This Bird Helped Me Find Something

Sometimes When I Flip the Bird

Going  back through the files, I decide to do more research, to find current information.

This creature, a Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) has been seen on the blog a few times.

Once in awhile, I hook up my Japanese audience with links, they can read.

Sometimes, I get more information by, poking Japanese into Google search Japan.

A Latin nomenclature, might work or, I use Japanese to copy and paste for searches.

Fooling around with Japanese, which I'm fairly horrible at, can become time consuming.

How About a Japanese Picture Dictionary

That's what this bird helped me discover and, it's quite a handy tool.

Call it a "pictionary" if, you like. That's what I'm gonna do, from now on.

It has pictures, English, Japanese Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana and Romaji listed.

Animals, birds, fish, insects and flowers, are what I'd use it for, mostly.

If you're lost for words in Japan, this site could help with almost anything.

They have astronomy, basic words, banks, bathroom, body organs, clothing, sports and more.

This is a goldmine, worth bookmarking because it has thousands of uses.

For example let's just say, you get upset because it's hard to find large size underwear in Japan.

Walk down the aisles until you find somebody, who looks friendly and say, "Help."

Then if, you saved this on your smartphone, show them a picture of what you want.

They'll point you in the right direction and, probably be amazed at this technology.

Get ready, get set, email this link to yourself  "Japanese Pictionary."  That's what I did !

Bird Photos: Northern Lapwing in Flight

Fast Moving Birds

They are a bit timid and, won't let a camera get too close, this year.

On the ground, they appear much different than, they do when flying.

These images were taken in Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan with a Pentax K1.

A Pentax 300MM lens with 1.4 converter gives a Focal Length of 420MM.

Exposure: f/5.6  1/5000   ISO 400

Bird Photo: Northern Lapwing

Migratory Visitor to Okinawa

These birds are easy to identify, with their whacky colors and hairdos.

The pair, I spotted today, were the first, I've seen this winter and, they seemed sort of shy.

It seems, the population of these critters in on a serious decline, I just learned.

The IUCN Red List has them catagorized as Near Threatened (NT) this year.

People in Iran, eat the poor things. Do you think that's criminal ?

Well, I found out, in France, Greece, Italy and Spain, they hunt these birds, too.

What are those crazy people doing, trying to start World War III ?

It got me thinking. I should call up that Donald Trump and, have a chat with him.

You never know. Maybe, he'll make me one of his ambassadors.

See a Vanellus vanellus in brighter light HERE

It's time for me to go get into a better temperament at some of my favorite watering holes.

5 Photos of a Bird Called Vanellus vanellus

This Character Put On a Show

 

We went to the Tomigusuku Wetlands to see how the Spoonbills were doing.

This little bird caught my eye.

It's a Northern Lapwing and there aren't many to be seen in Okinawa.

The little rascal was taking a bath in some pretty dirty water.

It shook the water off and started flapping around.

When they get all wet, it makes identification difficult so, I wasn't sure what kind of bird it was.

They usually have some kind of iridescent green feathers on their sides.

But, this crazy bird wouldn't show them to me.

Over at ARKive, I found one the same color and they said it was immature.

And, at AboutCom Wild Birds, I learned, they put on quite a courtship dance.

So, that has me wondering.

Do you suppose it's mating season or, was this bird just being immature ?

Wildlife Photo: Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)

This bird, with a fancy hairdo was found in a flooded field at Kin Village, Okinawa, Japan.

The Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus) has some awesome bright colors.

They eat worms.

So, I plan on telling Mrs. RyukyuMike what she should start doing.

Instead of buying all that hair color, which stinks, and costs me money, she should do like these birds.

JUST EAT WORMS !

Learn more about Lapwings at ARKive