Sparrowhawks and Flycatchers

I have continued to observe the Japanese sparrowhawks I mentioned in my previous post. I believe the female bird has laid eggs already and they are taking turns in warming the eggs. Even though one cannot see them coming and going as often anymore, they return to their favourite perches every now and then to observe the surroundings.

Besides the sparrowhawks I have been lucky to capture some flycatchers as well. On mothers day I decided to go to one of my favourite parks half an hour train ride from my home. I took the very first train in the morning and wore a mask tightly on my face. There were only a few other people on the train as I had expected so I was able to keep a decent social distance from other people.

In the park I detected a male flycatcher. He was shy and mostly kept hiding in a shady thicket. After three hours I had managed to get some captures anyhow. On the way home I didn’t dare to ride a train anymore as I believed it would be crowded so I walked home some 70 minutes and suddenly my camera gear felt heavier than ever.

This morning I was happy to find one more flycatcher, the Asian brown flycatcher. I followed beautiful singing that I could not recognize and it led me to this lovely bird with big eyes. It’s my third time to see and capture this bird so I was pretty exited.

前回のブログで書いたツミのカップルを引き続き観察しています。恐らくメスは既に卵を産んでいます。二羽は交代で巣に入っている様子から推測しています。前ほど頻繁に飛び交う事はありませんが、たまに好きな見張り枝に戻ったりします。

ツミ以外に好きなヒタキ類も撮れています。母の日に家から電車で30分で行ける気に入りな公園に行ってきました。マスクをして始発の電車に乗りました。案の定他の乗客は少なくて３つの密を避けることが出来ました。

公園では臆病なキビタキを見つけました。暗い茂みの中隠れていましたが、三時間粘って何とか撮れました。帰りは電車は混むだろうと思ったから、歩くことにしました。70分ほどの散歩中カメラバッグはいつもよりずっと重く感じました。

嬉しいことに今朝はコサメビタキにも出会いました。最初は鳴き声だけが聞こえて、それを追ったら、目がクリクリの可愛いコサメビタキを発見しました。今日まで２回しか会っていない鳥なので、とても興奮しました。