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 ;)