Rainy season continues

July 17, 2019

Rainy season in Tokyo is usually not that bad. While it rains often there are still some sunny days in between. This year has been somewhat exceptional. The rainfall has not been especially big, but a few weeks passed without the sun getting out at all.

Because of the weather I have been shooting mainly in locations close to my home. Most often I have taken a walk to a nearby cemetery to capture a Japanese sparrowhawk couple that I wrote about before.

There were days when I hardly saw the sparrowhawks at all, but also days when I had plenty of opportunities to capture them perching on a tall tree looking over the cemetery and flying to their nest on a tree hidden behind tree branches and leaves.

Yesterday, it was drizzling in the morning. I went to the cemetery hoping the rain would stop. There was a big flock of large-billed crows nearby the nest of the sparrowhawks. That made the sparrowhawks uneasy and therefore they were flying back and forth several time seemingly restless. They were calling each other frequently and at times they tried to chase the crows away. But the crows were big in number and kept coming back. Other birds, too were moving around, too and would sometimes borrow the sparrowhawk’s perching tree.

Despite of the fact that the rain did not stop, I kept shooting for some hours doing my best to cover my gear from the rain. In the afternoon, it started pouring and I decided to give up.

This morning, the sun came out and with high hopes I rushed to the cemetery again. I thought I could finally capture the birds in good light hopefully against the blue sky. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The female stayed the nest most of the time. The male was hunting somewhere far and came back to the cemetery only to bring the the catch to the female. They did the handing over of the catch far away from the nest in a dense forest next to the cemetery. After finishing the meal the female returned to the nest and the male fly away again. All I could was to return home disappointed.

東京の梅雨はいつもと違って太陽は３週間も全然出ていないため、家の近くでしか撮影していません。近所の霊園に住み着いているツミのカップルを頻繁に見に行っています。ツミをチラッとしか見ていない日もあれば、あちこち飛び交ったり、近くの高い木に長いの間見張ったり、毛繕いしたりするシャッターチャンスの多い日もありました。

昨日は朝から小雨が降っていたが、止むのを願って霊園に行きました。ハシブトカラスはツミの巣の近く大勢いました。ツミはあちこち飛んだり、大声で鳴いたり、カラスを追い払ったりしていまして、中々落ち着きません。他の鳥達もあちこち飛んだりしてツミの見張り木を借りたりします。

雨にも関わらずカメラをタオルやプラスチックでカバーしながらその様子を２〜３時間を撮っていました。午後になると、本降りになったから、諦めて帰りました。

今朝は久しぶりに太陽が少し出て、やっと明るい光線で青空をバックにツミを撮れると思って霊園に駆けつけました。しかし、シャッターチャンスに恵まれませんでした。メスはずっと巣の中です。オスは何処か遠くに狩りに行っています。餌をメスに引き渡すためしか戻ってこないです。引き渡しは巣から遠く、森の中に行います。メスは食事を終えてから、また巣に戻り、オスは再び何処かに飛んで行きます。今日のところはガッカリして家に帰りました。

Endangered Tiny Butterfly

July 11, 2019

Today, I dedicated a few hours to capture a tiny endangered butterfly species, the Pithecops fulgent tsushimanus. It is found only in the small island of Tsushima in Nagasaki Prefecture, but the Adachi Park of Living Things with help of Japan Butterfly Conservation Society breed the butterfly in a green house in order to save the species from the danger of extinction. After raising a steady population in safe environment, they take the butterflies back to their natural habitat in Tsushima. This month from 6th to 15th they release a small amount of adult butterflies in a butterfly house open to the general public.

The Pithecops fulgent tsushimanus is one of the smallest butterflies in Japan. With wings open it measures only 20 mm and can therefore be hard to find even in a butterfly house. I was anyhow very lucky to be right on time to see when a staff member released a number of butterflies. He also happily answered my questions about the conservation work. The butterfly house of Adachi Park of Living Things is a great place to visit any time, but this period when the tiny butterflies of Tsushima are fluttering around, it is of special joy to me.

今日は絶滅危惧種のツシマウラボシシジミを撮ってきました。日本では長崎県対馬市のみ分布する蝶ですが、足立区生物園は日本チョウ類保全協会と共にその蝶を飼育し、個体数を安定させ、対馬の生息地に戻す活動をしています。今月６〜15日にこの貴重な蝶をバターフライハウスにで一般公開を行います。

翅を開いた状態でわすか２０ミリのツシマウラボシシジミは日本の最小の蝶の一つです。バターフライハウスの中でも見つけるのは難しいですが、幸い飼育係が蝶を放つところを見ました。係りの方がツシマウラボシシジミの保護活動について色々語ってくれました。生物園のバターフライハウスはいつ行ってもとても楽しめますが、対馬の小さな蝶が舞う時には特に貴重な経験になりました。

Japanese Sparrowhawk

July 8, 2019

A few moths back, a pair of Japanese sparrowhawks were building a nest in my nearby forest. I saw a glimpse of them in the adjacent cemetery and heard their calling every now and then but I was occupied with other subjects and therefore didn’t make effort to photograph them nor to see how their family making was progressing. Recently, when passing the same area without a camera, I detected the birds again. Today, I grabbed my camera and went to see how they were doing. I found two adults, a male and a female, but no fledgelings. To my surprise, the sparrowhawks were mating. Their usual nesting period is April to June. I don’t know whether their first nesting was successful. Perhaps not, and therefore they are making a second attempt somewhat late. I am just guessing.

I the cemetery there was also a flock of azure-winged magpies. I detected a group of juveniles hiding in the trees and waiting for their parents to feed them. They were cute. The Japanese name for these birds is Onaga, literally 'long tail’ but the juveniles will take some time to grow up to their name.

This particular cemetery has also a rather big population of rose-rings parakeets. Long time ago these parakeets were first brought to Japan as pets. Some escaped and some were probably released and now they have established big populations in various parts of Japan.

何ヶ月前近くの霊園でツミが巣を作っているのを気づきました。鳴き声や姿を何回か見ましたが、別の野鳥を追っていましたから、ツミを撮ろうとしなかったです。最近、同じ霊園を通る時、またツミが見えたから、今日はカメラを持って様子を見に行きました。大人のオスメスを発見しましたが、幼鳥は見当たらないです。交尾をしてるのに驚きました。普段４−6月に卵を産むからです。もしかして、１回目の子作りは失敗に終わってしまって、今２回目挑戦すると推測しています。

同じ霊園にオナガやワカケホンセイインコの群れも発見。オナガは尾羽がまだ短い可愛い子供もいました。

Two New Butterfly Species

June 25, 2019

Two new butterfly species

Last week, I captured two new zephyrus butterflies, the Favonius orientalis and Artopoetes pryeri. The latter was already pretty worn out and I wasn’t able to capture decent images of it but I was happy anyway. For a few times I had traveled two hours in order to search for it and finally I found one. Next year I will know better where to look for it.

On the very same day I was lucky to photograph altogether five zephyrus butterflies. In addition to the above mentioned, I found the Japonica lutea, Japonica saepestriata, Neozephurys japonicus and Antigius attilia -many of them also pretty worn out. I wish I lived closer to a park where you could find so many of these lovely species.

Every year at around this time I spend some days chasing my favourite dragonfly, the Rhyothemis fuliginosa. The Japanese name for this species is Chotonbo or butterfly-dragonfly. The name refers to the wide colorful wings as well as to the fluttering way it flies.

The season for this species has just begun, but you can already find quite a number of them if you know where to look for them.

先週オオミドリシジミとウラゴマダラシジミを初めて撮れました。ウラゴマダラシジミはもう翅が綺麗ではない状態でしたが、嬉しかったです。公園まで２時間をかけて何回か探しに行って、やっと見つけたからです。同じ公園に同じ日に合わせて５種類のゼフィルスを見つけました。もっと近く５種類のゼフィルスも出ている公園があれば、といつも思っています。

毎年6月下旬から飛び始める翅が綺麗なチョウトンボも最近撮っています。翅が幅広くて、蝶みたいにヒラヒラと飛ぶからチョウトンボと言います。季節が始まったばかりですが、居場所さえ分かれば、個体数はまあま飛んでいます。

Zephyrus

June 14, 2019

After switching to shooting butterflies in the end of May, I have mainly concentrated in finding and capturing the zephyrus (theclinae) butterflies. The zephyrus are arboreal lycanidae butterflies that have only one generation of grown ups each year in around June-September.

I have captured species that I can find within reasonable distance from my home, that is the Japonica lutea, Japonica saepestriata, Antigius attilia and Neozephyrus japonicus. I have not come by any English names for these species. A few times I also traveled two hours in order to capture the Artopoetes pryeri, but unfortunately had not luck with that species. I have got to know that when shooting butterflies, timing is crucial: sometimes you search for them too early, sometimes a day too late (as happened for me with this species) or sometimes you arrive to a location only 5 minutes late and hear from other photographers what you have just missed.

The Neozephyrus japonicus is immensely popular among butterfly enthusiasts in Japan, especially the male one. For it’s emerald green-blue wings it is often called jewel of the forest. Capturing the male with wings open can be hard. It rests long hours wings tightly closed and when it opens it’s wings, it does it for a very short time, often only for 5 to 10 seconds. Again, it is all about timing! It also happens that you you find a butterfly, wait an hour or two for the butterfly to open it’s wings and when it does, it turns out to be female -what a disappointment - or it flies away without showing it’s beautiful wings at all -even bigger disappointment. I am afraid that happened to me a few times this season. Also, pending on the shooting angle and the direction of light, the colors may not turn out nicely.

最近蝶の撮影に切り替えてからゼフィルスを中心に探しています。ゼフィルスは樹上生シジミ蝶の一群で、成蝶は6月から9月の間発生し、年に１化。今年は家から比較的近いところで見つかる４種類のゼフィルス、アカシジミ、ウラナミアカシジミ、ミズイロオナガシジミとミドリシジミを撮りました。以上の種類に加えて、ウラゴマダラシジミも何回か探しに行きましたが、収穫はなかったです。二時間かけてある日ある公園に探しに行ったら、前日までいたと言われました。蝶の撮影はタイミングは全てと改めて感じさせられました。

ミドリシジミ、特にオスはフォトグラファーの人気者です。エメラルド青緑で輝くミドリシジミは森の宝石とよく呼ばれます。しかし、ミドリシジミの緑を撮るのは難しいです。休んでいる時翅は閉じたままです。蝶を見つけて、長い間観察しても翅は閉じたままで、翅の裏を見せてくれないです。オスなのか、メスなのか分からない時が多いです。やっと翅を開いてくれたら、5秒から10秒間しか開かないこともあります。ここもタイミぐは致命的です。それから、撮る角度や光線によって色が綺麗に出ない事もあります。場合によってやっと翅を開いてくれたら、オスではなく、メスだとがっかりする事があります。私はこの季節にこういった悔しい経験がありました。

Finally Butterflies

May 27, 2019

Usually, I switch to photographing butterflies as soon as the first species of spring emerge. This year I have concentrated more on birds and I have missed some early butterfly species. However, I definitely didn’t want to miss capturing Japonica lutea, which is one of my favourite Japanese butterflies. The other day I went to a park in Western Tokyo, to see whether I could already find some. I was the first one to enter when the park opened in the morning. After a short stroll searching through the green foliage, I found my target, beautiful orange colored hairstreak butterfly. It looked fresh as if it had been newly emerged. I was told by another photographer that he had not been able to find any on earlier days so it is very much possible the butterfly I found was the season’s first one in that park. On the same day, I was able to find two more of that species but they were too far to be captured.

The following day I returned to the park again. There were already quite a few of Japonica lutea butterflies some of which were already broken-winged which shows how fragile a butterfly’s life can be.

On the second day I found also one other orange hairstreak butterfly, the Japonica saepestriata. In the coming days, I am sure they will also be bigger in number.

I think if you go to any park in Tokyo in this season, you will find more moths than butterflies. A glance up to trees and you will probably see dozens and dozens of white moths flying around. From afar they look like petals of cherry flowers fluttering in the air. It is the Ivela auripes and indeed, there were hundreds of them in this park, too.

As for the butterflies, I also captured captured Fryer’s purple emperor, Pallas’ sailer and Nope goskevitschii.

以前は初春になるとレンズを変えて蝶を撮り始めますが、今年は今まで渡り鳥などをずっと挑戦して来ました。しかし、この季節の大好きな蝶の撮りたくて西東京のある公園に行くことにしました。一番のりに公園に入り、緑の中少し探すと、オレンジ色の小さな蝶を見つけました。大好きなアカシジミです。この季節にしか見れないゼフィルスの一種です。個体はとても綺麗で、羽化しばかりに見えます。のちに他のフォトグラファーと話すと、その公園で季節初の個体と思われます。その後また二頭を見つけましたが、遠過ぎて、写真を撮れません。

次のひも同じ公園に足を運びました。アカシジミの数が増えて来ました。一部はすでに翅が傷があり、蝶はかいかにもか弱い者かと改めて覚えさせられました。

この日、二つ目のゼフィルスのウラナミアカシジミも発見しました。一頭だけでしたが、これから数が少し増えるでしょう。

この季節はどこの公園に行っても蝶よりも蛾が良く見られます。少し見上げると、キアシドクガが大量に飛び回っています。この公園も大量にいました。桜の花びらみたいにヒラヒラと飛び回っています。

二日間の間コムラサキ、コミスジやサトキマダラヒカゲなども撮れました。

Baby Boom

May 23, 2019

When a kingfisher couple started building a nest in my nearby garden, some people said we would not be seeing any chicks there. A few times earlier kingfishers had tried nesting there but each time a snake or some other animal had visited the nest and had a feast with the unhatched eggs. Anyhow, this time we can congratulate the kingfisher couple for 5 lovely chicks. First one left the nest on 15th of this month and the rest during the following two days. I spent two days trying to capture the scene. It was pretty dark and the chicks were doing their best to hide from predators as well as from curious photographers. Once, a large-billed crow tried to attack the chicks, but they managed to escape.

In the same garden I came across with a family of Japanese pygmy woodpeckers. There was a parent and perhaps 4-5 juveniles. I heard and saw them flying from one tree to another on two sides of a narrow path I was walking on. When I came closer, the parent ordered them to freeze and they did as they were told and it became very silent. I took a few pictures and kept walking. After a while they thought it was safe again, and the they continued their ways. Freezing and moving again was repeated a few times. With kingfishers it was easy to tell the adult apart from the chick. The chick’s feathers looked dirty. Japanese pygmy woodpecker chicks on the other hand did not look very different from adults.

In another garden I photographed newly born ducklings of spot billed ducks as well as and juvenile Japanese tits. The tits were mostly hiding behind tree branches but there was one that looked at me very curiously.

近所の公園でカワセミが巣作りを始めたら、子供が巣立ちまでには行かないだろうと人々が言っていました。何回か同じ公園でカワセミが巣を作っていましたが、雛が飼える前には巣は蛇か別の何かにやられてしまいました。今回はめでたい事に５羽の雛が誕生しました。一羽は15日に、後の四羽は16〜17日に巣立ちしました。私は２日間カワセミの子育てを見守りながら写真を撮っていました。一度カラスが攻撃して来ましたが、幸い雛が逃げ切れました。

カワセミの少し前同じ公園にコゲラの雛も巣立ちました。コゲラの家族との出逢いにも恵まれました。歩いている道の両側にコゲラの鳴き声が聞こえ、探してみたら親と４〜５羽の雛が木から木に飛び移っていました。たまに親の命令でみんながフリーズして静かになりました。危なくないと判断して、再び動き出しました。そしてまたフリーズして、また動き出しました。カワセミと違ってコゲラの雛は親との区別は中々難しかったです。

別のところでカルガモやシジュウカラの雛にも逢いました。シジュウカラの雛は枝や葉っぱの後ろに隠れようとしていましたが、一羽だけは興味津々に私を見つめていました。

Elegant Little Terns

May 19, 2019

Little Tern is one of my favourite birds. I never get tired looking at their arial acrobatics and elegant poses when they fly and hover in the air and dive in to the water to capture fish. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see them very often and have captured them only a few times. After the Golden Week holidays, I was lucky to photograph them on two days, although for a rather short time on each day. The pond where I photographed them is long but narrow, almost like a river, and therefore, at times they flew very close to me. After successfully catching some fish, they would leave the pond to take the fish to their females as part of their courtship. There were only a few birds, three at the highest, so most of the time I was just waiting for a long time for the birds to come back again. While waiting I chatted with local fisherman and captured the many herons that seemed to get alone with the fishermen far too well.

A few times after catching fish, I saw the terns to drop the fish in mid-air and recapture it again. For me it looked as if they did it deliberately (to get a better grip of the fish) because it usually happened very high in the air when they were sure to be able to recapture the fish again. I am hoping to photograph that scene again some day from a shorter distance. Some of my images below are heavily cropped.

私が一番好きな鳥の一つはコアジサシです。魚を取る時のエレガントな空中アクロバチックやホバリングをいつまで見ても、飽きないです。残念ながら、コアジサシを数回しか撮れてないです。ゴールデンウィーク明け、久しぶりに２回チャンスがありました。細長い池のの上の飛び交ったり、ダイビングしたりのを観察できました。時に運良くとても近い距離までに来てくれました。しかし、鳥が少なく、魚を取れた後、どこかに待っているメスに魚を持って行ったから、長い間鳥が帰って来るのを我慢強く待つしかなかったです。待っている間は釣りのおじいさんと話したり、人懐っこいサギを写真に収めたりしました。

コアジサシが魚を空中で落として、再びキャッチしたシーンを何回か観察できました。それは毎回必ずキャッチできる高いところでやった事実から、わざとやったと私は解釈しました。今度同じようなシーンを近い距離で撮れたら嬉しいです。以下の写真の一部はトリミングした写真です。

Can't see the frogs!

May 16, 2019

It’s been a while since my previous post. I haven’t have time to sort out my images and besides there was a 10 day long golden week holiday during which I didn’t have much time to go shooting.

Lately, my usual locations didn’t provide many interesting photographic possibilities so I visited some parks somewhat further away from my home. In one of the parks I found a flock of oriental reed warblers. My first encounter with this species was a somewhat funny episode: I walked pass a pond and heard some loud croaking. I looked around to see where the frogs were but since I could’t find any, I just continued walking. Later on the same day I passed the pond again and found some photographers trying to capture the frogs. I joined them and after a while, to my great surprise, I realized there were no frogs … but birds! I later checked my bird guide and found out that they were oriental reed warblers. In Tokyo, they mark the arrival of the summer.

I was also happy to find a narcissus flycatcher. It was a young male. For a long time I and other photographers could only hear it’s beautiful singing. I think it didn’t dare to come down as there were too many photographers and birders around trying to see at least a glimpse of it. With time many photographers apparently got tired of waiting and left the scene. Only when it got pretty quiet, it slowly came down and the few of us who were still around were lucky to see and capture it. I would have been happier if it let us a bit closer, though.

久しぶりのブログです。１０日間のゴルデンウィークもあって、写真の整理を大分怠っています。

最近いつものロケはあまり面白い者が見えていないため、家から少し離れた公園に行ってきました。オオヨシキリの群れに逢いました。初めてオオヨシキリの鳴き声を聞いた時、その持ち主はカエルだと勘違いして、そのまま通り過ぎてしまいました。再び同じ場所を通ったら、カエルを探し出したが、鳴き声の持ち主は鳥だとやっと分かりました。あの時と違って今回は迷わずに翅がある生き物だと分かったから、見つけることに苦労しませんでした。

オオヨシキリに加えてキビタキにも逢えました。カメラマンが大勢いたため、最初は綺麗な囀りしか聞こえなかったですが、次第カメラマンの数が減り、キビタキ君も姿を見せてくれました。

Oriental Reed Warbler・オオヨシキリ・ Acrocephalus orientalis

Narcissus Flycatcher・キビタキ・ Ficedula narcissina

FINALLY THEY ARE HERE!

April 24, 2019

I have paid frequent visits to a small park where many migratory birds spend day or two to rest during their migration. Many times, I returned home empty handed but finally my efforts have been paid off. This week I discovered male and female narcissus flycatcher and a male blue-and-white flycatcher. The males of these two species are not only handsome with colorful feathers but are also excellent singers. Females on the other hand look more moderate with all brownish feathers.

The male narcissus flycatcher arrived yesterday and stayed only one day. It was somewhat shy and sang only with moderate volume. Today, I could not find him anymore. Instead, a saw a glimpse of female of the same species very high on a tree. I had time just enough to get one not so successful frame before she vanished into the small woods.

Today, when I arrived to the park the blue-and-white flycatcher greeted me with beautiful singing. Thanks to the singing I could easily find him. He wasn’t especially shy as the narcissus flycatcher was, and I managed to capture him with various poses.

Besides the flycatchers, I found one black-faced bunting, one grey bunting and a warbler, not sure of the exact species.

最近ある小さな公園に頻繁に足を運んでいました。そこは多くの渡り鳥は渡り途中でしばらく休む所です。何回か収穫なしで家に帰りましたが、今週はやっと鳥運に恵まれました。念願のキビタキやオオルリに出逢いました。両種類のオスはカラフルで綺麗だけではなく囀りもとても美しい鳥です。メスは少し落ち着いた色相ですが、優しい表情です。

最初はキビタキのオスを確認できました。少し臆病で囀りもとても静かでした。1日だけ公園で過ごしました。今日は公園に到着しましたら、直ぐにオオルリの囀りに迎えられました。声の方に行って見たら美しい姿も見せてくれました。キビタキほどシャイではなく、長い間遊ばせてくれました。キビタキのメスも一瞬高い木の上に姿を見せてくれました。

他にアオジ、クロジやムシクイが確認できました。

Blue-and-white Flycatcher ・オオルリ・Cyanoptila cyanomelana

TEN LITTLE CHICKS

April 19, 2019

Tokyo is in the middle of bird migratory season. We say farewell to some species and welcome others. Some are just passing through and stay a few days in order to rest and gain strength for further travel. I have been hoping to capture some of the travelers. Especially, I have been waiting for the arrival of narcissus flycatchers and the blue-and-white flycatchers. I have already observed the latter one, unfortunately very high on trees.

It is also nesting season for some species that stay here all year around. Today, I was able to find some newly fledged chicks of long-tailed tits. After leaving the nest they line-up on a tree branch and wait till their parents bring them some food. Today, there were 8 chicks in line with their mouths opening every time a parent would come close with a mouthful of insects. They kept their parents busy! In addition to the eight there were two more that must have hatched later. As they could not yet fly properly, they were separated from their siblings. The assumably youngest one fell from a tree a few times but managed to somehow climb up again. I saw it dosing off, having her mother to bring it some food, and them dosing off again. It was the cutest thing! I am hoping it will also learn to fly soon as there was a stray cat wandering around nearby.

渡りの季節になってきました。冬鳥がいなくなったり、夏鳥が入ったりします。一部の鳥は渡りの途中で少しだけ休んでから、また長い旅に出たりします。最近そんな鳥を探していくつかの公園を回っていました。念願のオオルリを高い所で確認しました。キビタキも鳴き声だけが聞こえましたが、姿をまだ見せてくれませんでした。

今日は鳥運がとても良くて、初めてエナガ団子を見ました。８羽のちっこい者がならんでいまして、親からの餌を待っていました。親は忙しくてくたびれた様子でした。団子に加えて、一番最後に孵った二羽が低い所に残っていました。末っ子はまだ飛べなくて、何回か木から落ちたが、頑張ってまた上に登りました。親から餌を貰ったり、昼寝をしたりしました。とても可愛かったです！早く飛べるようになると願っています！

ELEGANT FIGHTERS

April 9, 2019

Every year I look forward to the cherry blossom season and every year I find myself not having time to photograph it as it coincides with my son’s spring holiday. Therefore, rather than going out with my camera, I played tennis and badminton with my son and did some traveling with my family.

My son’s holiday is now over and today I decided to go to Shinobazunoike park in central Tokyo to see if there are any blossoms left. Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms were pretty much over, at least the most common someiyoshino type so I abandoned the idea of capturing the blossoms and decided to photograph birds.

Shinobazunoike is home to many water fowl: gulls, ducks, herons and egrets and many more. Today, I photographed mainly the herons and egrets. I was lucky enough to witness a fiercefull fight between two great egrets. It all started when one of the birds landed close to the other. The first one immediately started walking towards the newcomer in the shallow pond. The newcomer started walking, too and the birds were staring each other intensely. Soon they were in the air kicking and attacking each other with their long beaks. Even though it was a serious fight they still looked elegant with their beautiful white feathers and long legs and beaks. I couldn’t figure out which one was the winner as both of them flew away from the scene.

毎年桜の季節を楽しみしていますが、毎年写真が少ないままで終わってしまう傾向があります。息子の春休みのため、なかなかの一人で出かけられないからです。

夏休みが今日で終わり、私はカメラを持って不忍池に行ってきました。案の定桜はもう散ってしまったため、野鳥を撮ることにしました。

水鳥が多い不忍池ですが、今日はサギを中心に撮っていました。運良くダイサギ同士の激しいケンカを見れました。一羽のダイサギの近くにもう一羽が着陸してしまい、直ぐにケンカに発展してしまうのは明らかでした。お互いを睨みながら、お互いの方向にゆっくり歩き始めました。次の瞬間、二羽は飛び出し、お互いを長い足で蹴ったり、嘴で攻撃したりしました。激しいバトルにもかかわらず、優雅な動きに感動しました。決着が付く事なく、二羽はその場を離れました。

Northern Goshawk

April 2, 2019

I had originally planned to spend a day capturing butterflies, but as the weather turned very cold I took a train to a park in Saitama instead. I knew a pair of Northern goshawks had been building a nest there and I was also hoping I could capture them. When I arrived to the park I learned to my disappointment that the goshawks had abandoned their previous nest and build a new one that was inside a bird sanctuary, somewhat far and much more difficult to see and capture. The female had laid one egg and was inside the nest. The male must have been hunting as one could not see trace of it.

There were two other photographers, too, and we were waiting for some movement inside or close to the nest, but for a long long time only crows were seen flying back and forth and sometimes getting very close to the nest.

The weather turned cloudy and it was getting very cold. I considered giving up and leaving but finally we could hear the two birds calling each other. Encouraged by the calling I decided to stay.

After a long wait, in the afternoon one of the other photographers finally detected the male goshawk on a fallen tree trunk in the bird sanctuary holding a half eaten prey on his grip. It was dark but we were able to photograph it through the holes of the fence. The bird held the prey in his claws and stood still. He was only moving his head every now and then when the crows flew by. A few times we could hear the female calling and the male responding to her, but he kept still.

Two hours after detecting the male goshawk it finally did some stretching, checked that the prey was tightly on his grip and finally took off to take the prey to the female bird.

今日は蝶々を撮る計画をしていたが、寒波のせいで計画を変更し、さいたまにある公園に行きました。オオタカのカップルは巣を作っていることを以前から知っていました。

着いたら、オオタカは前の巣を諦め、公園に隣接するバードサンクチュアリーの中で新しい巣を作っていました。遠くて見えずらい所でした。

メスは一個の卵を産んだらしくて、巣の中にいました。オスの姿は見えなかったです。おそらく狩りをしているだろうと思いました。

他のカメラマンと様子を見ることにしましたが、長い間カラスしか見えなかったです。カラスは騒いだり、たまに巣の直ぐ近くまで行ったりしました。次第に曇り、気温は急激に下がり、諦めようと考えましたが、二羽の呼び合う声が聞こえるようになったから、もう少し粘ることを決めました。

長い待ち時間の末、他のカメラマンがやっとオスを発見しました。サンクチュアリーの中の倒木の上に餌を握りながら立っていました。暗かったですが、フェンスの穴から覗いて、写真を撮れました。

カラスとかの動きを目で追ったり、メスの呼び声に答えたりしたが、動かないままじっとしていました。発見してから、2時間後ストレッチして、餌は爪から落ちないかと確認し、やっとメスに持って行きました。

PINK, PINK, PINK

March 11, 2019

The kawazuzakura cherry trees are in full bloom! I have spent a few days capturing birds, the brown-eared bulbuls, the Japanese white-eyes and the red-ringed parakeets. The bulbuls are -as always- trying to chase all the others away. Recently, however, they have also been on guard as a Northern goshawk is hunting nearby. I have seen one flying above the park on several occasions but have not been fast enough to get a decent capture of it.

カワズザクラは満開になりました！何回か近所の公園に通って、ヒヨドリ、メジロとワカケホンセイインコを撮っていました。いつものようにヒヨドリは他の鳥を追い払い続けています。ところが、最近ヒヨドリも警戒しなければならないです。近くにオオタカが狩りをしていて、何回かおたまの上飛んでいるのを気づきましょたが、証拠写真しか撮れていません。

From Ume to Sakura

March 4, 2019

It’s about 10 days since I first photographed the red-breasted flycatcher in a Tokyo park. Since then, I went there two more times and found her in the Japanese apricot tree or ume garden. The number of photographers capturing that one little bird had increased since my first visit and - at best I believe- it reached some 50 people. I don’t know whether the bird is still in the park as I have been busy with other errands and the weather has also been miserable with cold and rainy days.

In my neighborhood there is a children’s play park with several trees of an early blooming cherry species, the kawazuzakura. Every year I spend a few days capturing Japanese white eyes and red-ringed parakeets enjoying the blossoms. I went to the park a few times to see how the blossoms are doing. While there are some flowers in bloom already, it seems to take some time till the trees reach full bloom. A few warmer and sunny days would probably do the trick!

I found only a few Japanese white-eyes on the cherry trees. I am sure there must have been more nearby but a flock of brown-eared bulbuls were very aggressively protecting what they think is their territory and chasing the white-eyes away. It is still difficult for the white-eyes to hide when there are very little flowers.

There were already several red-ringed parakeets in the park, some of which were perching in the nearby trees and some of which were already savouring on the pink flowers. The parakeets cut the flowers off, drink the nectar inside the flowers and and then drop the flowers. It is a waste but with their curved beaks it is the only way they can reach the nectar. The Japanese white-eyes and the brown-eared bulbuls on the other had, just drink the nectar and leave the flowers intact!

初めて都内の公園でニシオジロビタキを撮ってから、10日が過ぎました。その後二回撮りにいきまして、いつもの梅林の中で飛び交っていることが確認できましょた。天気が悪いなどのせいで最近公園に行く機会はなかったです。ニシオジロビタキはまだ公園にいるかどうか、分かりません。

毎年カワズザクラがある近所の公園でメジロやワカケホンセイインコなどを撮りに行っています。最近何回か様子を見に行きましたが、寒いせいか、まだまだ満開まで時間がかかいそうです。

あいにくメジロはまだとても少ないです。お花が少ないうちにヒ大勢で来ているヨドリから隠れるのは大変でしょうと勝手に推測しています。

ワカケホンセイインコは公園のあちこちに多く見れました。普段はなかなか近くで見れない鳥ですが、この季節だけに必ずカワズザクラに来ます。ワカケホンセイインコは一輪一輪を切って、中の蜜を吸ってから、お花を捨てるといったもったいなそうな食べ方をしています。曲がった嘴でそれが唯一出来る食べ方だろうと思います。メジロとヒヨドリは細長い嘴で中の蜜だけを吸って、桜の花を切らすにすみます。

まだまだ梅の花が続いていますが、これからの桜の季節も楽しみですね！

Red-breasted Flycatcher

February 23, 2019

I knew from many posts to social media that a female red-breasted flycatcher was wintering in some park in Tokyo and I was hoping to figure out where that was. Finally I got that information and headed to the park. Quite soon after arriving to the park I detected the beautiful bird. I was the first photographer to arrive on that day and I got to photograph her alone for about 10 minutes. She wasn’t very shy and seemed to look at me curiously. Little by little more photographers would follow and it got more difficult to find and capture her.

After some time she suddenly moved to a small Japanese apricot tree grove. The area was fenced and maybe she knew already from experience that no people would go over the fence so she could keep hunting insects without anyone coming too close. At that time the number of photographers was approximately 15-20 people. Many of them had captured her several times already but there were a few newcomers like me, too.

Red-breasted flycatchers are not very common in Japan and having to photograph one with apricot blossoms was a dream come true. Unlike males with their rusty-orange throat and breast, the females look somewhat modest with their brown backs and lighter underparts. I especially like this bird’s elegant posture and beautiful black eyes and I hope to be able to get another chance to photograph her. Hopefully on that day the light isn’t as harsh as it was this time.

ソーシャルメディア等で東京のどこかの公園でメスのニシオジロビタキがいると知っていました。やっと私もその情報をゲットし、公園に駆けつけました。着いたら直ぐにその可愛い鳥を発見しました。他のカメラマンが来るまで10分ぐらい一人だけで撮影できました。好奇心豊かな目で私を見つめたように見えました。

カメラマンが次第に増え、鳥は隠れたりして、撮るのは難しくなりましたが、しばらくしましたら、近くの梅林に移動してくれました。梅林はフェンスに囲まれて、人が入って来ないと経験から知ったかもしれません。人の存在をそれほど気にせずに梅林の中で長い間虫を探し続けました。

ニシオジロビタキのメスは少し地味ですが、綺麗な黒目に優雅なポーズでとても美しい鳥です。梅林の中で撮れたのは夢みたいでした。もう一度機会があれば、もっと柔らかい光線を願っています。

The Smallest Birds of Japan

February 20, 2019

The winter wren is the smallest bird in Japan along with the goldcrest. They are both about 10 cm in size. While goldcrest is often feeding high on trees, the winter wren is spending most of it's time on the ground moving dexterously in the cover of a dense undergrowth making it difficult to find. This week, I have tried to capture both of these tiny birds.

Earlier this week, I spent one afternoon in a garden close to my home where I was happy to encounter with a winter wren that has been living there for some weeks already. It is a rare visitor to the garden, so many photographers and bird enthusiasts have been searching for it and pointing their cameras and binoculars towards it. It is now fairly accustomed to humans and is somewhat easy to photograph, if you manage to find it in the big garden. The problem is light, though, or the lack of it to be correct, so one has to compromise on either shutter speed or ISO... or both! Still, I am happy with the captures I got!

While I have been lucky with the wren, I have been less lucky with the goldrcrest. I was tipped by acquaintances about a place where goldcrests often bade in a small pond. I spent two days waiting for the tiny birds to arrive to the pond. I detected them close by a few times, but unfortunately, they would not come down for a bath. It is possible that I will have to wait till the next winter before I can get another chance as they will leave Tokyo any day to return to cooler climates for nesting.

日本一小さい鳥

今週は日本一小さい鳥のミソサザイとキクイタダキの撮影に挑戦しました。

キクイタダキが高い木の枝で食事を探すのに対して、ミソサザイは暗い藪の中で天敵に気づかれないように動いているから、両方とも写真に収めるのは一苦労です。

運よく近所の公園にここ何週間か住み着いているミソサザイを見つけることが出来ました。多くのカメラマンのアイドルなので、人馴れしているから、簡単に近づく事が出来たのですが、暗い為、シャッター速度やISO感度を妥協しなければならなかったです。でも、撮れてとても嬉しいです。

キクイタダキに関しまして、頻繁に水浴びに来る場所の情報をゲットしました。珍しい光景なので丸２日間池のよこで粘りましたが、降りてこなかったです。そろそろ山に帰る時期なので、次のチャンスはまた今度の冬までに待たなければならないかもしれません。

Apricot Trees in Bloom

February 15, 2019

Japanese apricot trees are in bloom. Unlike cherry blossoms that bloom all at once for approximately a week, apricot trees bloom gradually and therefore one can enjoy the blossoms for a rather long time. Today I decided to take a stroll in Koishikawa Botanical Garden, that has a large apricot tree grove. I was hoping to capture some birds there. I thought I would at least find Japanese white-eyes enjoying nectar of the flowers. I could smell the sweet scent of the flowers from a distance and my hopes were getting high.

Despite of waiting for a long time the apricot trees didn’t seem to attract any birds. There were some Japanese white-eyes and Japanese tits nearby but they seemed to be more interested in the seeds of Chinese tallowtrees nearby. A flock of long-tailed tits arrived merrily chirping but they disappeared as quickly as they had arrived and I thought I would return home with photos of blossoms only. Luckily, my long wait was finally rewarded; I could find a male daurian redstart and a dusky thrush, both of which were after the seeds of the Chinese tallowtrees, too.

梅の花が咲く季節です。桜と違って梅の開花期間は長くて、２−３週間ぐらい楽しめます。今日は小石川植物園の梅林に野鳥を撮りに行って来ました。梅の蜜を好むのメジロを期待していましたが、寒いせいか、梅林は静かでした。長い間待っていても、小鳥の気配はありません。近くのナンキンハゼだけにはメジロやシジュウカラがたまに実を食べに来ました。梅だけの写真で帰らなければならないかと思いましたが、やっとオスのジョウビタキとツグミが現れました。両方ともやはりナンキンハゼの実が目当てででしたが、幸い梅の枝にも止まってくれてました。

Arrival of the Blue Birds

February 13, 2019

I have been wanting to capture a male red-flanked blutail this winter but haven’t had many chances for that. I must admit that I could have made more effort to try various locations. Now however, two male bluetails have recently arrived to a garden just a walking distance from my home. Perhaps the cold wave and snowfall that recently passed over Kanto region forced them to find new locations. There had already been three female bluetails in the same garden so it is understandable that arrival of the males have caused a lot of turmoil.

Yesterday, I followed a fight between a male and a female bluetail. So far the disputes I have seen, have been rather short lived, and ended up with one of the parties giving up the right to the territory. This time, neither of them seemed to be willing to give up, and the fighting went on for at least over an hour. Most of the time they were chasing each other high on the trees too far for my lens. Today, I heard from other photographers, the two males were fighting and I believe that in the coming weeks before they leave Tokyo, there will be some chasing back and forth every now and then.

A durian redstart that has been living in the garden all winter must have also have noticed the newcomers and seemed to be on high alert.

The flock of hawfinches in the garden were cautious as usual and would still not let me near, but some individuals showed some signs of loosing their shyness. I tried not to scare them away and photographed them from afar.

最近家の近くの庭園にオスのルリビタキ二羽がやって来ました。最近の寒波のせいで、新しい居場所を探し出したのではないでしょうかと思っています。同じ庭園に以前からメス三羽がいた為、対混乱になりました。昨日オスとメスの縄張り争いは一時間以上続いていました。今日はオス同士の争いがあった、と他のカメラマンから聞きました。しばらく住み着いているジョウビタキも新しいものに気づいていて、警戒しているように見えました。

シメの大半はは相変わらず警戒心が強いですが、一部は少しだけ人馴れして来た気がします。遠くから餌探しの様子を見守りながら写真を撮って見ました。

Let It Snow!

February 10, 2019

It snowed yesterday. Apparently, it was already third time this season to snow in Tokyo, but for me it was the first time to see any. I was hoping to capture birds in snowy landscape and rushed to my favourite garden. As soon as I arrived and took my gear out of my back bag a male red-flanked bluetail greeted me. He didn’t seem to be much bothered by my presence and let me photograph from rather close distance. There wasn't much snow at all and my model avoided the areas where the layer of snow was somewhat thicker. I bet it was easier to find food where the earth was not covered with snow.

I was also lucky to find a female red-flanked bluetail. She let me know of her presence by her call. Her territory is next to the male’s and the two bluetails often have territory disputes along the borderline of their territories. This time the male wasn’t close, so I didn’t get to witness any fighting.

While it was still snowing, I went to see whether the Japanese apricot trees had reached full bloom yet and whether I could find any birds there. After some waiting a flock of Japanese tits and Japanese white-eyes arrived to savour of the blossoms, some of which were already in bloom.

I managed to see a glimpse of a male daurian redstart as well. Usually they get accustomed to people very easily, but this one, despite of the fact that it has been in the garden for long time already, is still very skittish and flies away as soon as someone approaches it.

I didn’t manage to capture the kind of images I was hoping for as the weather was a little too warm for snow to accumulate. I keep hoping to get some more snow this winter!

昨日雪が降って、所々ほんの少し積もったからカメラを持っていつものフィールドに行くことにしました。

着いたら、オスのルリビタキが直ぐに迎えに来てくれました。次第に人に慣れて来て、近い距離から撮れましたが、雪がもっと積もったところでは餌は見つかりにくいせいか、雪を避けているように行動していました。

鳥運が良いことにメスのルリビタキも見つけました。縄張りはオスの縄張りと隣接し、良く縄張り争いもあったが、今回はドラマチックなシーンに恵まれなかったです。

雪はまだ舞ううちに近くの梅林に行ってみました。梅の一部は綺麗に咲いていました。少し待ったところにメジロやシジュウカラの群れがやって来ました。オスのジョウビタキも一瞬顔を出しました。普段人懐っこい鳥ですが、この個体は中々人に慣れなくて、近づいたら、すぐに逃げます。

雪と鳥の共演を望んでいましたが、雪は思ったより少なかった為、思うような写真にならなかったです。今年の冬もう一度雪が降ってくれないかな？