10 Images Prior to Kin Town's Sakura Matsuri

Let's Call It a Sakura Report

 

 

There will be a Kin Dam Matsuri held this coming weekend in this location.

Plenty of nature activities are planned for those with families and, that's a good thing.

In case anyone's wondering, a matsuri happens to be a festival, in Japanese.

Instead of watching snow fall, folks around here, enjoy viewing sakura, this time of year.

The pink flowers in photo #1 are the same ones you see in photo #2.

It just took me awhile, maneuvering around with 420MM of lens, to take the first shot.

Both sides of the road, leading towards Kin Dam, are lined with these sakura trees.

So, I looked closely for the pink, red and white flower blossoms. 

 Driving an automobile, you might not notice any flowers blooming.

That's why, it's a good idea to walk.  Say, "Yeah, there's one, over there!" if you spot some.

That's what I do, anyway.  And, take pictures.

Everywhere the festivals are scheduled, this year, it seems, someone jumped the gun.

The flowers are blooming a week or two, after the events have started.

It makes me wonder.  Who plans these events, the dam people or the weatherman ?

Flowers, listen to Mother Nature and, blossom when it's the right time.

They don't necessarily follow the city office plans or, the calendar.

Maybe, what they really need is some sort of Nature Guru, to schedule these things.

That way, you could have flower festivals, when the things are blooming !

On weekends, where nothing else is happening, hold chug-a-lug contests.

Barbecuing and drinking beer is more fun than, watching flowers, anyway !

Providing the weather cooperates, this festival should be fun, even without flowers.

The live band performing, has some of my friends playing onstage.

So, guaranteed, I'll be there to support them and, have a few drinks with the gang.

Leaving the area, I looked back and, took this shot with Kin Dam in the background.

And, I said, "Dam."

Freak Wildlife Photo of the Month

An Osprey in Flight with Fish -- Chased by a Crow

 

Camera: Pentax K3

Lens: Pentax F4 300mm

Exposure: f/7.1   1/1250   ISO 200

Location: Okukubi Dam, Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time: MAR 19, 2015  9:31AM

Entertained by a Grey-faced Buzzard Eagle

A good cure for a St. Patrick's Day hangover was discovered today.

This bird of prey used a fence at the dam as a perch and lookout.

It kept launching from the fence to catch meals of insects.

After it munched on a meal, the bird would return to the fence.

On a nice day, a person could sit and watch this activity for hours.

It all took place at the Kin Dam.

So, if anybody is wondering where to find me, for the rest of this week look for this fence.

The plan is, to go back and get some more dam therapy !

Another Dam Bird GIF and Calculator Soup for the Soul

Ryukyu Life Passed the 100,000 Goal

 

 

First, we'll get this Dam Bird out of the way.

This morning, I woke up about three hours later than, I normally do on a shooting day.

Luckily, Doc Graff, showed up at the house with some iced coffee for me.

And, off we headed to get my cameras. He was driving while, I was drinking.

This Grey Heron was below the spillway of the dam in Yomitan.

Shooting birds in flight is what I would rather be doing.

But, the weather was starting to look grim so, we had to get moving along.

My head was still hurting from a party, the night before.

The fresh air, a few bird photos and, traveling around the island, did me some good.

Back in the office, I was processing photos on one computer.

At the same time, I began my usual routine, on the Apple desktop thingy.

Emails, Tweets, Facebook stuff, you know, all that administrative junk, everybody does.

It took a few months to get Ryukyu Life to hit this number.

That's a screenshot from Alexa, taken today.

It's a handy tool, you can use, to evaluate a website's popularity.

There are about 30,000,000 websites in the world.

Some people are happy to have their sites in the top 20 percent.

Back in July, we changed the name of Mike's Ryukyu Gallery to Ryukyu Life.

When, I took this screenshot the global ranking was 2,350,514.

It seemed like forever but, finally we crawled into the top 100,000 position.

What's Calculator Soup All About ?

 

 

Well, there's all kinds of things you can do with it.

When I was a youngster, I did all my math calculations the hard way.

Percentages, is what I was looking for, to evaluate my website's progress.

You shouldn't be looking around for pencils and paper, when you have a hangover.

So, I found this handy Calculator Soup website to do the math for me.

Assuming the world stays at 30,000,000 websites, here are some interesting numbers:

To be in the top rankings, there are some reference points to look at:

20%   --   600,000

10%   --   300,000

5%   ---   150,000

4%   ---   120,000

3%   ----   90,000

2%   ----   60,000

1%   ----   30,000

The Calculator Soup is something I will bookmark for future reference.

There used to be only 1,000,000 websites when I first started watching this internet thing.

So, the numbers needed to stay competitive, will always change.

Competition is tough but, I like a good challenge.

But, I don't like running around, looking for pencils and paper with a hangover.

It's time to celebrate, busting the 100,000 mark.

And, get busy, reaching the 3% goal.

So, we can celebrate some more !

Just a GIF of a Buncha Dam Birds

This scene occurred while I was at the Kin Dam.

The mission, I was on, had nothing to do with wildlife but, that's what I'd rather be shooting.

There are some egrets in the trees and, a crow flew through, briefly.

It's Not Nice to Go Around Cussing

 

 

There are all kinds of special events scheduled for the weekend.

And, I was planning on being busy Friday, Saturday and Sunday, attending them all.

But, it started raining outside. I went and checked the weather online.

5 and 10 day forecasts and several sites, all say the same thing: Rain.  Groan.

Some alternate plans will have to be made, for me and the cameras.

Unless, some of the weather experts, are wrong, all we'll see is rain.

So, you'll have to enjoy these dam birds, until I get a chance to shoot some more.

Dagnabbit !

Looks Like Okinawa May Have Muscovy Ducks (Photos)

They Aren't Communists Though

 

 

There's still some confusion about these birds.



How they got a Russian name, beats me.  Their Latin nomenclature would be Cairina moschata.


In Japan they are called Nobariken (ノバリケン).

This pair of ducks was found at a dam in Yomitan.

The one with the bright colors would be the male.

They are wild birds.  We couldn't get anywhere near them.

Muscovites don't quack, like other ducks and, they're supposed to be good eating, too.

If what I read about them is true, they have claws on the end of those webbed feet.

That's so they can fly up into trees and hangout.



That got me thinking.  Maybe, I should hide in a tree and have someone chase them to me.



The only way we can be sure these are Muscovy Ducks is inspect their feet.



Well, I got looking around and know where I can grab one, now.



They look just like the ducks I spotted at Shuri Castle Pond.



Have you ever seen a duck with claws on the end of his paws ?


Don't worry.  I won't kill the bird. I just want a picture of its feet !

Bird Photos: The Cinnamon Bittern

A Cinnamon Bittern is also called Chestnut Bittern.

The scientific name would be Ixobrychus cinnamomeus.

This bird was at the bottom of a dam and I was too far away for a sharp shot.

From the top of the dam, I had the Sigma 50-500 lens stretched all the way to 500mm.

Whenever I see some wildlife I can't identify, I take plenty of shots.

When I get time to do the research, ID the critter and learn its habits.

Cinnamon Bitterns are real skittish birds.

The hang out in fresh water .

For food, they go after small fish, frogs and crustaceans.

If you spook one of them and it doesn't want to fly away, they trick you.

The bird just sticks its beak straight up in the air and pretends to be a reed.

Their colors help them blend-in with the environment.  Camouflage, eh ?

It works.  I never saw the bird's mate in the upper part of this frame.

Now that I know the Cinnamon Bittern's habits, I'm going back to get some better photos.

It just means, quit trying to take satellite photos from the top of the dam.

Get down on the bird's level with that big lens and sneak-up on them.

Like maybe, do some belly and elbow-crawling.

Go back there and get an award-winning, close-up shot.

Even if I have to make little crustacean noises while I'm doing it !

Photo Essay: Another Dam Festival in Okinawa, Japan

Not complaining,  it wasn't a damn festival I went to yesterday.  It was a DAM FESTIVAL, the Kanna Dam Matsuri, just a twenty minute drive from where I live in Okinawa, Japan.

It's a good idea to drive around and see some sights before fighting your way into a parking lot at a festival so, I drove a few miles north of the fairgrounds to shoot Godzilla. 

Then, I stopped at a parking area below the dam and and snatched this photo of a bellybutton monument.  It didn't have any ticks, but there are coins inside.  It's a gift from Italy.

Just in case you think I make this stuff up, go ahead and read the Italian inscription.  I can't read the stuff.  But, if somebody bothered to engrave the words on a monument plaque, it's probably true !

This photo shows you Kanna Dam. Wouldn't you know it, as soon as I got to the damn dam, it started raining.  I climed up in an observation tower, where I had a roof over my head and the sky went black.  The people in the kayaks had been paying to get a ride under that spray of water to cool them off after spending the day in the steaming-hot Okinawa sun.  Hah !

Eventually, the rain quit and when the sun started blazing again, kids were jumping and splashing in this little fountain, to stay cool.

Here's a photo of some characters I've never seen before.

They are like some kind of Super Heros.

Ya'll know, I research things thoroughly before posting them online most of the time.

So, I snapped a copy of this on my cell phone and ran across the street.

Two older-than-me grannies said this was Ultraman characters.

Lucky for me, my granddaughter stopped by with a little brother and saw me doing a blog.

Those grannies are nuts.  These characters ain't Ultramen !

Ladies, Gentlemen and all others, let me introduce you to some Okinawan Superheroes.

RYUJIN MABUYA

Those Grandkids of mine are experts on these sort of things.

We'll have to see what it takes to get them Wikipedia qualified, someday.

Of course, I had to spoil them, a little bit, and it cost me $25 or so but, that's life.

Right now I'm drying, cleaning and charging up the cameras for the next damn festival.

This one isn't at a dam.

It's a tug-o-war.

Wait'll the wife finds out I invited all the grandkids to join us at this little-known festival tonight.

See, she kind of enjoys shooting that Canon G12 I'll probably never see again.

When she finds out I'm packing about 6 more passengers in the car to go to the festival....

...she'll probably say something like,  "DAMMIT" !

NOTE TO LOCAL READERS: DIRECTIONS TO THE BELLYBUTTON MAY BE FOUND HERE

Wildlife: Five Quick Osprey and Fish Photos From A Dam

Here are five quick photos of an ospery taking home a fresh water fish from a dam in Okinawa, Japan.

Most of the osprey photos I post are of them grabbing fish from the ocean but, these guys will eat any kind of fish.

I promised I'd get you a shot where the sun lights up both the fish and bird's eyes but, that hasn't happened, yet.


These things take time and getting the critters to pose for you where the sun hits them just right can be a challenge.


The location I caught these photos of the osprey and fish at will remain a secret for two reasons.

One, I couldn't remember the Japanese name and Googled/Wikipeiad it and everything and it doesn't appear to be listed.

The other reason could have something with me not wanting anyone else going there and scaring all the wildlife away!

This morning I got tangled up with three dogs I was walking and someone else's unsupervised dog who wanted to fight. Knocked flat on my butt in the middle of the street, fur was flying, my shoes went flying and I was a cussing-tangled mess of leashes getting my "roids" scraped off, going down the asphalt highway. Everybody, 'cept, maybe the unsupervised dog is OK.

I'm just doing a Five Quick Osprey and Fish Photo post because I have to go home, walk the dogs, clean cameras, charge batteries and get ready to do it all over again tomorrow 'cept, maybe leave out the part about getting drug down the highway by angry dogs.