Tag Archives: birds

Egret Rookery

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Great egrets (ダイサギ), cattle egrets (アマサギ), and other birds nest in the woods at Hyozu Shrine (兵主大社) in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan. I recorded the sounds of the rookery on Sunday, May 27, 2018, and posted a six-minute sample on radio aporee ::: maps and SoundCloud.

The woods are between a large shrine and Yasu City athletic facilities (野洲市中主Ｂ＆Ｇ海洋センター). The white spots in the satellite image of the woods are egrets.

The recording location was not very photogenic. White bird droppings covered everything in the area. On the ground near the tree that held my recorder broken eggshells and a feather indicated young egrets above.

Eggshell below a great egret nest

Eggshell below a great egret nest beside Hyozu Taisha (兵主大社) in Gojo, Yasu City

Short feather below a great egret nest

Short feather below a great egret nest beside Hyozu Taisha (兵主大社) in Gojo, Yasu City

Nests and young birds were hidden in the treetops.

Egret nests and young great egrets (ダオサギ)

Egret nests and young great egrets (ダオサギ) in the woods beside Hyozu Taisha (兵主大社) in Gojo, Yasu City

Now and then an adult egret appeared, and I was lucky to see a cattle egret carrying a branch for a nest.

Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis, アマサギ)

Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis, アマサギ) in the woods beside Hyozu Taisha (兵主大社) in Gojo, Yasu City

Recording and post-processing

This recording was made with a Sony PCM-M10 recorder and FEL Communications Clippy Stereo EM172 Microphone tied to a tree. Since I was near the south edge of the woods, I placed the mics placed slightly forward of center facing north.

Audio post-processing was done with Audacity on Fedora Workstation, a Linux system running on a Lenovo ThinkStation 20 computer. I trimmed this excerpt from a longer recording and raised the overall volume. No other digital signal processing was done.

Crows along Yasugawa

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On Sunday, March 18, 2018, I was cycling down the north bank of Yasugawa when I heard some noisy crows perched in nearby trees.

When I ride my touring bike, I carry a small audio recorder and microphones. For this recording I used a Sony PCM-M10 recorder and Clippy Stereo EM172 mics by FEL Communications Ltd. To mimic human hearing, a quasi-binaural sound image was made by placing the mics on either side of my bicycle handlebar bag. I prefer to use trees about the diameter of an adult human head, but I use the handlebar bag when I cannot find a tree.

Trek 520 touring bike with audio recorder and mics on handlebar bag in Yasu City

The Compass app on my iPhone shows the location, direction, and time.

Compass and geolocation app on bicycle handlebar bag in Yasu City

As we can see on the map, this location is between a river and near the edge of a suburban area. With aircraft overhead, vehicles on nearby roads, and rural and suburban human activities, this place is quite noisy, even on Sunday.

In everyday life we filter out much of the noise. When the crows are not so noisy, I suppose most people experience this environment as a peaceful and quiet little park, just as it appears in photographs.

Trek 520 touring bike in Yasu City

Trek 520 touring bike in Yasu City

Long-tailed Tits (エナガ)

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On January 27, 2018, I was walking along the edge of a field near my house when a flock on long-tailed tits (エナガ) appeared right in front of me at eye level. I was able to take a few photos of them.

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tits (エナガ)

Long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tits (エナガ)

Long-tailed tits (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (エナガ)

Long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus, エナガ)

These cute little birds blessed me with their presence for only a few minutes before they vanished. If I had not been there, quiet and alert, I would have missed the opportunity to see them so close.

We experience life most richly when we are fully present.

Japanese Wagtail

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On January 25, 2018, I saw a Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレイ) in a small irrigation canal. The bird’s injured right foot did not prevent it from actively foraging in the shallow water as light snow fell.

In addition to several video clips, I took a few still photos of the bird.

Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.
Japanese wagtail (Motacilla grandis, セグロセキレ) with injured right foot at a small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City.

The plowed fields may look barren now, but quite a few birds gather here in winter.

Plowed fields and small canal

Plowed fields and small canal in Tsuji, Ritto City

Notes

Video and photos were shot hand-held with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera and a 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens.

Music: “Rainbows” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Video was edited with Kdenlive on a Fedora GNU/Linux workstation.

Mallards at Hatonomori Park

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In January 2018 I watched the mallard ducks at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園).

One male was especially active on January 12th as he scratched his head and rolled and flipped in the water. I took some still photos that caught him in various positions.

Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)
Mallard male (マガモ) at Hatonomori Park in Moriyama City (滋賀県 守山市 鳩の森公園)

Watching wild creatures rewards us in many ways. We can appreciate their existence and their beauty, and often we can gain insight about their behavior. And sometimes we can be thoroughly entertained.

Notes

Video and photos were shot hand-held with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera and a 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens.

Music: “Perspectives” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Video was edited with Kdenlive on a Fedora GNU/Linux workstation.