 |
| Cyanoptila cyanomelana cyanomelana Junsai-ike, Niigata, Japan April 23, 2016 |
I went to Junsai-ike today looking for this bird and I failed so here are left-over pics from last week.
I received an interesting observation from Matt Poll of Snowy Owl Lost that the above and below mentioned bird could possibly be a Zappey's Flycatcher. To be honest I had never heard of a Zappey's and just thought this to be a pre-adult Blue-and-white Flycatcher. The interesting features are the bluish throat and breast, unlike an adult male Blue-and-white Flycatcher which is predominantly black from the face to the chest.
All of these photos have just been resized with no other editing other than converting them to web colour. The top pic has been intentionally saved in Adobe 1998 to keep the colours true.
Today, I got to Junsai-ike just after 8am and stayed till noon. Just walking back-and-forth, where I'd seen this beauty last week. The photos here were taken on two separate visits last week, although I believe they are of the same bird.
I hope all of these edits shed some more light on what it truly is. Today I didn't see any male Blue-and-whites although I saw a female drop into the covers. There were buckets of warblers, Oriental Goldfinches and Pygmy Woodpeckers. The latter chased any similar sized birds and ruined my only chance at a male Narcissus Flycatcher.
Today was the first of a three-day-Golden-week-holiday. Tomorrow will rain but hopefully Mr Honma and I will put on our armour for Thursday. Will keep you posted.
Thank you for keeping me on my toes, Matt. I will be aware of possible Zappey's from now on!
