Chris Darby

Hume's warbler and Firecrest
Sparrows nest, Lowestoft, 06/03/2026

It was epic,Cheryl. And unexpected, as I only had a weeks notice that a space had become available. It is somewhere I have always wanted to go and was everything I had imagined. The people, the scenery and the wildlife.

Hi. Both are opportunistic hunters and carrion feeders, eating fish, ducks, geese, gulls... Very similar to coastal bald eagle.

Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) versus
White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Pack ice off Rausu, Japan, 14/02/2026
Go #birds!

Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) &
White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Taken from a boat in the pack ice off Rausu, Japan, 14/02/2026
Go #birds!

Steller's sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) &
White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla)
Taken from a boat in the pack ice off Rausu, Japan, 14/02/2026

A @bwntours.bsky.social tour of Japan led by Dave Farrow @mr-shortwing.bsky.social & Howard Vaughn
@howardvaughanbeb.bsky.social #birds

Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)
Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, Japan, 13/02/2026
#birds

Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis), Otowa Bridge, Tsurui-mura, Japan @ -18 degrees C

Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)

Tancho - Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, Japan

Tancho - Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis). Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, Japan

Red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis)
Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary, Japan, 13/02/2026
Taken on a @bwntours.bsky.social tour of Japan led by Dave Farrow @mr-shortwing.bsky.social & Howard Vaughn
@howardvaughanbeb.bsky.social

Sable

Brandt's Jay - Garrulus glandarius brandtii

Marsh Tit - Poecile palustris hensoni

Asian Rosy Finch in the fog

Day 11 - Winter in #Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 15th February 2026
blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/03/day-...
The final day on this extraordinary adventure. @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

Blakiston's Fish Owl

Glaucous Winged Gull

Sika

Red Fox

Day 10 - Part 2: Winter in #Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 14th February 2026
blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/03/day-...
The Valentine's Day that kept on giving...
#BirdsSeenIn2026 @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social

White-tailed Eagle

Steller's taking out a White-tailed Eagle

White-tailed Eagle

Steller's Sea Eagle

Day 10 - Part 1: The Eagles: Winter in #Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 14th February 2026
blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/03/day-...

I am still lost for words...

#BirdsSeenIn2026 @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social

Japanese macaque
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, Japan, 06/02/2026
Behind the scenes.

Japanese macaque
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park, Japan, 06/02/2026

Japanese waxwing
Honshu, Japan, February 2026
Dispersing mistletoe. #birds

Red-crowned cranes
Otowa Bridge, Tsurui-mura, Japan 13/02/2026
"It will be cold in the morning, but worth it!"
#birds

Red-crowned Cranes

White-backed Woodpecker

Pelagic Cormorants

Blakiston's Fish Owl mid fishing leap

Day 9 - Winter in #japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 13th February 2026
blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/day-...
Dawn to dusk with Hokkaido's dancing Cranes and fish hunting Owls. @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

Lesser White-fronted Goose and Crane duo

Japanese Skylark

Red-billed Starlings

Black-faced Spoonbill from Korea

Day 7 - Winter in #japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 11th February 2026 blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/day-...
Cranes, Geese & rare Starlings on the fields of Arasaki & some crab-eating Gulls up the spectacular coast. @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

White-bellied Green Pigeon

Masked Bunting

Meadow Bunting

Daurian Redstart

Day 8 - Winter in #Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 12th February 2026
blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/day-...
Ostensibly a travel day to the far north from Kyushu to Hokkaido but there was as usual time for some Bunting Hunting before we left. #BirdsSeenIn2026 @mr-shortwing.bsky.social

Sandhill Crane

Siberian White Crane

White-naped Crane

Hooded & Demoiselle Cranes. Common Crane also seen

Day 6 - Winter in Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - 10th February 2026 blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/day-...
The perfect crane day. Arasaki at its very best. @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

Black-tailed & Vega Gulls

Japanese Murrelets

Japanese Cormorants

A selection of herony things

Winter in #japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - Day 5 - 9th February 2026 blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/wint...
Bobbing with the Murrelets before before a cross country drive to Izumi. #BirdsSeenIn2026 @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Brown Dipper

Amazingly it is a Fern known as the Ussurian Scaly Polypody (Lepisorus ussuriensis)

Japanese Green Pheasant

Winter in #japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - Day 3 & 4 - 7th & 8th February 2026. blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/wint...

Quality birding in the woods and fields around Karuizawa that gave us a Double Pheasant Day before the epic journey back to Tokyo and onto Kagoshima down south.

Japanese Macaque

Japanese Accentor

Japanese Mountain Hawk-Eagle

Varied Tit

Winter in #japan for Bird's Wildlife & Nature Tours - Day 2 - 6th February 2026 blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/wint...
Monkeys in the bath, ducks on a pond and furtive woodland passerines. @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

Japanese Waxwing

Coal Tit - Periparus ater insularis

Japanese Wagtail

Smew, Mallard, Falcated Duck, Pintail

Winter in #japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - Day 1 - 5th February 2026 blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/wint...
The Shinkansen to Karuizawa with some quality birding between there and Yundanaka. #BirdsSeenIn2026 @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social

Warbling White-eye

Bull-headed Shrike

Oriental Turtle Dove

Eastern Blue Rock Thrush

Bloggage begins:
Winter in #Japan for @bwntours.bsky.social - Day 0 - a prelude.
A walk in the park... blueeyedbirding.blogspot.com/2026/02/wint... @mr-shortwing.bsky.social @jimwillett.bsky.social @chrisddarby.bsky.social #BirdsSeenIn2026

Snow monkey, Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan

Blakiston's fish owl, Rausu, Japan

Cranes leaving at sunrise. Arasaki, Japan

Steller's and white tailed eagle fighting over sea ice for fish. Hokkaido, Japan

Back from a stunning two week @bwntours.bsky.social tour of Japan led by the exceptional Dave Farrow & Howard Vaughn (@mr-shortwing.bsky.social @howardvaughanbeb.bsky.social). Snow monkeys, fishing owls, 7 species of crane and 100's of eagles. I cannot thank and recommend it / them enough!👏👏👍

@mr-shortwing.bsky.social @howardvaughanbeb.bsky.social

Blakiston's fish owl
Yoroushi Onsen, Japan, 14/02/2026
Female watching the male at the fishing pool. #birds

Blakiston's fish owl
Rausu, Hokkaido, Japan, 13/02/2026
The male caught 1, then 3 fish in two visits which it fed to the female in a tree above us. #birds

Blakiston's fish owl
Rausu, Hokkaido, Japan, 13/02/2026
A 2 second exposure while it watched the fishing pool. #birds