Otto's blog

Challenge!

May

8

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When I went for a walk on Ishigaki Island, I found something interesting. It`s in this photo. Can you see it?

The answer is in comments.

Ishigaki Island Report #2

May

7

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The beach & sea are not the only places to see interesting things on Ishigaki Island. I went walking in the jungle & fields, & found various interesting plants & animals, as you can see. I was especially impressed by the many kinds of butterfly there.

I could also hear pheasants [きじ], & I found some wild boar [いのしし] footprints, but I didn`t see them.

Ishigaki Island Report

May

6

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This Golden Week holiday, I went to Ishigaki Island, in the far south of Japan. I came here for Golden Week last year too.

Now there is a new airport on Ishigaki Island, so it`s more convenient to fly there than before. Last year we had to transfer in Naha, which was a hassle [= troublesome].

Anyway, on the beach & in the water, I saw various interesting creatures [= animals]. I have a waterproof camera, but the water was pretty cold, so I couldn`t stay in the water very long, & I couldn`t take so many pictures of fish. I still had fun though.

Have you ever been to Ishigaki Island? How about Okinawa?

Pheasant

Apr

23

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Near my house there is a wild [shizen na しぜんな] pheasant [kiji きじ]. I have seen it a few times, but I couldn`t take a photo - it always ran away & hid [kakurenda かくれんだ]. Finally yesterday I got close enough to take a photo.

It`s a gorgeous bird, isn`t it? I`m glad there is one living near my house.

Have you ever seen one? Did you take a photo of it?

Australia Holiday Report #4

Feb

16

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Besides the animals we saw on my aunt`s farm, and in a zoo that we went to, we saw various other animals in parks or around the house, including possums. Possums are nocturnal, which means they sleep in the day & come out at night. They don`t like to walk on the ground, so they usually get around by using trees, telephone & power lines, and house roofs. If you put some food (e.g. fruit) on your verandah, maybe they will come down & eat it during the night. Sometimes, you can even hand-feed them. However, a lot of people dislike them because they eat garden plants, & they like to live inside house`s roofs, which becomes a smelly, noisy problem....

Do you know the animals in these photos? Have you ever seen them?

Shikoku Henro 2012, Day 1

Nov

11

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We were on Shikoku for four days altogether. These are some photos from the first day. If you have any questions, please ask me in Comments. For example:

- What kind of flowers are those in the second picture? A: They`re cosmos.
- What kind of crab is that? A: Sorry, I don`t know. I saw a few of them on one mountain road we were on.
- How big was it? A: About 7cm across.
- Did you pick it up? A: Yes.
- Did you keep it? A: No.
- Did you cook it & eat it? A: No!

Click on the picture to enlarge.

My Too-Large Loach

Jul

16

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When I caught my loach [dojou] three or four years ago, it was only about 5 cms long. Now it`s about 15 cms. I decided it was finally time to release it.
Good bye & good luck Mr. Loach!
Now I can use his fish tank for breeding more killi fish [medaka].

Challenge!

May

9

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While we were driving at night on Ishigaki Island, we saw an animal crossing the road. I was able to get out and take a photo before it escaped.

Can you guess what it was?

UPDATE: Answer is in comments

Ishigaki Island, Okinawa (more pics)

May

8

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Here are some more photos I took on Ishigaki Island:
- hibisicus flower
- butterfly (sorry, I don`t know what kind)
- palm nuts
- silver-eye bird
- Ishigaki Island beer

*click on the picture to enlarge

Ishigaki Island, Okinawa

May

7

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During the Golden Week holiday, my family & I visited Ishigaki Island, in Okinawa prefecture. It was the first time I had been to Okinawa.

Of course I went snorkelling & saw lots of colorful tropical fish. I also saw a stingray [レイ], a big brown moray eel [ウツボ], & a massive white sea cucumber [ﾅﾏｺ]. I have an underwater camera, so I spent a lot of time trying to take photos of fish (but not the moray eel - those things are scary. And not the sea cucumber -they`re kind of disgusting). It was fun, but tiring.

There were also a lot of nice butterflies - I saw at least 15 kinds of butterfly that I`d never seen before. There were also a lot of hermit crabs [yadokari]. They`re pretty funny.