Aisatsu

Aisatsu

This blog is for family and friends, to share my feelings and photos with and for myself, to support my fading memory. Readers who have my site translated automatically, please refer to the original if necessary. Especially when it comes to identification. Any comments, anonymous or by email name are always welcome!.

Tuesday 9 July 2013

Little Terns and their families 2

More photos of the same birds on that gravel field


Little Tern,  コアジサシ




 A parent is watching a chick with a shrimp, making sure it gets eaten.


 The chick struggling a bit with it.



Mum and Dad gone, time to practice....


Here we go, 1, 2....


Get out of my way brother, I'm gonna fly!


 Look at my wings, I should be able to...


 1, 2, 3....


I must be doing something wrong.



Breakfast!








Another attempt to get airborne







I did it!







The sun is getting hot.  Let's all take a break.
Life isn't easy when you're just a little Little Tern.


Friday 5 July 2013

Little Terns and their families 1

We drove to the south of Fukuoka prefecture, to a place near the Ariake Sea that had a large gravel field which could very well have been some abandoned parking lot. In fact a section of it was just that. There were only a few clusters of greenish growth; the rest looked all grey and barren. However, a number of Little Terns had their nest here, just on the open ground among the stones. We could clearly see them from the road. There were nests with eggs, but also fledglings. Chicks that seemed just a few days old were running back and forth. Older ones were trying to fly. Parents were hurrying in with food: little fish or shrimps from the shore. Some were still courting. In other words: Lots of entertainment for a simple bird-lover.


Little Tern,  コアジサシ 





Adult sitting on a nest



If you look carefully you can see 2 eggs under this bird.



Flying in and out in flocks






In the camouflage of same-colored stones the chicks can be hard to detect - until they move.





Babies waiting to be fed, looking up in the sky: Is that our mum or dad with that little morsel?
They seem to know who is who! 





Some are ugly, many are cute. Some are very cute!


Winner of the cutie pie contest  (*^^)/*




To be continued








Tuesday 2 July 2013

Red-rumped Swallow

There are not so many places left around Fukuoka where we can see the birds nesting. These have chosen a spot under the roof of an elementary school near the mountains.  The nest looks quite different from that of the common Barn swallows, who were actually there as well.


 Red-rumped Swallow,  コシアカツバメ






From the window on the second floor of the school this nest was nearly too close for my gear (300mm 2.8 plus 1.4 TC)  to produce an image.






Also seen in the area:


Hydrangea, アジサイ,   dragonflies, トンボ
and several different colorful beetles 




Other birds on that day:


Little Ringed Plover,  コチドリ



Grey Wagtail,  キセキレイ
Which is called yellow in Japanese and grey in English