6 Photos of the Endangered Bird on Kouri Island

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

It was 11:32 when this image was captured.

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

Wildlife Photos: Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana)

Endangered Species

Riding around Kouri Island last Monday this creature caught my eye. It was huge.

A large black and white bird was at the top of a dead tree. It looked unreal.

Being a sort of tourist trap island, I figured maybe, it was a gimmick. Like a plastic statue.

We don't have any birds that look like this one, native to Okinawa.

Traveling light Doc Graff and I weren't equipped to shoot distant birds.

We pulled over to the side of the road and took handheld shots with short zoom lenses.

Unsure of the bird's nomenclature, I moved around taking various shots.

Identification would come later, back at the office. A stiff breeze was blowing off the ocean.

The best I could do was take plenty of sport-focused images and hope some were clear.

The red legs, long beak, feathers, and markings, helped with identification.

For sure that's an Oriental Stork. It's strange, it picked this island to visit.

The mating season for these storks is the month of April.

During May and June the eggs hatch and both parents, care for the chicks.

During July and August, the birds return to their wintering grounds.

The bird winters in China, Russia and maybe, North Korea.

It's on The IUCN Red List as Endangered because the population is under 3000.

Is this a rare bird for Okinawa or what?


Reference: Wildscreen ARKIVE

Travel Photo: From a Cave on Kouri Island Okinawa

Today was the third day of the third month, by the lunar calendar.

This is a photo taken with the Pentax K3 and a 50mm lens.

Exposure:  f/3.2   1.3sec   ISO 400

More about Sururu Gama (the cave) may be seen here.