ヒメシジュウカラガン、シギ3種 / Cackling Canada Goose and three snipes

A Cackling Canada Goose flew into Sanyo Onoda City.

Since it did not have a collar, it was thought to be a juvenile Cackling Canada Goose or a juvenile of the subspecies B. h. minima. There was a lot of discussion among my birding friends about this bird, but we concluded that it was probably a subspecies, based on the opinions of people who had observed it and size comparisons with mallard ducks.

The migration of the Cackling Canada Goose geese to Japan seemed to have almost ceased for a while due to the devastation of their breeding grounds. In recent years, recovery efforts have borne fruit, and the number of the birds flying to Japan has been increasing. However, they are mainly in the Tohoku region and rarely fly to western Japan.

The well-known Common Greenshank.

There was also a Common Redshank.

アカアシシギ / Common Redshank

Common Redshank and Spotted Redshank are very similar. The former can be distinguished by the fact that part of its primaries and secondaries are white (see photo below). The Common Redshank is said to have a red bill, while the Spotted Redshank has only the basal portion of its lower bill, and from that point of view, the upper part of the bird looks like a Spotted Redshank. However, the remiges are probably the more obvious feature. The coloration of the beak and feet is really confusing due to individual differences and age differences.

Finally, a Common Sandpiper.

All three species of snipe in this post have “common” in their English names. When I think about it, the practice of adding words like “common” does not seem to occur in Japanese names. I guess the idea is that in English, there is common first, and then there are others.