カイツブリ、タゲリ / Little Grebe and Northern Lapwing

A Great Cormorant and a cloud. The silhouette is indistinguishable from Japanese Cormorant, but it must be a Great Cormorant.

At first, I wasn’t sure what it was, but it was a Northern Shoveler. The green of the head is supposed to be a structural color, so the light seems to have made it look completely black.

Little Grebe.

Feather mending.

Caring for their feet?　I see that their feet are oar-like and perfectly adapted to water raking. They don’t seem suited for walking on the ground, and I’ve never actually seen one walking.

There was a Northern Lapwing in the field just outside the car. Too bad it was semi-backlit and not much color could be seen.

It didn’t seem to be digging around randomly, but it picked up a worm to see how it could find it. Its long bill is certainly a good shape to pierce the ground and probe. Still, it is not as long as that of shorebirds exploring the mud flats, and it cannot catch worms deep in the ground. I wondered if it senses the sounds and vibrations of the shallow ground.

Pull it out vigorously.