16 Steps to Get this Bird in Cherry Blossoms

Mejiro in Sakura

 

 

It's not that I'm going to write all sixteen steps down for reading.

That's just the number of steps, I had to walk outside my office door, to take this shot.

Camera:  Pentax K3

Lens:  Pentax 300MM + 1.4 converter  Focal length 420MM

Exposure:  f/7.1   1/800   ISO 400

Location:  Kin Town, Okinawa, Japan

Date and Time:  FEB 16 2016  1:46PM

Wildlife Photo (Bird) Japanese White Eye (Zosterops japonicus)

Here it is Christmas morning and instead of posting a Frosty the Snowman for everyone to see, I'm giving you a bird in a blossoming cherry tree. Did Santa have a little bit too much eggnog?

Not really.  Here in Okinawa we don't get any snow. That's something the folks up in northern Japan do. Down south, where I live, the coldest weather makes the cherryblossoms (桜) come out.

We don't have the same kind of cherry trees you see in Japan and Washington, DC.  Our cherry trees come from Taiwan. It takes a good cold snap of wintery weather to make them sprout the little red buds that blossom. And they get cherryblossoms before they ever sprout leaves.

The Japanese White Eyes love cherryblossoms. Being a wildlife photographer and a nature-lover, I guess you could say I love cherryblossoms, too.  As much as I dislike  cold weather, I'm looking forward to that freezing cold day when it wakes up the naked cherry tree branches and the little red buds start popping out all over. It'll be just as pretty as the lights on your Christmas tree.

FROM OKINAWA, JAPAN: MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR !