Yellow-bellied Tit, キバラガラ

３羽いました
3 birds flew around the tops of the tallest trees. They seemed to prefer trees with leafs of the same yellowish color, making it hard to detect them. Only when 1 bird visited a cherry blossom tree did I get a tiny little chance.  Very far away

モモメジロ, Japanese White-eye on Peach blossom

  

Ice, 氷

It was a cold winter in Kyushu. We had snow and ice and all the discomfort, inconveniences and joy that come with it... except for the sports. We couldn't ski, snowboard nor skate. But then we had the pyeongchang 2018 winter olympics ;-)

  

3rd week of March

It has warmed up and we can go out without bulky winter jackets now. Good for mountain hikes!
At first in the fields:

Garganey, シマアジ just one male was seen on the 16th

He looked so small between the Mallards, マガモ

Various buntings included these Rustic Bunting, カシラダカ

 1 Chestnut-eared, ホオアカ (left) and many Reed Bunting, オオジュリｎ (right)

Black-faced Bunting, アオジ

Plenty Dusky Thrushes, ツグミ nervous about their territory 

The Naumann's Thrush, ハチジョウツグミ that got here late January is enjoying his retreat. He doesn't seem to be bothered by other thrushes much and finds enough to eat. Why hurry?

 Not nervous of people either, a family with kids looking for ツクシ spring veggies did not scare him off.

Sporting breeding colors and ruffling his feathers, Grey Heron, アオサギ

Spoonbills on a test flight

 Towards higher ground I heard the familiar sound of Ryukyu Ashy Minivet, サンショウクイ

but I saw just 1 bird

Yellow-throated Bunting, ミヤマホオジロ also interested in ツクシ?

ハマダイコン

Geisha

It's not often we get a chance to see these ladies walking around town, but when the Plum is in bloom in Dazaifu you might get lucky

 At Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, with the legendary Tobiume Plum in the back

Not only Geisha dress up in kimono, it is quite a touristy thing, popular among people from other Asian countries

The ladies on their way to the Kyushu National Museum for a spring performance.

Japan is full of extremes where traditional dress and futuristic architecture coexist.