All four stints in one field on Yonaguni

On my only previous visit to Yonaguni, six years ago, I spent five nights on the island from April 5-9, this time I stayed from April 10-17. I didn't plan a contiguous time span but I was aware of the later timing wondering how this might affect the range of species I'd find. Of course with such a fine margin the weather can have a more significant influence, however the weather was basically the same on both occasions. Mild, largely overcast with frequent showers and with calm interludes between lengthy bouts of strong northerly winds. Not exactly what I might have expected.


I saw a slight increase in the number of wader species in 2019, perhaps not surprising give more field time, but missed out on two rarer birds Pec Sand (one 2013) and, the regions speciality, Oriental Plover (several 2013). Little Stint (two) was the only interesting species I picked up this time round that I'd missed on the previous visit.


On both occasions the same two areas were best for waders, flooded fields on the eastern outskirts of Sonai and at Hikawa. I wasn't too thrilled to see large scale development taking place at Hikawa and wonder whether those excellent fields may not be there much longer.


All the stints in this post were photographed at Hikawa where birds tend to be closer.


Little Stint...

Red-necked...

There were two Gulf of Thailand flagged birds.

Temminck's...

And Long-toed...

This bird gets the award for the drabbest Long-toed Stint I've seen.

And this one, with a Temminck's, wins the least obvious prize (no pun intended).

I was puzzled when I first saw this dumpy stint and I made a point of driving closer to get better shots, it took a few minutes for the penny to drop. Long-toed Stints invariably remind me of a long-sighted person struggling with a newspaper because of their upright gait on stretched legs and elongated neck, as if unable to focus on the mud when too close. To my shame I didn't even consider Least Sand until later in the day; oh that sinking feeling! Insert expletives of choice. I slammed on the brakes and stopped dead in the middle of the road (there isn't much traffic except between Sonai and Kubura, you'll see more military personnel jogging than cars), grabbed my camera and by pure luck I'd managed the middle toe money shot. Otherwise the whole trip could have been under a cloud because I never saw the bird again. The really stupid thing is that it's not unusual when I come across a Long-toed for me to wonder whether I'd totally overlook a Least if I ever saw one, and here I was totally deaf to any bell that might have rung.

Long-toed and Temminck's closer now and with a couple of Red-necked teaming-up.

Almost perfect line-up. The non-breeding Red-necked needs to work on its timing a little I think. And WHERE is the Little!!! The long middle toe is clearly visible here, no need to stress about the minutiae.