Kanatake walk, December 20th

 It was cold on our last walk of the year. As expected there were few flowers and no butterflies. Birds were more heard as seen. The tea party in the end made the day festive and everyone seemed happy, except for Mr. S who was not well and stayed home.

Eastern Buzzard, ノスリ proudly perched 

Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ resting on the ground. Tired? Cold?

female Bull-headed Shrike, モズ fluffed up to stay warm

An impaled frog, ready to be consumed by the owner, Mr or Mrs Shrike

モズのはやにえのカエル

Not all bugs were absent. Bagworm, ミノムシ

Caterpillar of Winter moth, キリガ 幼虫

Another caterpillar

Under the leafs of a forgotten plant: Caterpillar of Small Copper ベニシジミの幼虫

as well as a Stinkbug, カメムシ

Sticking out of the stem of a tree:

moth chrysalis, ガ の さなぎ 

Fungi

Maiden's Blush, ハツユキツユクサ

Platycarya strobilacea, ノグルミ

Kadsura japonica, サネカズラ

Saga

A couple of weeks ago during a work related weekend visit to Saga we stopped at the shore of Ariaki Sea near Kashima for a few hours

Peregrine Falcon, ハヤブサ  scanning the fields behind the sea wall

majestic!

View from the seawall at low tide

Saunders's Gulls, ズグロカモメ Vulnerable

There were about 25 birds circling the mudflats, with about 10 juveniles staying mostly close to shore

At this tide most ducks were far out, more or less beyond my view

However, a few Shelducks, ツクシガモ  stopped by for a feed

At the far: corner 1 lonesome Far Eastern Curlew, ホウロクシギ

Back to the fields: Eurasian Kestrel, チョウゲンボウ

Some lucky catches for a Great Crested Grebe, カンムリカイツブリ

 

and Great Cormorant, カワウ

Towards the mountains: Buzzard, ノスリ

And then the rain started...  Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ  female

Mt Kuju / Aso

A quick trip to run away from the sweltering heat in the city.

  

Stopped for a few minutes at this field to check on the Japanese Reed Buntings, コジュリン. Saw one, heard another

Common Buzzard, ノズリ The only bird that posed for me... 

Plum, 梅

Winter's highlight, the start of spring. I LOVE UME!

Japanese White-eye, メジロ

Flying overhead: Common Buzzard, ノスリ

Finishing of with my daily shot of home-made plum vinegar. 

Gotta be genki out there!

Trip to the south of Kyushu

Our yearly spin to Ibusuki turned out a little different. Jaap didn't run, he got the shits on Friday. Nice, when you are camping in a car! ;) Luckily he got well soon and it didn't stop me from having a go at the Boobies (see previous post) Very Exciting! I understand now why some photographers like raptors. The speed, the action, the wings - superb.

In the park in Ibusuki I looked up my old friends: Olive-backed Pipit, ビンズイ

Daurian Redstart, ジョウビタキ

Pale Thrush, シロハラ

We cheered the runners and wandered around town

Maybe I should start a blog about interesting toilet buildings (and bus stops) one day

Black-tailed Gull, ウミネコ

Mt Kaimondake in the evening

All sorts of sweethearts in the parks

After the marathon (and the party) we took the 8:00 am ferry to Minami Osumi and drove to Cape Sata. This is where we saw our first monkeys playing on the road. (see previous post again)

The "other part" of Kagoshima, seen from the ferry

Little Egret, コサギ and Pacific Reef Egret, クロサギ

A familiar sight of birds taking hold of their favorite possies in a fishing harbor

???

We made our way north, where the monkeys got cheekier and the rain got worse and drove as far as Miyazaki pref. where we stayed at a harbor near Aburatsu, Nichinan for the night. 

 This Common Buzzard, ノスリseemed to be looking out for those naughty monkeys that were helping themselves to all kinds of greens at a farmer's field.

In that harbor we gazed at the size of the fishing vessels and their near perfect conditions

unloading

The price? $1000 each probably

mouth watering あじ！

A bit of color in an otherwise grey environment

drying radishes, 大根

A quick stop on the way back to Fukuoka: Mandarin Ducks, オシドリ

at a park near Kitago