Monday, May 7, 2018

6 Photos of the Endangered Bird on Kouri Island

bird, Ciconia boyciana, Japan, Kourijima, island, Okinawa


Oriental White Stork



Golden Week in Japan has ended and rainy season should begin any day now.

So the good doctor, Doc Graff and I decided to visit Kourijima under blue skies.

This rare bird needed to be captured with some long lenses before it migrates off the island.

It was 10:43 when I took my first shot and, I would have hundreds before the day was done.



bird, Oriental Stork, flight, Kourijima, Okinawa


At 11:06 the bird took off in flight, giving us a view of the pattern on its wings.

The past two times we've chased this bird it disappeared while we weren't looking.

So, it was nice to discover, which direction the rascal was flying to when it wanders.



bird, endangered, Kourijima, Okinawa, Pine


Usually, we spot the thing perched on tall, dead trees. Today it did a few things differently.

It was 11:13 when this photo was taken of the bird in live evergreens.

It reached down below and acted as if it was eating bugs or something crawling among the pines.



bird, stork, Kourijima, Okinawa



There were crows buzzing through the air on the island and they would spook the stork.

Not too wild about crows, I won't show you any scenes with them in the frame.

Around 11:20 a crow riled the bird up and it flew away.



bird, field, stork, Okinawa


Another first was the stork landed in a field, giving us some ground shots.

It was 11:32 when this image was captured.



bird, field, stork, Kouri Island, Okinawa



By 11:35 the bird gave me this pose with some green background.

It's hard work, chasing these elusive birds so, by 11:35 I was ready to go eat lunch.

Kentucky Fried Chicken in Nago seemed like a good place to go. So, we did.


More About Oriental White Stork:

Encyclopedia of Life

Wildscreen Arkive


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