Yuwandake area, Amami

As I've already explained in the Amami Nature Observation Forest post, I shifted my daily routine to a roughly 14:00-21:00 sleeping regimen to allow early morning and nocturnal birding without the headaches from lack of sleep I'd been suffering after pushing my self to do round the clock birding after arriving on the island.


Images from that post may also have given a false impression of bright in Amami weather. Don't be fooled, it was mostly rain as the following images will attest.


Amami Thrush was only seen at Yuandake (two individuals) but I've covered that, the main objective of the trip, in a different post.


I'd leave my hotel between 23:00-24:00 and drive south to Yuwan (Yuan?) and cover the roads through the forest in that general area before heading up to the top of the Yuwandake road just before dawn. Incidentally there was usually a Ryukyu Scops calling from the shrine near my hotel in Amami City and I saw others (and Woodcock) on roads on the outskirts of town without needing to head further south. But the quality of the forest down there made for a far better experience. If you go to Amami, why settle for Amami lite?


Firstly nocturnals in the rain; Amami Woodcock and Ryukyu Scops Owl, neither of which I'd photographed before, were my main bird targets. The Woodcock was a resounding success, it can be comfortably seen and photographed from the dry car interior, but I couldn't get my photo tick of the Scops. The Owl wasn't difficult to see per se but it required getting out of the car to get decent views, which was fine for me, but I didn't want to mess around with the camera in the rain. The honorary bird of the trip was to be Amami black rabbit which I'd missed altogether on my only previous trip to the island. This turned out to be far easier to see than I'd expected, even if slightly more camera shy than the Woodcock.

Roadside Amami Woodcocks were easy to pick up in the headlights. Some would flush early, though some of them would settle in the tree overhead, while others wouldn't budge and after a good view you could leave them in peace.

The best views were of birds not directly in the headlights. Some, like this one, allowed quite close approach on foot.

A big plus due to everything being sodden was the number of frogs on the road. I was crawling along anyway so frogs hopped across far more quickly than I approach but nevertheless it was necessary to keep an eye out for late dashers. I wish I'd had the time to stop and look at them all but there are only so many hours in a night and I was still hoping to get better views of Ryukyu Scops.

Otton's frog wasn't nearly as exotic-looking as some, but it was the largest species I saw.

There are 'beware of the rabbits' road signs all over the island but it was only in this area that I saw them. Saw them on every visit in fact though 12 sightings in a night was my highest count.

Unlike the Woodcock, rabbits didn't hang around so photo opportunities were more rushed.

And now diurnals in the rain: Lidth's Jay is quite common and found in various habitats but it's primarilly a forest bird and can therefore be tricky to photograph. Unobscured views were few and far between.

Lidth's Jay could be seen and even more commonly heard everywhere I went on the island. The word 'shower' clearly defines a brief period of rain during an otherwise lengthier dry period. Do we have a word to equally succinctly express the opposite, a brief dry spell in an otherwise rain soaked day, and if not why not? It's not as though the UK is particularly known for an abscence of precipitation, is it? Well, I photographed this Jay during a 'drier'. 

Pacific Swallow... in rain.

Ryukyu Minivet... in fog (low cloud), with alternating light and heavy drizzle. Not unlike crude oil, heavy is less preferred in most situations.