Wings 'n Things

Sunday, 1 February 2015

5 days around Kyushu, part 3

After lunch we drove to Ibusuki to claim our favorite camping spot near the sports park. Jaap registered for the marathon, we took a hot spring bath and had an early night.

The morning of the 12^th started with that marathon tune that is blasted around the premises. Hashiru hashiru! The start was extremely crowded. How many more runners participated this year? For Jaap this was the 5^th time. He had a bad cold and didn’t care about his finishing time. The sun was out and the strong old wind held back till after 11:00, which was good for the runners, but not so good for the people who were cheering.

Anyway, he finished. And that was the main point.

No, he is not my husband :)

I always go to pay my respect to the pipits who reside in the park.

Olive-backed Pipits, ビンズイ

The vegetation in this place in south Kyushu is more subtropical than in Fukuoka. The White-eyes seemed to be confused by the size of the palm tree nuts.

Japanese White-eye, メジロ

5 days around Kyushu, part 4

After the party we drove to that highway service area with the fresh flowers on the super clean toilets (not unusual here in Japan) to spend the night and drove to Miike, the same place as last year, to see if there were any Nuthatches. Guess my surprise to see a row of photographers, exactly like 2014, to see the exact same bird,

the Forest Wagtail, イワミセキレイ

The nuthatches were there, too. I could hear them high up in the trees. With my binoculars I followed them on their way upside down. If only one would come all the way down....

Eurasian Nuthatch, ゴジュウカラ

We even found that big, interesting fungus at the same place.

5 days around Kyushu, part 5

From Miike it was not too far to Miyazaki, where we checked out the young eagle, a very pretty bird that stands out because of its beautiful juvenile markings and its size. Just as well, because that prevailing strong wind kept it from flying our way and we had to be content with a distance of 200-300 m

Greater Spotted Eagle, カラフトワシ

Other birds seen at that location were mainly ducks. The Pintails looked particularly pretty and elegant.

Northern Pintail, オナガガモ

5 days around Kyushu, part 6

After a disturbed night in a local sport park (again clean toilets, but police came to question us at 3:00 am) we started our way back to Fukuoka via Takachiho. What a pretty place!

Takachiho Shrine

Takachiho Gorge

Further on Mt Aso surprised us with a big billowing cloud rising from the crater. The fields, the buildings, the streets were covered in ashes, few people ventured outside.