn't know you wore spectacles.

Skylark

While this bird perched on this signpost, her head was flat like the photo most of the time.  Male Skylarks have their crests up all the time.  Behaviorally, this individual is more likely to be a female.  Males rarely perch near the ground in the breeding season.  They are up in the air singing frantically!

Skylarks (Alauda avensis) came back to their breeding ground.

Hello, Skylark! I'm so glad to see you again in the meadow.  This individual seemed to be a female, because she did not raised the crest often.  Most of the time, her head was flat.

The Bulbul Nest

This is another fledgling. His tail is also still short unlike the long taile of their parents. One of the parents fed them with cicadas, which, I believe, were singing in our neighbors garden. And I don't hear cicadas from there any more after that. Such is the way of nature.

The Bulbul Nest

Then it happened the next day. But too bad I missed the very moment! When I peeked out to check the nest at 5:00 am, they were in the nest sound asleep. When my husband checked it at 8:20 am, they were still there. But at 10:20 when I came home, the nest was empty! All three fledglings were fine and able to fly perfectly, even with the short stumped tail!

The Bulbul Nest

This photo was taken in the afternoon on the 12th. There seemed to be only three nestlings. Two of them probably didn't make it, partly due to the heavy rain that fell for 2 consecutive days. The started to stand up on the rim of the nest to stretch. They should fledge very soon.

The Bulbul Nest...Parents are busy.

Despite the heavy rain, the parents visit their nest about once every 10 minutes to feed their hungry children. Mom and Dad are both wet all over. " Hang on! Your efforts will pay off in a few days."

The Bulbul Nest in Rain still..

It is still raining hard. The nestlings have grown pretty much overnight, haven't they? At least their feathers have grown and opened to cover their bodies. It seems they aren't as wet as yesterday thanks to the plumage cover. They might fledge tomorrow or the day after. Now they are giving off short shriek-like begging calls.

The Bulbul Nest

Because of a typhoon passing across Japan, it's been raining hard since early morning and pretty windy at times. The bulbul nestlings, tightly packed in the tiny nest, are all soaked. The parent birds are also quite wet. It is harder for the parents to find food on rainy days. I hope the storm will pass in a short while.

The Bulbul Nest, Aug 10, 2010

This was taken just a few hours ago. They must be really hot with all five of them packed snugly in the small nest!

The Bulbul Nest, Tues Aug. 10, 2010

By the way, the spot indicated by the yellow arrow is where the nest is. right outside our kitchen window.

The Bulbul Nest. Aug 8, 2010

The nestlings are doing great today. They've grown much over just one day. Now eye slits are forming. The eyelids should appear in a day or two. They sleep well, eat well and that's about all they do now. Interestingly, the nestlings hardly give begging calls. They are extremely quiet, although they shake their heads vigorously when a parent bird alights. This is probably an adaptation not to attract predators.

Just outside our window (2)

I knew the chicks hatched a few days ago, but waited until yesterday to remove the screen. There seem to be at least three nestlings, which are still naked and with their eyes closed.

Just outside the window (1)

Around mid July, I noticed a pair of Japanese Bulbuls started to build a nest in a tree just outside of our kitchen window. Overjoyed, I set up all the video equipment by the window. Then, I found out there was a BIG problem lying ahead of me. The screen window was stuck firmly to the window sill. It seemed impossible to get it out of the way without disturbing the nesting pair considerably.

We decided to wait until chicks hatched. By then, the pair should become tanacious enough and would not abandon their nest.

So, we waited.

Not a satisfying shot

I could photograph this female Mandarin Duck with such an ease. But I am not really happy about it. Why? Because she was lazily lying on the grass just 5 ft away from me. She's become so tame as the result of repeated feeding by people. She's lost her wild instincts, which makes me sad. Mandarin Ducks are usually really shy and wary of humans. That's how they should be.

Excessive feeding by man often causes epidemics among the birds attracted to feeding sites. We should think twice about feeding wild animals in general. It is best not to artificially attract them to human food and not to rob them of the chance to explore their natural and thus healthier food.

What humans have done to the environment(2)

Not a pleasant sight to see, but it is happening all over especially in the areas where automobiles go by at the speed birds cannot cope with. If the automobile that hit this juvenile stonechat had been moving 10km/h more slowly, she wouldn't have to lose her life which had lasted for only 20 days or so. It is so important to drive safe & slow not just for humans but for other animals.

Male Reed Bunting

This was taken on May 20 2009. This is how the nuptial plumage of a male Reed Bunting looks like. However, this individual still has brown head feathers among black color. The head plumage should be shiny solid black when a male is fully ready to breed.

Male Reed Bunting

This photo was taken April 20 2009. This individual seemed to have just arrived here after a long journey probably from somewhere in Southeast Asia or southern China. He looked exhausted. The head turns almost black in breeding season. The head of this individual, however, remained brown. The head color change rapidly when the male becomes ready to breed.

Grey Starling

Grasses and herbs are growing rapidly. Now snow is reduced to small patches in shady areas. A Grey Starling (Sturnus cineraceus) is walking between the passing winter and the approaching spring. To me, April in Hokkaido is really an undefined season. It is not exactly winter, nor full-fledged spring. It is really somewhere in between. Transient birds are traveling northward hurriedly. To them, this season is neither winter nor spring. True spring awaits them in their homeland in Siberia. To the birds intending to breed here, this is the period during which they do a lot of waiting for the right weather and regaining the strength for breeding.

Pintails, pintails and pintails

Right now, we see so many pintails around here. Just as swans, they also move further north probably near or in Siberia to breed. Most of them have already been paired up.