Burning the midnight oil...

Well, what can I say? It has been a crazy couple of weeks with work taking central stage once again. Last week was typically one that really took the biscuit and the piss out of the working game. Monday and Tuesday saw a finish no earlier than 10pm whiel Wednesday saw my "now getting fat" ass leave work past midnight to just make it in time for the last train. Thankfully we had Thursday off so I managed to haul my ever-expanding belly (JH in Dublin will love this) out of bed and I went birding for peace of mind sake. I went off to Sonoda, on the Hankyu line in the direction of Kobe to try and see the Hoopoe that had been hanging around there for a couple of weeks. I had gone there the previous Sunday but to no avail. However, after meeting Kazu and arriving on site, the bird reappeared much to the delight of the gathered throngs of photographers. A nice bird and a new species for Japan for me. Bringing me ever closer to the elusive 300.

What is funny about these kind of gatherings is that the collected value of the camera gear is astronomical. In the picture below, which captures about one tenth of the people there, there is tens of thousands of yoyos of gear. It's funny and something one would not see back home, although it is becoming more popular now. Only a stone throw from this spot was a very rare bird from the southern climes which should not be anywhere near Osaka...a white-breasted waterhen (see below). Although I had seen the bird the previous Sunday, I did not get any decent shots so i wanted to get better ones this time. It didn't really happen again as the bird was distant. Still, it constituted the 282nd Japan tick for me. Nice.

We are presently working on some very big cases at work, hence the late hours. Friday was not typical of the hours we generally do, but I got to work at 8am and left at 2.30am the next morning. To say I was delerious would be an understatement. With the help of Sam's cocoa-covered coffee beans, I managed to stave off the sleep and got some work done. A taxi home and bed by 4am...i should have been plastered drunk and not just coming home from work!! A can of beer outside the convenience store helped the sleep...

Saturday night was spent having some beer with a girl, Harley D, from home who has been in Japan for a couple of months now. I know her through friends and it was great to hear a familiar accent and to get news of friends we have in common. It was a great night and good fun. We went for beers in Umeda which I haven't done in a while and with Sam off to Tokyo for a month, it was a fitting night of farewell drinks.

Lastly, it is only 3 and half weeks before my, as Pee Wee eloquently put it, my gnarled face will be gracing Pana but Cilla, my place as Cork's Bachelor of the Year may be tainted by that aforementioned gnarled face! However, I shall be drunk on one pint of guinness so the fun will start quick smart. I would also like to congrat Cally and Oonagh on the birth of Ivan James O'Callaghan, and hot on their heels, Paul and Jean on the birth of Ronan Byrd...I can just see the two lads growing up together and trying to better each other at everything...just like their Dads!! Looking forward to seeing them...

Ok, on that note, I bid you all adieu...

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating MSG and cocoa-flavored coffee beans

Carmo's Birds: Hoopoe*; WHITE-BREASTED WATERHEN; American Wigeon; Dusky Thrush; Kestral.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Sarah Wayne Callies