The last day of July we chose to hike to the Bogatsuru. We had driven Billie down the day before after work, so we could start early. And we were in for a surprise: The easy trail to Amagaike had changed completely. Big rocks, often not settled yet and a lot of water made the going slow. That's what the heavy rains a few weeks before had done. Fortunately it was light (I did have a plan to leave at 4am. - glad I overslept! It would be too hard in the moonlight) Oh dear, this will take years to recover. If ever. What a pity. It explained the lack of fellow hikers. Everybody must have heard or read about it and was hiking somewhere else. We had the place nearly to ourselves.
View of Bogatsuru at midday
Some flowers and bugs that we saw:
female Japenese Banded Darter, ミヤマアカネ
ヒョウモネダシャク Arichanna gaschkevitchii
Which one is St. John's wort, オトギリソウ?
Both apparently, サワオトギリソウ
Wood small-reed or bushgrass, ヤマアワ
High brown fritillary (ウラギンヒョウモン) a bit worn
サクラコガネ? One of many Japanese Scarab beetles
Maybe White-tailed Skimmer, オオシオカラトンボ
At the hotspring resort most small cabins were destroyed by the rubble that came down the mountain during the tremendous downpours earlier this month
ツマキシロナミシャク Gandaritis whitelyi
Purple-loosestrife, ミソハギ
Jaap at our point of return
Tiger lily コオニユリ (Lilium leichtlinii)
Metanarthecium, ノギラン
The Dryad, ジャノメチョウ (Minois dryas) on Nogiran, ノギラン (Metanarthecium)
Japanese Labyrinth, ヤマキマダラヒカゲ (Neope niphonica)
One flower of Hosta sieboldii (コバギボウシ) Was it too early in the season?
サナエトンボ, Gomphinae spec.
My favorite flower: The Pincushion Flower, マツムシソウ (Scabiosa japonica) Japanese endemic
Doesn't it look like a pincushion?
Japanese Cow Wheat, ママコナ
シモツケソウ, (Filipendula multijuga) with hoverfly, ヒラタアブ
Cirsium japonicum (ノアザミ) Japanese thistle
Amagaike, 雨ヶ池
テリハアカショウマ (Astilbe thunbergii)
Heal-all, ウツボグサ (Prunella vulgaris), a medicinal plant also known as Kakkosou (self-healing)
Back at our start point in Choojabaru: Tadewara marsh
The next morning we had time to wander around a bit and I looked for birds. This woodpecker gave me a few seconds, but there was not enough light for a decent picture
White-backed woodpecker (オオアカゲラ)
アカクビナガハムシ (Lilioceris subpolita) Leaf beetle spec
テリハアカショウマ Astilbe thunbergii
チダケサシ, (Astilbe microphylla (L) and サワギキョウ Lobelia sessilifolia (R)
サワヒヨドリ, Eupatorium lindleyanum
This too I think. サワヒヨドリ. Eupatorium lindleyanum
Gooseneck Loosestrife, オカトラノオ (Lysimachia clethroides)
The usual Buntings were there, the Cisticola too, but I didn't see much else.
At the usual spot: Chestnut-eared Bunting, ホオアカ
Lesser Cuckoo, ホトトギス calling from a tree around 300m away
ヒゴタイ, Echinops setifer
ウスベニスジヒメシャク, Timandra dichela
Some kind of fungus on a piece of rotten wood
Young flycatcher, probably Asian Brown Flycatcher (コサメビタキ)
Same bird
タケカレハ, Bamboo lasiocampid
Again, the Dryad, ジャノメチョウ (Minois dryas)
This moth fell out of the tree were we had parked. I have not been looking at moths very long, but I found a name (actually 2) that I hope is correct. ウスイロギンモンシャチホコ
（オオギンモンシャチホコ）Spatalia doerriesi
Filipendula multijuga (シモツケソウ)
And then there was this one fluttering away in the tree beside us.
It's a guess: ヒトリガ Tiger Moth spec
And that's it for now.
