Migrating waders

This year seems extra difficult. There are so few places for these birds to stay. Where can they find food and take a rest before heading further south? And it's so hot.

Passing through Itoshima I found a few. Just a few. 3 Red-necked Stints, トウネン

4 or 5 Wood Sandpiper, タカブシギ

6 or 7 Intermediate Egrets, チュウサギ

There should be some closer to Fukuoka as well. I searched some more and indeed, just some...

5 Red-necked Stints, トウネン

5 Wood Sandpipers, タカブシギ

That's it

Summer in Fukuoka.

Big frogs, small frogs, insects of all sorts, including some creatures I'd never seen before up close

ウシガエル, Bullfrog

アマガエル, Japanese Tree frog

ハグロトンボ, Atrocalopteryx atrata, Black-winged Damselfly

カメ, Turtle on a mission

キアケハ, Old world Swallowtail

ゴマダラチョウ, Hestina persimilis japonica

More small frogs, アマガエル, Japanese Tree frog

ベッコウハゴロモ, Orosanga japonicus  (Ricania japonica) 

アオバハゴロモ, Geisha distinctissima

What a wild life!

Early August Jaap and I needed a divertion from the everyday heat, but didn't want to drive all the way to higher lands in central Kyushu. Saga, our neighbor prefecture is nearby and has a lot to offer. We pointed to a mountain on the map and set off in the afternoon.
It's funny, what you encounter at the top of a mountain. A shrine, yes, no surprise here. But this one quite small was stacked with special sake cups...:-)

The sun was nearly down, but we started our descend, not wanting to feel our way down on a narrow unknown road in the dark. However, a few 100 m on the way I noticed a sign in a dark corner pointing up a dirt road that said Kitsune kamisori and I remembered that as the name of a flower that grows on medium high elevations. We decided to go get a quick glance and ended up in a valley that was glowing in bright orange. Many flowers were in bloom! They seemed to form a carpet. When the orange setting sun broke through and it was pure magic.

Lycoris sanguinea, オオキツネカミソリ

When we got back to the car it was nearly dark. We followed the road to a clearing between a pond and a lake. Stopped when we saw something move in the bush and found a fox (kitsune)coming out!

Looking for it's razorblade? (kamisori)

Giving up on an easy relaxing drive down we waited, only to see and hear monkeys, a wild pig and 2 Japanese weasels. It felt like a zoo in here! There was a small parking area with toilets and a vending machine where we decided to spend the night. Our wild life adventure wasn't over yet. The bright lit vending machine hosted an array of insect hunting frogs plus interesting looking moths etc.

We had our meal and slept early under a star-studded sky. No photos of that, the camera was tired. 

At sunrise we broke camp and decided to have another look at that colorful valley again. Now this side of the mountain was in the shade and again kind of dark, but the flowers were there. MANY!

I feel so lucky and privileged having been here and seen all this. I love to share it with my friends, too.  I hope you enjoy the blog and I hope it makes you realize how special our world is. Let's protect it from harm!