Winter 2011 bees,birds, bat and blossoms

When I look at my photos labeled "Winter", I have to smile. It seems I only take photos when the skies are blue and the trees have blossomed...seems more like "Spring"! Believe me, it really does get chilly here. We don mittens, scarves, hats and coats in December and January each year. My camera just decides to hibernate when I can see my breath!
It is late Febuary now and the cherry blossoms are turning to green leaves. We drove up North past Okuma to look for birds this President's Day. We were in search of the Yanabaru Kuina (Okinawa Rail) and Ryukyu Robin but we were skunked! We did see some grebes, kingfishers, egrets, heron, gallinules, warblers and osprey though. No great birdy shots but we did have a great family day hiking Hiji Falls!
A few weeks ago the cherry trees were sharing their glorious shades of pinks with the lucky folks here in Okinawans. We drove up to Nakajin castle and were amazed with the views. I will make this an annual trip from now on. It felt like we were in a cherry blossom fairy land with the bees and white eyes!
The shots of the cinnamon bittern were taken right before our trip to Nakajin while we were on Camp Lester in the early monring for CCD. I was amazed to see this awesome bird by the tiny creek between the chapel and road! I will be keeping my eyes peeled on that spot every Sunday now!
The cute, furry fruit bat lives by the river by the dam here in Nagahama. It was so nice to see it as the sun was about to set!

Summer 2010 flowers, bee and bluebird and baby birds

I am just now figuring out how to use photoshop to crop my pics from this summer. I am taking a photoshop class now so I am feeling more comfortable with this program and camera I got last Mother's Day! I took the flowers in Ohio at the lovely garden planted in Cortland thanks to my mother in law! The bluebirds were showing off at my cousin's home on Windy Hill in Bath, NH. The baby robins were also on Windy Hill but they were hiding in a bush by their house! I have pics of their mother, too, but she was looking so ragged I didn't want to embarass her by posting her pics!

Okuma Rice Paddies and Farms

We went to Okuma for the EC Killin weekend of fun and I brought along my new toy that I got for Mother's Day-A new Rebel EOS T2i- an 18 megapixel SLR with 2 lenses! Thanks Family! I had a great time getting to know the basic functions of this awesome camera even in the rain. Here are some shots of my birding adventures. We saw many more birds but didn't get too many great shots. A great first weekend with my camera though overall. LOVE the clarity and I LOVE this part of the island!

Reflections

Wonderful things have changed since my last Blog entry..we moved from Nagahama to...Nagahama! We moved 3 minutes down the hill from a 4th floor apt. to a 2 level home. We are now nestled in an Okinawan village living in a 4 bedroom eclectic Okinawan house with a tatami room, rec-room and huge garage downstairs. We have just the right amount of yard to keep Zori busy chasing birds, Tim busy landscaping,the kids busy planning tree houses and forts, and me busy with my flowers. We really feel like we have a true home here and we can't complain about the one minute walk to the ocean! We enjoy sitting on our "lanai" gazing at the sea while we drink our coffee (or wine/beer depending on the time of day)when we make the time to unwind. We also love our daily walks to Nagahama Bay complete with seaweed farm and Nagahama Dam.
The best part of this move is that Mum, Kay and Steve came here to visit and helped to bring that warm, family atomosphere to this house! What a blessing it was to spend Easter-and 3 birthdays- with my family! I just love being in our home now and having memories of my family sharing this space with me!
Kay introduced me to the sport of bird watching during her visit and now I am pretty much hooked! I have always loved to capture birds on film but now I am learning how to actually provide those images with the correct labels. We spotted almost 30 different species during her visit (with the help or our birding guide, Dan Smith), including some that are only found here in Okinawa!...WOW!
Now that we are here on our own Tim, Zori, and I walk most mornings and watch the sunrise over the bay. The sea is always changing...low tide or high tide...gray skies or bright...rough seas or flat...but it is those flat-sea-days that have been captivating me and my camera lately. Those flat-sea mornings offer me a sort of peace that bring a calm to my soul before those hectic days of teaching begin. I usually capture the shots at the end of the walk when the sun creeps a bit higher in the sky. Tim and Zori are always ahead of me at that point. I am the one lagging behind stopping to point my camera at a bird or boat. I eventually turn a corner and there they are...waiting....and... reflecting???