After 17 years of shooting nature on Sado Island, a photographer finally spots a little egret. Its fishing trick is fun to watch, but its numbers are falling.
The moment a little egret catches a fish. (©Fumie Oyama)
As autumn gradually deepened on Sado Island, I headed out as usual to photograph the Japanese crested ibis (toki), a Special Natural Monument designated by the Japanese government. Along the way, I happened to come across a little egret.
Including the years before I moved here, I have been photographing wildlife on Sado for a total of 17 years, but this was the first time I had ever seen one.
I photographed the little egret at an irrigation reservoir on the Kuninaka Plain, an expanse of agricultural land in central Sado.
The little egret is about 60 cm long, making it smaller than some other members of the heron family. It scurries about, pecking at food whenever it spots something edible.
In contrast, larger birds, such as the great egret and the grey heron, tend to remain still, waiting patiently for their prey. Once they spot something, they spear it or seize it with their bills and swallow it. The contrast between their feeding styles is striking.
One particularly fascinating behavior is the way the little egret rapidly shakes just one foot in the water, creating vibrations that startle fish and other prey into moving. It then catches them as they flee. Watching this behavior never gets boring.
A Seasonal Feast for Birds
By this time of year, the rice paddies no longer need irrigation water, so the reservoir is drained. This makes it easier for birds to catch loaches, crayfish, and other favorite foods, turning the pond into a veritable treasure trove of food.
At this time of year, even rare birds can be photographed relatively easily without having to go out searching for them. In that sense, it is also a paradise for wildlife photographers.
The reservoir attracts not only toki but also many other birds, including cormorants, and the place is often bustling with activity. This year, I finally managed to photograph a little egret.
Perhaps part of the reason I had never seen one before was simply that I had never paid much attention to them. However, little egret numbers are also said to be declining.
A Declining Population
In March this year, Japan's Ministry of the Environment revised its Red List, which assesses the extinction risk of native species, for the first time in six years. The little egret was classified as Vulnerable (VU).
Once commonly seen throughout Japan, the little egret is estimated to have declined in number by more than 50 percent over the past decade, and the downward trend continues.
The little egret is not the only bird facing this situation. Ten additional bird species were added to the Red List, including the black-crowned night heron, black-tailed gull, cattle egret, and rustic bunting.
According to Masaoki Tsuchiya, head of the Sado branch of the Wild Bird Society of Japan, little egrets are rarely sighted on Sado Island as well, and no one knows how many live there. The Society has never conducted a formal survey of the species on the island.
Lessons from the Toki's Return
Tsuchiya explains that the black-crowned night heron, which has also been added to the Red List, used to breed naturally on Sado 30 to 40 years ago. However, the small animals it feeds on declined because of pesticides and other factors, causing the bird population to shrink until the species eventually stopped breeding there.
The toki disappeared from the wild in Japan in 1981. Following successful captive breeding using birds from China, the first ten captive-bred ibises were released on Sado Island in 2008 as part of efforts to restore a wild population and its natural habitat.
Alongside the reintroduction of the toki, Sado began reducing its use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers around 20 years ago.
As food sources increased, black-crowned night herons began breeding on the island again.
Hoping For Another Encounter
Now, however, even the grey heron is declining in number, although it has not been added to the Red List. It is shocking to realize that birds we once took for granted have, before we knew it, become vulnerable to extinction.
I managed to photograph the little egret during the two days when the reservoir was drained, but I have not seen it again since. I hope to continue photographing this elusive bird, alongside the toki, in the days ahead.
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This is the 39th in the series Sado Wildlife in Focus by photojournalist Fumie Oyama.
Oyama is a two-time winner of the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association Award as a photographer for The Sankei Shimbun. After covering the reintroduction of the crested ibis to the wild for 11 years, Oyama left the company in 2020 to move to Sado Island.
There, he continues to photograph the ibis and other wildlife while engaging in farming. He currently promotes the charms of Sado Island as a photojournalist. Follow Oyama on Instagram.