Parrot Attack

I never kept birds as pets but I have never had any sort of grudge against them. After visiting Kakegawa in Shizuoka prefecture last week I’ve become a huge fan of birds. In a park I came across two huge parrot and I got a shot I don’t think many people have seen in real life: a large parrot flying directly towards you. Not unless you are nut and fruits salesman with frequent trips to Costa Rica behind you at least. It was pretty majestic! Now, parrots are very smart birds who can live to be 50 years old. They have excellent control over their flight but unfortunately, they tend to forget about those long sweeping tail feathers. So the claws of this bad boy sailed about an inch over my head while the feathers hit my right in the face. Great fun! It’s also a good chance to see how well the auto-focus of a modern digital camera can deal with a bird attack. As you see, not very well. Enjoy!

A Trip Down Arakawa River

As I mentioned earlier in a couple of posts about the western parts of Saitama prefecture I spent a little time on or near Arakawa River (I know kawa means river but it seems easier to be specific with geographical names in English). The river’s name means “Wild River” but after being used to seeing much further downstream in Tokyo I always thought the name was a little bit over the top. Luckily, it is a tad bit wilder up in Saitama where it also originates. From the pictures you wouldn’t believe it when I tell you that it eventually becomes the biggest river in Japan: 2537 meters at its widest point.

If you go to Chichibu and then a few stations up the line to really get into deep Saitama you can catch one of the river cruises. The cruise is a good way to see a different part of Japan than the concrete of Tokyo, but it is a little bit short: it is announced as lasting about 30 minutes but with the rapid flow of the river at any other point in time than in near drought season, the tour is much shorter than that. Still, it was worth every yen to see the scenery around the river.

Now, it should be known by now that I am not a good nature photographer. I have no idea how to make cliffs and whirling water look interesting so forgive my rather bland photos. I did manage to get some wildlife and two ridiculously handsome Saitama Prefecture River Police officers. It that the best job in the world? Considering that they spend a lot of the day watching over water-inexperienced tokyoites in mini-bikinis at the other side of the river. Great job, if you can get it.

Oh, and please, if you can identify the species of bird in the last picture I would be very happy indeed!

Black Kite – Milvus migrans lineatus

I was lucky enough to spend a few hours on a sunny Pacific Ocean beach last weekend. Apart from sloshing around in the waves I had an opportunity to shoot some interesting wildlife. There Black Kites are really numerous this year, scores of them are constantly circling over the beach waiting for stupid tourists (despite there being warning signs just about all over the place) to unpack their lunch on the beach. These magnificent beasts dive bomb their unsuspecting targets (always coming in from behind and to the left of their target, making sure their wings are at 10 o’clock and 1 o’clock to make sure they don’t swipe them on something nasty on the ground like a tourist’s face or eyeball). It’s amazing to watch and many are the crying children I have seen bereft of both hamburger and lolipop. I know about these birds so I snuck under a tree, inside a temple compound, at night, to eat a sandwich. It took a bird 30 seconds to locate me and attack, nicking my thumb and drawing blood in the process – must have been a young male.

This shot was taken with my 500mm lens. It was pure luck as the bird was just about to start a dive and had the sun right in his back! You can see the faint glow of the eclipsed sun around the bird. Sometimes it’s good to be sitting on a beach with a huge tele.

Black Kite - Milvus migrans lineatus on Yuigaoka beach.

Peregrine Falcon – Sigma 50-500mm

I recently gave my self a very late birthday present – the Sigma 50-500mm lens (also known affectionately as the Bigma). Here is a rather sad and very much captured Peregrine Falcon at Nogeyama Zoo in Yokohama.

Peregrine Falcon at Nogeyama Zoo in Yokohama