Summer's End?

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Thought I'd write a post on the very long hot summer we've enjoyed(?) this year. Usually, the summer here is hot and humid but I've never experienced one as long as this one. Over the last couple of days we've actually had temperatures of 27~28C. I should point out here I'm not complaining about the heat, but showing relief that the temperature has dropped from the 30+ degrees it's been since mid July! We're still having tropical nights (temp doesn't drop below 25C) and we're due a very powerful typhoon tonight that's going to drag higher temperatures back from the tropics tomorrow :(

You'll probably hear me complaining about the cold come January, but for the moment, I'd give anything for a bit of cool! However, the weather has been spectacular in other ways. The skies have been remarkably clear at times with wonderful cloud formations, and because of the heat the local greenery and wildlife has demonstrated a fecundity that's given us some great photo ops :)

Moon Moth

It rained a lot yesterday and when I came back from work, unusually both my wife and son came up, grabbed an arm each and dragged me onto the balcony. Wondering what I'd done this time and whether I had any useful excuses available, I didn't notice at first that they were pointing up. Then I saw it. A Japanese Moon Moth as big as my open hand fastened to the ceiling! It must have dived in to escape the previous nights rain.

I've seen these a few times, usually after heavy summer rains which tend to damage their wings if they're caught without shelter. They only appear around July ~ August and rarely last more than a week in their moth form. This is because they don't have functioning mouth parts so cannot eat. The short time they exist is just long enough to find a partner and mate. Beautiful creatures and we were honored to see one on our balcony :)

Macro Monster Butterflies

 Went on one of our summer safari's to the nearby woods and found several of the trees covered in butterflies of several types, mostly of the swallowtail variety. Because of the heat several trees were weeping a sweet sap which the butterflies and several other kinds of insects (for later posts!) find irresistible. In fact, they love it so much that it is possible to get the camera within a centimeter of them without any effect whatsoever. Normally even if I'm around when they land it's near nigh impossible to get a decent shot of them before they're off again so today was a rare chance to get up close and personal so to speak.

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We've been back on several occasions since to get more photos and cam footage, each time with different insects clamoring for the nectar that seems to flow faster with the rise in temperature - currently 36C! Got some great shots as well. Apart from the stuff on display here, I'll be putting up later posts of battling butterflies and this years midnight safari. For the moment hope you enjoy the spectacle of monster butteflies ;)

Frog Heaven

This is an addition to the previous post. Went out a long way on the bicycle today to a place I haven't been in a year or two. Really beautiful nature park teeming with wildlife of all kinds some of which will crop up in later posts. Just came across this guy sitting on the side of a small stream. It looked an idyllic place for a frog and for a change the wee amphibian didn't jump at the first sign of my approach which gave me chance to play around with the lighting on my new camera. Very pleased with the result :)

Contemplating life from the amphibian perspective.
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A Frog in my Pocket

At this time of year there are frogs in every paddy field and pond and tree from the gigantic bull frogs which are more heard than seen down to the fingernail sized green frogs of the pictures below.

Most summers we keep one or two as a pet for a time, but as they're difficult to feed we usually just catch and let them go.

The first time I saw one of these I was by myself wondering around the nature reserve when I found one looking at me out of the water. The Professor had asked me to get one a week previously but I wasn't good at spotting them at that time. They blend into the background very well! With that one I was in a bit of a quandary because I hadn't anything to carry it in. Eventually after rooting through my bag I found a soft plastic tube I'd used for my toothbrush. This got chucked out and with a bit of water in the bottom it made a great temporary container for the first of many summer frog visitors to the pocket zoo.

Dragon Hunt on One Leg

Well, bought a new camera this week which takes great shots in macro or telephoto mode which is the good news. On the other hand I hurt my leg badly enough to stop me from roaming too far from home. This means I've been practicing my photography in a small area crammed with wildlife I can get at, which at this time of the year means dragonflies. Good thing is I don't have to go hopping after them, just exercise a little patience and they come and land nearby.

Hopefully after a few sessions with the physiotherapist I'll be back on two (functioning!) feet again and can go on some wider safaris.

With a little luck and a planning I'm hoping to get some video of these in flight. Call it my summer homework. Until then, enjoy these and wish me luck ;)

This one looked to have some damage to it's wings making it easy to capture in image but a little sad to see.

The Finger Dragon ~ とんぼ

Back in the spring I published a blog article about Japanese lizards I titled 'The Finger Dragon'. Though the subject of this post is different I offer no apologies for the similarity in title. Dragonflies have to be one of my favorite insects and here in Japan we have a wealth of them. At this time of year at the end of the rainy season they start to appear here and there and eventually reach their peak at the start of autumn when you can see them in hordes. As they're just emerging from their aquatic form it seems to be quite easy to get close to them which makes for some great photos. As you can see here, they'll even perch on a finger if you don't move around too much.

This being the first day of my summer holiday (yippee!), me and Prof Ewan spent some quality time with cameras wondering round the ponds and through the bushes of the local wildlife hotspot. He was quite enamored with his little 'dragon' as it kept coming back to sit on his finger. Eventually, we had this conversation.....

Ewan: Can I keep it as a pet dad?
Paul: Can't really do that. It needs to fly to feed.
Ewan: That's OK. We can keep some mosquitoes in the house too.
Paul: ..........................

風 ~ The Wind

Coming to the end of my busy season and am really looking forward to some down time where I can get out and about with camera and camcorder. I have a midnight safari planned with the 'Prof' and a few other trips we are thinking of doing. I'd like to find a place with fireflies as the season is coming up. There is a lot of luck involved with that though. I've been here 30 years and I've yet to see one! Anyway, in the meantime here is a video I took back in April and have only just managed to get together. The change from winter to spring. If you look at some of my earlier posts you'll see it was a long time coming!

A Sting in the Tail

It's the busy time of year, so unfortunately there's no time to get outdoors and look at the local nature. Instead, today I have a video for you from one of my favorite bloggers in Japan 'softypapa' who does a great job of introducing the local culture and wildlife in his part of Japan. I recommend you have a look at his YouTube site.

The softypapa movie I've selected for today actually gave me a shock when I saw the opening scene. If you look above, you can see a hornet on his finger. This insect is one of the few insects that will send me running if they come my way. They have a wicked sting and are quite relentless on the attack. On the other hand, they are beautiful creatures..... at a distance! The video is not quite what it seems at first glance so I hope you enjoy the sting in the tail ;)

Old Japan

Today we went out for a ride on our bicycles. Went a lot further than we'd planned and ended up at the Saitama Farming Museum. Very relaxing though small place. Basically, a few old farm buildings salvaged from around Saitama and lovingly refurbished and laid out according to the plan of an old farming hamlet of a couple of hundred years ago. There are fish ponds, mini rice paddies and various farming implements of the long blunt stick type. The weather was beautiful, and the overall atmosphere about as idyllic as a Hayao Miyazaki animated movie. Beautiful day, but didn't actually get a lot of photography done. Will definitely be going back again though :)

The Mandibles!!

It's got my finger!!

Well, Professor Ewan got his first pet of the summer, and in an unexpected location. We opened the front door and there on the porch was a Japanese stag beetle (kuwagata). It was a surprise to say the least. With a totally uncharacteristic turn of speed the Prof picked it up and transferred it to a pet box while I was still pointing at the spot on the ground. It seemed like he'd been training all his life for this moment! Anyway, our guest has adapted well to his new home, possibly because of the abundant supply of jelly that my son has lavished on him. It's getting to the point where I'm afraid I'm going to wake up one morning with a 2 meter set of mandibles locked around my neck!!

About the right size for my son to ride it!

 Actually, stag beetles make great pets. They're easy to look after. All they need is a suitable piece of wood to hide under, a reliable source of jelly and can be carried around on a finger. With two you can enjoy the spectacle of them trying to fling each other off the piece of wood! One thing to avoid is holding them to close to the face. They have a very beetle like habit of spraying fluid out of their back end. You can see this in the video :)

Micro Martian Monster

Was walking through the fields watching out for some of the local wildlife I could photograph, like herons, lizards or perhaps a snake and not having much luck. Everything seemed to be hiding. Seems I was casting my view too wide. Sat down in the grass for a bit of a rest, when I noticed this green speck on my arm. Could barely see it as my eyesight is not that great, so tried to take a macro photo and see what turned up. Out of half a dozen attempts this is the only one that worked out. The micro monster from Mars, more commonly known as a greenfly ;)

Soaring Black Kites

One of Prof. Ewans. His camera is better than mine!

Went on a day trip to Kamakura with the family last weekend. For those of you who've never heard of the place, Kamakura is a cultural center of Japan and was at one time the capital of the Tokyo shogunate. It has a lot of temples and a very large Buddha as well as being blessed with a large amount of nature. It's a beautiful area and I would move there tomorrow if it wasn't one of the most expensive places to live in Japan!

It is also right on the sea and the bay has several beaches frequented by surfers, beachcombers and in summer the Tokyo crowds. It was warm so we spent a couple of hours there to assist Prof. Ewan in his quest for shells, in which he was very successful. We also had lunch on the beach during which we noticed an increasing number of 'tobi' (black kites) circling and soaring over our heads. These are fairly big raptors and they seem to have evicted the seagulls as there were none around. I was getting a little uneasy as they were slowly coming lower and closing in, obviously with their eyes on our food. It's one thing throwing scraps to pigeons, quite another having one of these dive at you, so I was relieved to finish eating and get everything packed away. I then settled down with the video and got some fairly good footage of them fighting and playing in the sky. (see video at end) I packed the camera away and put all the picnic stuff, towels on top in my bag. It was then that 'Sod's Law' came into play. A man was throwing a stick for his dog when suddenly one of the kites swooped down and plucked it from the snapping jaws of the shocked canine. It didn't stop there. For about a minute three of the kites passed the meter long stick to each other, either tossing it through the air or literally passing it between each others talons. One turning upside down to grab it from another. During this time I was open mouthed searching blindly for the video camera, tossing out everything I'd carefully packed in an increasing frenzy, much to my wife's disgust! I found it just as the kites dropped the stick and flew away........ dreams of a YouTube hit receding into the sunset :(

Ring of Fire Eclipse

Not quite relating to the 'animal' theme of this blog, but certainly falling into the area of nature's wonders, we enjoyed the rare spectacle of an eclipse over Tokyo a couple of days ago. I skipped work for the morning to watch the the event at Professor Ewan's school, enjoying the 'ring of fire' type eclipse almost as much as watching the elementary students run around like demented lemurs as the sky got darker.

And talking of lemurs, the ring tail variety at the famous Ueno Zoo in Tokyo apparently went into a frenzy as the sky got darker, jumping around and displaying the kind of behavior that is normal for them during nighttime. Certainly reveals our primate roots if you compare lemurs to 10 year olds ;)

It's quite probable that a lot of other wildlife in Japan displayed unusual behavior as well during the eclipse. However, I'm sure that this would have escaped notice as practically the entire population of Japan were looking at the heavens, or of course their home grown lemurs!

Stink Bugs!

Watch out for that spray!

If you read my last post you'll find that I had no idea what kind of beetle I'd found. Well, today I got a surprise. Along with the type pictured here, they belong to a group called 'stink bugs' and they are actually classified as pests! Apparently, they can do a lot of damage to crops like soy and others and farmers spend a lot of time and effort to eliminate them. The thing that most surprised me though is that when scared, they spray out a smelly liquid. Considering I spent some time handling the bug in the previous post and didn't get sprayed, I guess I'm lucky! Either that or the beetle I picked up was a dud bug ; )

Mystery Beetle

 Don't have a clue what this beetle is. Found several of them in a small area of a bamboo forest I was walking through with Professor Ewan near our home in Japan. We took a lot of photos and spent some time after we came back looking through one of his bug books without any success. It was about the size of a fingernail, green and cream color and didn't fly away despite getting a lot of prodding and handling. We came back the next day for another look but they'd all disappeared so if anybody out there has any idea what it is, please add a comment to this. My thanks in advance. Until then this is the 'mystery beetle'  :)

Tentomushi

Got very warm this week for a short time with temperatures reaching 26~27℃ in some parts of Japan. Didn't last long but a foretaste of summer. Everything seemed to wake up with a bang. The trees were greener, flowers burst into bloom, in particular the yellow nanohana (rape?) and there were ladybirds (tentomushi) everywhere.

We get them in all kinds of colors here. The usual red with black spots, a lot of the black with red spot type and on rare occasions the yellow with black spot variety. This one I found raiding a poppy for pollen. Not very noticeable until I took a macro shot and saw the yellow powder covering its back.

A Bird in Hand .....

Got some holiday at last so managed to get on the bike and explore my usual haunts with the bonus of bright sunny weather to speed me on my way. Lots of insect and other wildlife about due to the sudden warmth but got a surprise today. Was wandering through a grassy field full of nanohana (rape flowers) when suddenly there was a loud scream from a bush a few meters in front of me. I stopped dead and tried to see what it was I'd disturbed. I could see the outline of a bird but hadn't a clue what it was. I tried edging around the bush, but it was careful to move around the other side. I was just deciding whether to make a rush at it to try and flush it out when I got some help from an unexpected quarter. An old woman farmer was working her field and getting closer and closer to the bush. This forced the bird to edge away and into the light so I caught my first glimpse of it - a pheasant!

First time I've seen one of these in Japan so I was very pleased to be in the right place at the right time. I managed to take a few more photos of it with difficulty. It had an amazing ability to just fade into the grass. At one point it just sat down and disappeared. I knew the exact spot it was but it still took me ten minutes to find it. I was almost on top of it when it decided to make a break for it and find a less busy place to relax. Just goes to show, a bird in hand is better than one in the bush : )

Sakura

Japan is world famous for it's sakura (cherry blossoms). There are many varieties coming to bloom at various times from late March through the end of April with the main one being some-yoshino. This is the one that signals the beginning of spring in Japan with a week long burst of light pink that acts as the go light for a succession of daytime and night time cherry blossom viewing parties known as 'hanami'. Families, companies, schoolfriends, basically everyone gathers beneath the trees and a great time is had by all, until the day comes when the wind or rain returns and the petals and parties slowly disappear until the following year. This year was somewhat delayed but well worth the wait when the warm weather returned. Spring, at last, is here : )

Chaos Squared

Chaos theory about to take wing.... ; )

More on the subject of butterflies as after a couple of warm days the weather has yet again taken a turn for the worse. Some suggest this is the work of La Nina. This time very strong winds and torrential rain so was drenched within ten steps going to work : (

Anyway, nature thought for the day. If the flapping of a butterfly wing can change the course of a hurricane, then imagine the consequences of four........

Mothra Returns

Went for the first long bicycle ride of the year with Professor Ewan a couple of days ago. We found a large moth on a tree by accident as we were looking around. I say by accident, because it was very difficult to spot as it was perfectly camoflaged, having the same color and pattern as the tree. It seemed to be watching a bundle of small blue eggs which I'm guessing will hatch as soon as the weather gets warmer. It'll be interesting to see what comes out, but we'll have to get the timing right.

Mothra with her brood of millions........!

Went back again this morning. Still no action on the eggs but the moths wings are starting to tear. It was very windy yesterday, perhaps that's the reason. Am guessing this is a kind of hawk moth, but I'm really not sure.

Macro Chocho

Man! That nectar is goooood!

Weather seems to be alternating with a cold day, warm day, cold, warm......! Still really can't say Spring has begun yet, especially as today saw a freezing cold north wind blow. For this reason we still haven't seen many of our usual spring visitors yet. Having said that, a couple of days ago, it was warm enough for the chocho (butterflies) to be out, with this brightly colored specimen raiding the dandelions for pollen. Took some video footage of a large moth and eggs with Professor Ewan which will be in the next post.

Catching Your Cormorant

Cormorant on a break from fishing

 Catching your cormorant, with of course a camera, though in Japan, there are parts of the country where these spectacular birds are used to catch fish. The birds are controlled with a snare tied around the throat. this allows the bird to swallow small fish, but prevents it from eating the larger fish which the bird's trainer will take for his own.

Today, we went on a family hike through the local bird sanctuary where we found one of these diving for fish in the river - a wild one so he ate whatever he could catch! They are interesting to watch because they sit quite low in the water with basically just their neck protuding, very different to most waterfowl which seem to bob along on top. Managed to catch it taking off from the river which made Professor Ewan's day.

Wonderful day with warm weather, but back to howling wind and freezing temperatures again from tomorrow : (

Video was taken of today's trip and is one of the Family Pet series.

Lion of the Macro Plains

Adorable little creature but not if you're an aphid!

Yippee! warmer weather forecast from tomorrow, but for the moment it's still wet, cold and miserable : (  So going through some past photos of previous springs and this came up. These ladybirds - 'tentomushi' in Japanese - always look so pretty, but in reality they are voracious hunters. They eat aphids, sometimes thousands in a day, and hence the title I've given this. Lions of the Macro Plains ; )

Turtles Rock !

The turtles all looking in the same direction is a good thing!

This photo was actually taken last year at about this time. Haven't seen any turtles so far this spring, probably because it's a lot, lot colder. The one other standout about last year and the reason I decided to post this is that we have just had the first anniversary of the giant earthquake that struck the north of Japan on March 11th 2011. It was a terrible time and for the people living in that area, still is. The aftershocks continued for many months after the event, and recently they have started up again, several in the last few days of increasing intensity. There is an old tale that says that the world was created on the back of 6 turtles and that earthquakes happen when they disagree and move in different directions. I would be really happy to see them all in agreement again................

Toad in the Road

This is from popular YouTube blogger softypapa, who makes some great videos about nature and other aspects of Japan. In this case he finds a large toad in some mountains near Tokyo. Reminded me that although this giant city seems very unfriendly to nature, there are spots that actually teem with life in all it's variety. In fact, I've seen animals, usually late at night, in this concrete jungle that I've never seen out in the country. I recall one evening on my way back from work I was walking up a hill in a very built up area of Yotsuya, central Tokyo, when in the opposite direction crawling very determinedly down the hill was a toad about the same size as the one in this video. I was too astonished to do anything except watch as it disappeared into a meter wide strip of bushes outside a giant apartment building. On other occasions I've seen racoon dogs, large snakes and kingfishers. I have no idea how they manage to survive, but they do!

Birds Bushes and Bicycles

 A mashup of some of the video footage I took with Professor Ewan when we went on our mini safari. The warm weather was very short lived, a couple of hours, with a freezing wind blowing us back home later in the afternoon. Still, wasn't a bad day. Apart from the surprise of seeing the lizards out this early in the year we also found half a dozen herons in residence at the local bird sanctuary. A wonderful place that was only opened last summer. There will be more news from there as the weather clears up and we can get about without being blown from our bicycles ; )

"Odd Couple/Lunch Break" by Ted Busby | RedBubble

Not one of mine, but occasionally I will post exceptional nature photos. This was taken in Canada. Brilliant!

"Odd Couple/Lunch Break" by Ted Busby | RedBubble:

Knock on Wood

Only clear shot I got out of several dozen!

 Another sign that spring is just around the corner. This, which I think is a kind of woodpecker - a 'kogera' in Japanese, was around at the same time last year. Both me and Professor Ewan were dodging around the tree they were in trying to get a good photo. They weren't afraid of us at all and they had a safe distance of about 3 meters. The problem was they weren't stopping in the same place long enough for us to focus and get a decent shot, or when they did, there'd be a branch in the way! Still, it was good to see them back again as it means the warm weather is coming. On a side note, the earthquakes seem to be back again. Two today and 4~5 in the past week. Getting stronger as well : (

The Finger Dragon

Professor Ewan with his first exhibit of the year.

Couldn't believe this lizard was out and about. Have had a miserable, rainy, freezing cold winter this year, but yesterday the sun came out for an hour and it was slightly warm - about 12C. Found this little beauty sunning himself on a wall. Professor Ewan - so named because he's always lecturing me on various topics - was beside himself as we weren't expecting anything to be awake for a good few weeks yet!

Loved the pattern of his scales and beautiful yellow eye.

We spent 15 minutes taking photographs and having a good look at him. Usually, it's very hard to catch these because in the summer they're like little streaks of lightning. Most of the time all you see is the end of a tail disappearing into the long grass. On the rare occasions we've caught one, we've had to hold on tight otherwise they're off! However, because of the cool weather and an empty stomach after 4 months hibernation this one was very easy to catch and handle. Great for taking photos, but a pity we didn't have the video with us.

We put him him back on the wall and he disappeared into the leaves.

We didn't have much success in keeping these last summer. We caught several, but they refused to eat and would rapidly lose weight. Sadly, we lost two, and then decided just to keep any more we caught  for a few days before returning them to the place we found them. This summer we're planning to do some research into the best environment for them and make a larger and hopefully more suitable home for the lizards and any other wildlife we catch.

Here is a video of the first lizard we kept back when Professor Ewan was around 5 or 6. At that time, he'd just got his first camera and I started taking videos of the animals we caught and various mini safari's we took together. The six or seven I made became a series on Youtube called 'The Family Pet'. These can be seen by clicking on the link.

The First Post

One week ago in Tokyo. A chilly end to winter.

 I hadn't planned to start this blog for a week or two, but plans change and as spring has been making baby steps towards showing it's face I thought I'd make my first post. Just a word of introduction. My name is Paul and this blog is a yearlong project with two aims. The first is introducing the wildlife and nature of Japan through it's four seasons. The second and most important to me is to encourage my young son Ewan's interest in animals and nature. For some time now we've enjoyed taking photos and making wildlife movies together and over the year we will be making more and showcasing these. I hope there are others out there who will find this blog interesting and worth following. Please comment if you can. I will do my best to reply to all.

kibishipaul

This blog is under construction. Come back in a week or so and see posts on wildlife and nature and enjoying these with your family. Mostly this will concentrate on the nature of Japan, where I live.