Late Autumn Yokohama, JP

As trees started losing foliage and weather took a turn for the gloomy, my urban birding days were brightened up by Japanese white-eyes. The little birds appear in small groups, often following tits, like flashes of fresh green standing out against the naked branches of trees which close shop and go dormant early, such as this cherry. Your camouflage isn’t working, buddy!

Brown-eared bulbuls, once done raising offspring, spend even more time quarreling with other bulbuls, chasing one another around, or screeching with raised crown feathers in an intimidating posture.

Although it is merely a personification, the tree sparrow look-out appeared very nonplussed by the constant intrusions from the hot-tempered bulbuls.

The local pond was being slowly re-populated by the overwintering ducks. Spot-billed ducks hang around all year, but there are usually more of them in winter. They do not confine themselves only to the pond area, but like to venture out further along a stream, or to a nearby river.

Apart from tufties, which are wary and prefer to stay well away, the winter newcomers were mostly northern pintails, such as this fine-looking male.

The moth and butterfly season was coming to an end, yet several species were still making the most of it, visiting both wild and planted flowers in the park. Below is a female Indian fritillary to the right of a skipper…

…and here is a male Indian fritillary, with his fancier wing pattern.

A box tree pyralid moth also fancied the Tagetes flowers, arriving by sunset, as soon as the butterflies had gone.

Now, for the more plain-looking species! A grape plume moth clinging to the wall of a house, trying to blend in and not attract the attention of a flock of sparrows in a hedge just by it. It does fit the colour scheme fairly well.

Below is a very worn-looking butterfly, a poignant sight in mid-October. It is difficult to tell what an understated beauty she used to be now that her blue scales have all rubbed off, the soft edges to her wings have frayed, and all that is left to identify her by are the pale spots on the hindwings, and a subtle hint of little “tails”. She is a short-tailed blue butterfly who has been through a lot.

More Japanese Urban Wildlife

In summer the only garden birds which visit seed feeders in Yokohama seem to be the ever-present tree sparrows, Japanese tits (Parus minor) and oriental turtle doves. While sparrows flee at the slightest movement of the curtain, turties don’t mind being looked at through a window. Sometimes they even sit at the balcony rail and peek inside the house curiously. Below is one of the three regulars, surveying the garden from the feeding station before descending onto the feeding table with racing pigeon seed mix that it likes very much.

Turtle doves show amorous behaviour throughout much of the year. Their courtship display is quite amusing to watch and listen to. The male first makes a sound resembling someone breaking wind to grab their mate’s attention (yes, you read that right), then proceeds to bow while purring: trrr-trrr-trrr. Turtle dove males seem very insistent, displaying for a long time while following their female, stepping on food trays from which she’s eating, hopping into water dishes from which she’s drinking. I’m not sure if there is a difference between courting an unmated female or displaying to a mate hoping for some intimate moments. All the turties I’ve watched seemed to already be couples.

Japanese tits come to the garden for sunflower seeds, adding some variety to their mostly invertebrate-based summer diet.

An unusual find on the porch one day was this cuddly death’s head hawk-moth. I moved it away from the street, as Japanese children like to pick up creepy crawlies and take them home to keep as pets. It’s usually mantises and large beetles (rhino, stag) that fall prey to children, but a moth of this size might also attract attention and end up in a plastic tub…

Despite their scary-sounding name, these moths are prime candidates for the cutest moths out there. When disturbed, such as when picked up, they squeak. It’s the most adorable squeak ever. There are youtube videos of squeaking moths, so you can hear what it’s like without the need to go around poking sleepy death’s head hawkmoths.

Around this time of the year the city parks become very noisy – with the chirps and droning of insects. The day shift of cicadas hasn’t yet fully started but crickets are making quite a racket. Soon insect song will drown out the traffic noise. To me, that’s a wonderful thing. Most of the exciting large invertebrates stay out of sight during the day and taking photos at night just doesn’t work for me, so here are some day-time easy-to-photo highlights. First, an Orthetrum melania dragonfly (male; the females are yellow), the most common dragonfly at this time in Yokohama, or at least the parks I’ve been to.

One day hiking in a larger park I was cursing my luck for having seen not a single reptile, amphibian nor bird that I could’ve seen in any residential district in Yokohama. I was feeling quite dispirited and decided to put away the binoculars and change the focus of the trip to smaller critters. As soon as I had a closer look at leaves of the nearest shrub, I noticed a beautiful tiny animal, a Mesorhaga nebulosus fly with a colourful, metallic shine to its body. It belongs to the long-legged flies family and likes sunny spots on the edges of groves and forests.

And this is a parasitic wasp, I think the giant ichneumon. The long ovipositor is used to lay eggs deep in the branches or trunks of living trees.

Finally, a bird! It’s a Chinese Hwamei, a non-native species in Japan. The wild-living population originated with escaped pets. I didn’t get close enough for a good shot, but you can see the white “spectacles” which make identifying this species very easy.

Lastly, some fungus, growing in a soil-filled hole where a tree trunk split into two, as if in its own pot. I don’t have a book on Japanese fungi, so I cannot say much about it. It makes me think of four cap-wearing individuals having a secret meeting in a secluded spot, with a fifth one eavesdropping at the back. The two spots of dirt on one of the fruiting bodies even look like eyes…

Wildlife in and around Yokohama

In Japan again, with a better camera and more free time for wildlife spotting in city parks, nearby forest-covered hills and along the coast.

Oiso is famous as a good place to see yellow-bellied green pigeons which come to drink seawater there, but there were none when I went. I was happy enough to see some black-tailed gulls.

A grey heron was having trouble figuring out how to swallow a sizeable red sea bream. The bird kept changing grip on the prey, getting the fish speared on the lower mandible once before clasping it securely again. Gulls kept watch on the heron in case it dropped the fish, but were disappointed in the end.

Birds in city parks don’t spend much time singing now and try not to draw attention to themselves, as they busily forage for food for their young or still construct nests. Azure-winged magpies which form noisy flocks when not occupied with breeding now appear mostly singly or in twos.

White-cheeked starlings stopped lazing about, hanging out on wires, instead combing grassy areas for bugs most of the day. They have no problem hunting close to passers-by , hopping and walking this way and that, but try to look straight at them and they will raise alarm with a raspy call and fly off a short distance. At least one will watch you until you go away.

While the pond in Tokusho Park in Yokohama boasted several species of duck in winter, now only the resident spot-billed ducks remain. They roam along a stream and sometimes approach people who look like they might have food for them.

When the park briefly empties of people in the early afternoon, oriental turtle doves come to drink from the stream.

And now some insect highlights. Japonica saepestriata, a butterfly from the hairstreak subfamily. Unlike other orange-coloured hairstreaks in Japan, this one has attractively patterned underwings too.

You’re too heavy for the tip of that blade of grass, butterfly… Almost fell off there.

Daimio tethys seen in the hills near lake Tsukui.

Common Japanese scorpionfly in the same hills.

And a broad-winged damselfly.

Lastly, some ubiquitous species of bindweed in an urban park, with an insect that is not featured in my quite basic Japanese insect guide.

 

 

Mostly Butterflies, Yokohama, Japan

Yokohama isn’t a particularly green city. It’s a concrete desert much like Tokyo, only on a smaller scale. There are numerous tiny parks though, and while many are merely paved over or concrete playgrounds for children with maybe a few small trees or shrubs around, some (hills, usually) are tiny forests. There is also the middle ground of “vast lawn interspersed with shrubs and trees” kind of park. In some parts of Yokohama these small and often very different parks are connected, forming a few kilometre-long trails frequented by joggers and dog walkers, which also have the added benefit of making it easier for urban wildlife to move around.

Another nice aspect of parks in that city is the abundance of water – every slightly larger park seems to have a pond or stream, or a river nearby. Little egrets patrolling the streams have learned to ignore passers-by, as long as they keep to the paths, grey herons and kingfishers share fishing ponds with elderly fishing hobbyists who sometimes offer their smaller catch to the expectant birds. Parks aren’t closed at night and it’s not unusual to see joggers well past midnight, with their eyes fixed on the path and paying no attention to black-crowned night herons concealed as best they can among the sparse stream bank foliage, with bats catching insects overhead, geckoes looking on from walls, crayfish crawling out from the muddy shallows where they hide during the day, and the multitude of toads, frogs and crickets filling the night air with their songs.

During the day the most eye-catching and easiest to photograph creatures are the butterflies which come to feast on wildflowers in the brief time they are allowed to bloom in between mowings. Ornamental flowers do also attract them, but to a lesser extent. I suspect they produce less nectar.

Below: male Indian fritillary.

And the same butterfly with wings closed…

The female of the species:

Below is some species of skipper. These furry btterflies are often confused with moths.

Below: nettle tree butterfly. The long “nose” of this species earned it the Japanese name “tengu butterfly”. Tengu are mythical crow-winged creatures with comically long noses.

Common bluebottle butterflies love red clover.

And here are some butterflies licking the pavement. Moisture from the ground provides them with minerals. The first one is some kind of a hair-streak.

Red ring skirt, with its banana-yellow proboscis.

A sleeping moth on a tree trunk, conveniently at eye-level. It was a true beast, at least 8 centimetres long.

Overall, there were more butterflies along not-yet-mowed road and stream verges than on the main park grounds. I’m not sure why park authorities consider bare ground or grass cut so low it resembles a spiky fitted carpet to be neat and tidy, while delicate, colourful wildflowers which grow without any special care, offering food for insects including many eye-candy species appealing to the general public are written off as undesirable “weeds” to be removed as soon as possible. Mowing a little less frequently would save the city some money, reduce noise pollution, and make the parks more vibrant with life. Maybe they will warm up to the idea if more park users express their fondness of common flowers?