A Bird Called Munaguro (ムナグロ) in Japan

Pacific Golden Plover

 

 

These birds are natives of the Tundra which migrate to the Pacific islands.

They are similar to the American Golden Plover but, don't interbreed.

Pluvialis fulva is the species Latin name.

Today's travels convinced me, longer lenses need to be ordered.

This series of photos was captured using a 300mm.

The birds move around the fields in flocks.

It seems that one of them is always watching for approaching strangers.

Move any closer than a few hundred yards and, the whole flock takes to the skies.

A good part of the day was spent chasing these birds.

They kept moving from rice paddies to taro imo (water potato) fields. 

They are pretty fancy birds, with all that black and gold coloring.

It makes finding them a challenge when they hit the wetlands.

Learn more about these migratory birds at:

Audubon

Cornell -- All About Birds

Wildlife of Okinawa

Pacific Golden Plovers: Photo Reflections of the Day

In a bit of a rush so, I'm just posting these two bird photos.

The birds are Pacific Golden Plovers and they were photographed today.

Location: Kin Village, Okinawa, Japan

Equipment Used: Pentax K5 and Sigma 50-500mm lens

Visit my homepage for today's Feature Photo

Wildlife Photo: Pacific Golden-Plover A Bird Visiting Okinawa

The Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) is a winter visitor to Okinawa, Japan.

Their normal stomping ground is the tundra in places like Siberia and Alaska.

They eat bugs and small shellfish along the shore in shallow water.

The conservation people give this bird an LC rating in their calculations of endangered species.

LC means Least Concern.  Like, don't worry about it.

Maybe the conservation folks haven't heard about all the radioactive material and oil that's been dumped into the Pacific Ocean over the past year. 

It's probably not healthy for the wildlife that has to eat food from there.

When I took the photo of this little Pacific Golden-Plover he wasn't on the Pacific side of Okinawa.

Now, I'm wondering what he was doing over on the East China Sea side of the island eating crabs in the surf.  Could he have gotten wrong directions from the visitor's center ?

Or, do you think he's, at least, a little bit concerned about the food from the Pacific Ocean ?

MORE ABOUT THE PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER

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