Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Down in the Mangroves of Okinawa You Can Observe Nature

The mangrove forests of Okinawa are great places to observe nature.

Even a crab, like me, gets invited to come on in.


There are medium-sized birds like this Egret among the uncaged and free-roaming wildlife.


And there are small, fast-moving birds like this Wagtail.  You can observe all of them hunting for food.


If you look deep into the center of the mangrove forest and be very quiet, you might see a Grey Heron.

What's he doing in there ?


He went in there to finish his lunch somewhere away from me observing nature with my noisy camera !


NOTE:  THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN NAHA AT THE














14 comments:

Ryan said...

It must be a dream for you to live so close to this fantastic wildlife mate, watch out for those sneaky crabs.

Nancie said...

Beautiful shots Mike. I live close to a river, and we used to have lots of herons, but sadly it's all dug up now...no idea what hare brain scheme they are up to, but the herons do not like it!!

RyukyuMike said...

Ryan,
Yup, I'm lovin it whenever it ain't rainin !

RyukyuMike said...

Nancie,
Thnks. One of the reasons I like ecotourism is because it shows some concern for the wildlife.
Construction projects that destroy wildlife habitat for the benefit of the travel industry get me riled up. In a few cases, environmental studies are done, beforehand and actually improve conditions. Hopefully your river is one of them. But, if you can't figure out what's going on, I wonder what the birds are thinking !

jade said...

Wow- these are amazing. That crab is a little scary looking, but super cool that you got so close.

RyukyuMike said...

Jade,
Hah. The 250mm lens is what got me close. I went to the mangroves kind of unexpectedly and left the 500mm home. Next trip down that way I'll see if I can get a bit closer for you.

Easy Hiker said...

I'm totally amateur when it comes to cameras and always have difficulty catching moments like these with animals around.Nice shots here!

Muza-chan said...

Great photos, Mike :)

RyukyuMike said...

Easy Hiker,
Thanks. I've learned that shooting in the manual mode and maybe, acting like a wild animal helps !

RyukyuMike said...

Muza-chan,
Thanks, again!

Michael Figueiredo said...

I love these nature shots!

Laurel said...

Beautiful photos. I love mangrove forests and have only seen them in person a handful of times.

InsideJourneys said...

Wow, Mike, these are fabulous. Truly calming, must have been lovely to be there.

RyukyuMike said...

Michael, Laurel and InsideJourneys,
Thanks to all. I've been so busy cleaning the mud off my flip flops, almost forgot to reply to your gracious comments!