Narcissus Flycatcher fledgeling, キビタキの 巣立ち

I like to go to Kanatake, when I have a gap in my schedule and I don't want to go anywhere far. On June 28th I did and met some people looking for the Asian Lizard's Tail, ハンゲショウ that T-san had introduced on TV the day before. I was talking to them when I heard a bird call that sounded - different. Checking it out I found a bewildered fledgeling of the Narcissus Flycatcher, キビタキ. right beside the road. Soon the father appeared, making lots of warning noises. That must be the bird we'd heard on several occasions during the Kanatake walk. I'm glad to confirm that the nesting had been successful 😊

After that I looked for the Tall Twayblade orchid コクラン コクラン and found a few with flowers

It took a few efforts to get reasonable images of these tiny orchids in that dark corner

Ardisia Japonica, ヤブコウジ was flowering as well

Also right there a very pretty moth: Kiobimizumeiga, キオビミズメイガ, 26mm Crambid snout moth spec...

...and 2 Zoomushi weevils, maybe ヒメシロコブゾウムシ (Himeshirokobu zoomushi)11-14mm 

ニジュウヤホシテントウ

28-spotted potato ladybird

Gomadara Kamikiri Longhorn beetle, ゴマダラカミキリ

Caterpillar of some sort

Last the snakes that I often run into: ヤマカガシ、tiger keelback

It's hard to decide what lens to bring

Chinese Egret, カラシラサギ

I set out to look for the Chinese Egret yesterday morning, the 25th despite the forecast for rain. The moment I found it that rain started to come down real hard and I could not take any other photos. 

When it cleared a bit I tried again, but the bird was gone... I drove around and looked everywhere. 

Several Crakes crossed my path. Ruddy-breasted Crake, ヒクイナ

Skylark fledglings, ヒバリ were sitting on the concrete, barely moving when I came close.

2 Whiskered Terns, クロハラアジサシ perched on the wire near the 2 lakes

The Black-faced Spoonbills, クロツラヘラサギ quickly moved to higher ground when thunder and lightning came with more heavy rain

I wondered what I was doing here, but sometimes it cleared and a Zitting Cisticola, セッカ landed right in front of me, as if to say: Go on, you'll find it

And I did. When the tide ran out it appeared on the mudflats. Still in heavy rain, but it eventually dried up indeed, though it was much later than the weather forecast had predicted. 

The Spoonbills also came to the mudflats and got into a feeding frenzy. Chinese Egret joined them, but didn't catch any fish. 

He stood there just watching and thinking: How do you guys do this?

3 shrines and 3 Boobooks, アオバズク３羽

At the first shrine I could not find the Aobazuku, Northern Boobook or Brown Hawk Owl during my initial visit.  It was raining solidly and I had to give up. The 2nd time was right. It was there at the usual place. Had it moved to take shelter on that rainy day?

At the R. Shrine

The Camphor tree, クスノキ  is huge, it takes a while to locate a small owl

At the Shi shrine, I saw another male watching the nest where his wife sits to keep their eggs warm. 

The caterpillars of Silk Moths love the trees here. This time of the year many are crawling around, looking for a place to wrap themselves up and spin their cocoon. クスサン 毛虫

The resident Geckos, ニホンヤモリ are standing guard

At the Sa Shrine

Last year I looked for orchids and found the Boobook. This year I looked for the bird, and found the flowers. 😀

Sekkoku Lan, セッコクラン