CarmoPolice

...

2008-06-19T06:20:00.003+09:00

it's been a while since I last posted. I guess I find it a bit more difficult to continue blogging now that I am back in Ireland. I am in the new job a while now and so far it is going well. Living in Dublin is a bit strange and startling, which is making settling in here a bit more difficult than I anticipated. Now, before I moved back here, I always felt that Dubland had its fair share of pompous arrogant twats, and so it has. Went out with folk from work to a dismal place called D2's. Although the beginning of the evening was good fun (the entire night was good fun actually) and crowd there pleasant, by the end of the night, the place was full of wannabe wannabes.
(VG and I at a Tigers game in Osaka)

For example, I was at the bar ordering a round and just asked the group of strangers how they were. To my astonishment, they just looked blankly at me, rolled their eyes to heaven and turned their backs...ignorant wankers. Thank Christ for my workmates and flatmate who are sound, like. At least I can have a decent conversation and a laugh with them, with no pretension whatsoever. Nice.

I went to Radiohead the week before last with JH. Incredible!!! What a performance, played in Malahide Castle. I have also been fortunate to acquire two tickets to see Mr. Tom Waits in Dublin!! A big thanks to FW for organizing that for me. I owe him big time for this. Taking my old man, Gandalf the Greyer, with me. Should be a hoot.

There has been some disappointment though. I found out today that I did not win Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2008. Gutted. Distraught. Forlorn even!!! Seriously though, 2 of my entries reached the semi-final stages so I am well chuffed. They were from my trip to Yudanaka in Nagano in February to see the Japanese Macaques in the snow. Such a lasting memory that one. I do miss Japan. What makes it even worse is receiving emails from ND regaling tales from the last couple of trips to Ashyu forest in Kyoto prefecture where they saw a Black Bear!!! Devastated. ND and I saw bear claw marks on a tree last year and that is the nearest I have been to a wild bear. There's still time though...

A brilliant reunion of sorts last weekend with the old gang from uni was one of the highlights of the month. Brilliant to see everyone again, kids in tow and all. Superb day and a good laugh that night.

Some more items I am looking forward to are the visit of Horie-san and her sister next week and my trip to Geneva to visit VG on her brief stay there.

Carmo's Diet: This month, I have mostly been eating coving

Carmo's Birds: KING EIDER; Red-necked Phalarope*; GREY PARTRIDGE; Atlantic Puffin

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Anything will do at this stage

Home...the story so far

2008-04-25T00:09:00.001+09:00

I guess it is about time I updated my blog. I have been back in Ireland now for about 5 weeks. A lot has happened, both strange, good, and surreal. How to address such happenings would probably take up an entire tome of such grand designs that people, that is you reader, would fall into a deep slumber after about 5 minutes. So instead, I will paraphrase and summarize the happenings and take on a rambling style again after this post. Those of you expecting a dazzling post of Irish birding will be both disappointed and lighting fireworks in celebration, depending on your predilections.

Being home has been both strange and wonderful. It has been wonderful to see and be with my family, seeing my sister and beautiful niece in Sardegna, and going out birding some old haunts along both the east and west Cork coasts. In the midst of such goings on, I found an apartment in Dublin in lieu of beginning my new job there, buying a car to keep me sane and not pissing my Dad off in requesting the car for my own use, and sorting out all sorts of other shite (personal internet connections, car insurance, car tax, savings schemes, pensions, investments etc.). Of course, the move to Dublin was something of a strange feeling.

My visit to Sardegna was brilliant. I hadn't seen my sister for 3 years. That is a long time without seeing someone whom I love deeply and care for so much, and would do anything for at the drop of a hat. She looked amazing and was so calm in herself which made me happy. She has found happiness in the birth of her amazing daughter and the support of her fantastic partner (who is one helluva of a chef too by the way...one way to garner my favors). I was blown away by Elia. She is my blood, my family, and my goddaughter. Now, it's not that I am broody in anyway (anyone looking for a sperm donor, no problem, but maybe that's about as far as I'd go for now), it was just wonderful to watch her gazing around (when she wasn't sleeping, yawning, and concentrating on getting that liquid waste out) at the world about her. Brilliant, simply brilliant.

Now, the birding has been average. Dipping on several birds, too hungover to go for others, but I did find a Night Heron on the "local patch", which was nice, and bumped into a Tawny pipit while dipping on a Little Bittern in Waterford. Although some similar low listers in Ireland (you know who you are) remain dubious at best at my claim, one must always remember that I can identify Golden Plover at 10 miles distance... It was great to see some old places like Ballycotton, Clonakilty, Long Strand, Knockadoon Head, the North Channel, and the like. However, as the weather was predominantly shite (grey, wet, and windy) photos were noticeable by their absence. Birding for 2 hours in Sardegna was good though...

The move to Dublin has been okay. The new job is going ok so far. A nice office to myself which is weird considering I worked in an open plan office for the last 3 years. More on that later as I feel I have rambled...after all, the intrigue will make you check back here soon :)

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating rocket lettuce, beetroot, salmon, and pumpkin seeds

Carmo's Birds: Cattle Egret, Night Heron, Tawny Pipit, Common Swift, House Martin, Willow Warbler

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Clémence Poésy

Sayonara Nippon

2008-03-31T21:44:00.002+09:00

This will probably be the last post I make from Japan as I lose my internet connection at midnight tonight. Today was my final day at work and it was a roller coaster of emotions. I felt happy and sad to leave. Happy because I know I will see my family soon yet sad knowing that I leave behind many friends and colleagues who have made the last 3 years a wonderful experience for me. I will miss the times I had at work, no matter how bad they may have been at times, it was an amazing experience that few will have in the same field back home. I owe a great deal of gratitude to those people...the kind words and generous plaudits given to me today were overwhelming at times and the gifts and tokens from my Japanese colleagues were unexpected and touching to say the least. I will treasure them.

Of course my partner in crime PJ and the gang members of the Daito Dogs (SW, GA) will be sorely, sorely missed.

I spent Saturday morning with Kazu and his friend Kuwa-san. Kazu has been there throughout my 3 years here and was a great and kind friend. We spent many a long hour walking the river banks and parks of Osaka and beyond enjoying the birding and photography and the chats. I was also touched by the many emails his friends sent to wish me luck in the future. Some amazing people. I will miss birding with Kazu...I hope I can repay the debt and go birding with him in Ireland. Kazu, thank you.

Tonight/tomorrow I go on a final trip with Neil. For the last 3 years he has been the saving grace on those Sundays when I needed to get away from it all and the birding trips to Hegura-jima, Kyushu, Nagoya-Tomakomai on the ferry (twice), and basically all over Kansai and beyond...thank you. Also, to Rob for the mindblowing trip to Hokkaido in Feb 06 and Sean for the amazing trip to MIshima-jima in Spring 2006, as well as Hiroshima for the Saunder's Gull, and many more trips besides...thank you.

My next post will be from the fair isle of saints and scholars...until then, sayonara Nippon

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating breakfast bars

Carmo's Birds: Swallow, KP, LRP, Grey Plover, Common Gull

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: No. 6 (again)

...

2008-03-15T08:19:00.002+09:00

My sister had a baby girl at 2.55am on March 14, 2008 (Italy Time).

Elia.

I AM AN UNCLE!!!!!!! Unbelievable.

An incredible moment. I too shall be godfather/guardian...an honor and privilege that is...

Uncle CarmoPolice....sounds damn good to me.

Carmo's Diet: this week I've mostly been eating the don

Carmo's Birds: Rough-legged Buzzard, Hen Harrier, Marsh Harrier, Baikal Teal, Pacific Diver, Black-throated diver, Ancient Murrelet, Red-necked Grebe

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: sorry fella, but my thoughts are now all with my new niece Elia...

The Eagle and the Bro

2008-03-05T23:57:00.005+09:00

(Jigokudani, Nagano, Japan) well, it's been quite a while since I last posted here. A lot has happened in the interim as well. I felt that it was about time I got it together and put something up as I don't know how long more I will be doing this...at least from Japan anyway. What with my brother giving me grief and SCE mentioning I had been quiet of late, I felt it time to blog.

February was an interesting month for me. Apart from the 70 hour week at work, turning 21 (again), I also got offered a job back in Dublin, Ireland. The emotions regarding the latter were phenomenal as I had planned to stay on in Japan a bit longer. What with 400 species in my sites and the fact that I really like the country, the job (to an degree) and that it's my home and has been for the last 3 years. It was a hard decision to make but as a famous Irish soccer player would say, "at the end of the day" family comes first. There is just too much going on with my family that the only option really was to go home. And so, with a meagre 4 weeks left in Japan before I leave, I have a heavy, yet excited feeling running through my veins...
(photo courtesy of Yumster - me at Yudanaka)
other happenings in February were not really much to write home about. I did some birding with Neil but neither of us saw anything new, well, at least when Neil was birding with me! The usual winter species and some added extras in Pacific Diver on Lake Biwa last weekend (a lake tick for both of us), 4 woodpecker species in one spot (green, pygmy, white-backed and great spotted), 3 merlin, american wigeon, steller's sea eagle, white's thrush (x3), and in one day trip a total of 85 species which is my record day total for Japan. Neil also had Thayer's, Kittiwake, and our odd "small yellow-legged gull) one afternoon in Osaka, the former two being mega birds for the area.

I also went to Yudanaka in Nagano with PJ, VG and Yumster to see the infamous Snow Monkeys made globally famous by Sir David Attenborough (whom JW talked to last week by all accounts) in his Planet Earth serious about 20 years ago. It was a wonderful and amazing experience for me because as long as I can remember, it has been a dream of mine to see these guys. I was not disappointed...at all. Incredible. The snow was immense, and driving home on the Sunday was a chore for PJ as the conditiions just kept getting worse and worse. All in all, a fantastic weekend in Nagano, the home of the 1998 Winter Olympics.
(photo courtesy of PJ - VG and the Monkey) I also had the great pleasure of seeing The Police live in Osaka Dome. Amazing to see them play live but I thought that some of it was not great. Still...I got to see one of the best bands in the world play live...noice noice

(grooming at Yudanaka, Nagano, Japan) And so, having left work at 8.30pm this evening, the earliest I have left in 2008, I am going to go to bed. I have to meet Kazu at 7.30pm. We are going to go to a Sumo training camp before I got to work. The Grand Tournament starts this weekend in Osaka and we are going to see a very famous training dojo...should be cool.

Carmo's Diet: this month, I have mostly been eating on the go

Carmo's Birds: Steller's Eagle; Merlin; Pacific Diver; Red-flanked Bluetail; White's Thrush

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: No. 6

The month that was that wasn't...part deux

2008-01-31T23:51:00.000+09:00

...and so the month continued and I went to see the Meoto-iwa or "Wedded Rocks" at Futami in Mie prefecture, situated on the east coast of the Wakayama penninsula, with PJ, Yumi-chan, and ZL. It was a horrible day, showers, mist, fog, dark, low clouds and the prospect of being a disaster. A hard week of work warranted the get away, and PJ was itching to drive, and drive a long way. It was a sorry place, a pair of rocks a stones throw from the shore, with a temple on the shoreline, the trinket shops, tacky souvenir shops, and locals trying to make a buck from the religious pilgrims that make the trek to this famous shrine. The Meoto-iwa (Wedded Rocks) are the symbol of what keeps Japan from floating away. The rocks are considered to be male and female, and have been joined in wedlock via the sacred ropes (shimenawa). These ropes are renewed each year on the 5th of January, so we only just missed it by a week. As famous as this is, it was a bit of a disappointment but at least I saw the rocks...yeah.

I went home for a week to spend some time with the folks, see some people, and discuss matters. It was good to be home, good to see CC, JH, GB, KMcL, DW, TOR, JH (PhD), and some family too. The weather was crap apart from the final Friday so I went birding with CC down Red Barn/Pilmore Strand way in east Cork. A nice day out on the beach, notching up a county tick (Water Pipit - catching ya Barty boy!!!) and seeing an American bird (Buff-bellied Pipit) at close quarters. The flights were grand and all was good.

What struck me most was how much I have been assimilated into the way of the Japanese commuter. I hated having to listen to people talking on their phones on trains and buses. Having to listen to some gobshite talking on the phone about how she was going off to Florida for free coz her wealthy friends parents were going to pay for her; how another gobshite on the bus was talking about how he was fcuked over by the horsey-set in Leopardstown and how the guy he was talking to on the phone was not to tell anyone how horsey-gobshite's kids were black-belts in Karate, to which some other guy down the back of the bus shouted out "Don't worry bud, neither will everyone else on de bus!", to which the entire bus laughed heartily and horsey-gobshite hung up the phone...twat.

What is with Blackberry phones!?? Everybody who thinks they're someone has one! I make my apologies for JH as he only has one coz work pays for it...at least that is my good friend's excuse, and having known him for 30 years, I have to say I believe him. It's just a phone. What more do you want it to do.

And another thing, what is it about talking on trains, planes and automobiles (buses)?? Why can't people just take 5 freakin' minutes to themselves and not have to contact somebody else who is traveling to a destination where these people will meet anyway? Why would somebody have to slap hard down on a table on a train when the person next to him (ie, me) was sleeping?!! He apologized after I just looked at him and just asked "Why?". That was all well and good but he could have been a bit more freakin' considerate and not to have done it in the first place...

For anyone who has travelled on Japan's subways, trains, and planes...the quietness and peacefulness is so, so nice

PS: welcome home JW...the South Polar Explorer

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating Katsu-don

Carmo's Birds: Not a lot...plenty of monkies though (more later)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Lost is back again...go on Evangaline Lily

The month that was...(1)

2008-01-27T14:25:00.000+09:00

It has been a roller-coaster of a month, starting off on a high and ending confused and dazed. In this post, I will concentrate on the trip to Kyushu with Neil and Sean, one that will stick in my mind as a highlight of my time in Japan. So readers, be warned, for what follows is birding...and superb birding at that.

(Black-faced Spoonbills sleeping)

Neil and I took an overnight sleeper train from Osaka to Kumomoto, situated west of central Kyushu, arriving surprisingly 40 minutes late at 8am. During the sleepless night I had, I witnessed the manic and startling behavior of Japan's trainspotters, whose totally obsession with all things rail astounds me. As I nonchalantly dragged on a ciggie at 4am as we stopped at Fukuoka, I was alarmed at the sound of what I thought was an Olympian 100m sprinter coming up the platform. As I casually turned around, there was a possessed Japanese man running with such intent up towards the top of the train that I first thought I was in for a beating by one of the Nationalist Party. What was foremost in his mind was getting video footage of the particular engine being attached to the front of our train...and they say birders are mad.
(Hooded Cranes landing)

As much as I'd like to bore you all with the details and little quirks of our birding tour of Kyushu, I shall just divulge the highlights here. Day one saw us twitch Chinese Gray Shrike successfully, while I nabbed my first tick of the trip when we say a flock of Eurasian Magpies from the train. Getting to the the Minshiku at Arasaki after nightfall, following the magnificent sight of 12 Black-faced Spoonbills and approx. 250 Saunder's Gulls (both species on the Red Data List of globally threatened species) nearby, the sound of 11,000 cranes started to echo off the courtyard of what would be our base for the following 3 nights. Rising before dawn to the sound of the cranes was incredible. To watch them take to the skies in a cloud of loud noise was awe-inspiring. I will never forget the sight nor sound of the cranes at Arasaki. It is certainly one of the most spectacular natural events I have observed in Japan and recommend it to all, regardless of your interest or otherwise in birds. It is truly a marvel.
(feeding time at Arasaki)

The remainder of our trip saw us notch up some incredible species in Forest Wagtail (Mi-ike Lake, Miyazaki), Ryuku Minivet, a self-found Willow Warbler (a rare bird for Japan, especially on the main islands), Great Spotted Eagle, Hen Harrier, Eurasian Starling, Brown Shrike, Chinese Penduline Tit, Dusky Warbler, Ruddy Crake, Sandhill, White-naped, Hooded, and Common Cranes, including Common x Hooded Crane hybrids, Rooks, Daurian Jackdaw, Black-faced and Eurasian Spoonbill together, Saunder's Gulls, Pallas's Gull, Oystercatcher, Eurasian Curlew, and Eastern Reef Egret. In all, I notched up 8 lifers and an additional 4 Japanese ticks, bringing me to 352, a tally I never thought possible in under 3 years in Japan. An unforgettable trip.
(Forest Wagtail)(

While we were in Kyushu, word reached us of an unprecedented invasion of Rough-legged Buzzards (left) into western Japan. Usually a couple of records are noted from Hokkaido each winter. However, with up to 30 birds present from Osaka to the western edge of Honshu, we were hoping that the Osaka/Kyoto birds would linger for a week or so. As luck would have it, I managed to connect with the last remaining of 3 birds at Ogura (Kyoto) the following weekend. A stunning bird which performed well and seemed unfazed by the presence of humans. It landed within 30 meters of about 50 photographers and continued to stare at us for 30 minutes before taking off and flying over our heads and away off over the paddy fields. It was certainly worth the 3 hour wait in snow flurries and a biting northerly wind sweeping over the flat and exposed landscape of Ogura.

Carmo's Diet: That week, I had mostly been eating fish, miso soup, rice, and pickled cucumber

Carmo's Birds: CHINESE GRAY SHRIKE; WHITE-NAPED CRANE; SANDHILL CRANE; COMMON CRANE; GREAT SPOTTED EAGLE; RYUKU MINIVET; FOREST WAGTAIL; PALLAS'S GULL; ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD; Oystercatcher*; Willow Warbler*; Eurasian Staling*; Eurasian Magpie* (353 for Japan)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: whatever you can get

...and so it ends and begins again

2008-01-02T12:33:00.000+09:00

another year has come and gone. Hard to believe how time is flying. As I approach the year that puts me as close to 40 as I am to 30, it will be a year of huge change once again...hopefully. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who drops by here a very happy and successful 2008. I got wasted on New Years Eve and had some fun times but I shall not delve into it here for I have no time. This rare photograph of me was taken as part of the Shoot Yourself project devised by the superb photographer Martin Gommel, aka Kwerfeldein , and Brian Auer of Epic Edits. Oh, and it was taken by a good friend of mine Seiko Kageyama...she warned me to give her the credit for it...

I had the pleasure of spending most of New Years Day with Seiko in Kyoto. While we braved the cold and the flurries of snow in a park in the city, the rest of the afternoon was spent with her family. It was a traditional Japanese new years day affair, the biggest celebratory day in the Japanese calendar. The eve of the 1st is spent visiting shrines/temples at midnight. The following day is spent eating and laughing judging from Seiko's house. It was wonderful really. It gave me a sense of family and home, something which I have not experienced in quite a while. While her Mum paid me compliments (she thinks my mouth and jaw are like Clooney's) and her Dad said I was a "rare person" (make of that what you will), I ate my fill on home cooked food and drank sake and Japanese wine. On the way out the door, her Mum gave me an envelope which she said I should take as it was a tradition of her generation. I thanked her and left. When I opened it, I couldn't believe what was inside...5,000yen! I was gobsmacked and Seiko, as she always does, laughed at me and commented on how I really am a living, breathing Woody Allen movie...

The previous weekend was a long weekend and it was spent chilling out and catching up on the CBR. It also threw some pleasant and totally unexpected surprizes...life is like that and one must go with the flow and see where it takes one. Not sure where this will bring me but probably to the next bend and that is all.

Now I am about to head off to Kyushu with Neil and Sean for a few days of birding and to gaze upon active volcanoes. I am excited about the prospect of the next few days and what they could bring. I hope it will be as good as I anticipate it to be...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating pain killers.

Carmo's Birds: not a lot...but hopefully loads to come

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Marianna De Rossi

Happy Christmas

2007-12-24T21:05:00.000+09:00

It's Christmas eve, and with the prospect of getting up to work in the morning, the old feelings of going back to school after the holidays is nostalgically stinking the air. The past weekend was spent in a hungover haze on Saturday following the Christmas party from the night previously. Thankfully the persistent rain laid any guilty feelings of wasting a precious day off to rest so I just lay on the couch and watched movies, did a bit of work on the new Cork Bird Report to be published next year. The Christmas party was good, the food was fine and the drink flowed. I was awarded a prize and presented with a plaque as an appreciation for the work I did in the year just gone. It was a nice gesture and one I will look fondly back on. The plaque will look nice on my wall, wherever that wall be next.

Sunday was spent working on the Cork Bird Report (nearly finished my section lads!!) and today was spent lazing and doing some more work on the Cork Bird Report. I watched American Gangster tonight to chill out and it was a good movie. Tomorrow, like everyone else in Japan, will be spent at my desk in the office, making sure that at least one man makes money and keeps well on board his own private life raft as the sinking ship that is Japan's economy slips slowly under the waves, bobbing over the surface every now and then. Christmas in Japan is a non event really. Christmas carols are played in the shops, with token decorations here and there...but that is it. The "traditional" Christmas dinner is a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken (I shit you not). When you explain to some locals that we don't do that, they baulk at the idea and think that that is funny. Come St. Stephen's Day, the decorations are taken down and the music in the shops ceases to be Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole. It's a funny ol' place at this time of year. Being here at this time of year doesn't make me feel homesick, or make me feel that I'm missing out on anything. It's just another day at the office, to coin a well used phrase.

However, for those of you reveling in the western festivities and traditional gluttonous gathering...I wish you all a very very happy christmas...to JW presently navigating the Drake Passage and looking upon Bransfield's Antarctic discoveries - I think all your christmas's have come at once :)

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating mixed fruit and belgian chocolates

Carmo's Birds: not a lot if anything at all

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Scarlett Johannson

Dip Dippy Dip Dip Dip...

2007-12-17T22:09:00.000+09:00

...that's what it has been like for the last couple of weekends. For those of you who are familiar with the use of this term to describe perhaps "a dip in the ocean", or a "dip in the land", for us aves-obsessives it describes the horrible situation whereby one drives/travels a long distance and waits for a long, long time to see a rare or new bird only to come away from the search empty-handed and totally deflated. That my diligent readers, is exactly what happened to me and my co-obsessives on the previous two Saturdays. However, there was some silver lining the rather dark cloud that hung over my head, and I will tell you this later on.
(Rustic Bunting)
Dip Day 1: a 2am start on Saturday morning. Kazu and his friends Sakamoto-san and Toyo-san picked me up at my local train station to head off to Yokkuchi of Mie prefecture, near the city of Nagoya. The purpose of this trip was "Desert" Lesser Whitethroat...a mega for Japan. Although a regular migrant in Ireland, the "Desert" form from central Asia is extremely rare in Europe so I was keen to see this bird. Having arrived an hour before sunrise, we got a little sleep in the car and then headed to the spot where the bird was reported to be. To cut a long story short, after 10 hours, yes folks, that's 10 HOURS of waiting in the cold, and it was cold, yet thankfully dry conditions, we left empty-handed and somewhat deflated. The day was not all wasted as we were treated to some spectacular views of Long-tailed Rosefinch, Wryneck, Japanese Grosbeak, Hawfinch, Yellow-throated Bunting, Rustic Bunting, Black-faced Bunting, Daurian Redstart, Goshawk, Buzzard, and Black Kite. Neil had seen the bird on Thursday and apart from it being seen for one minute on Friday, it hasn't been seen since.
(Bull-Headed Shrike)
Pseudo Success Day 1: The following day Neil and I met up with Richard and Kaori who were down from Tokyo for the weekend. In fact, both Richard and Kaori had dropped into the Lesser Whitey site prior to dipping on the Golden Eagles at Ibuki-yama later that day. Our target bird for the day was a male Hen Harrier seen the previous couple of weeks coming to roost at a large reedbed in the area of Biwa-ko. The weather was spectacular with dark clothes, blue skies, snow-topped mountains and a biting wind. Baltic conditions really. We drove around the east side of Biwa-ko (Japan's largest lake) for the day seeing a spectacular array of birds, including Stellar's Sea Eagle, Goshawk, osprey, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Bean Goose, Eurasian Spoonbill, thousands of duck including Smew, Baikal teal and Falcated Duck and a self-found American Wigeon. Watching up to 50 Black-eared Kites feeding behind a tractor ploughing a field was a bizarre and an amazing sight. The highlight of the day, for me at least, was watching the Eastern Marsh Harriers coming into roost at the reedbed. We estimated up to 20 individuals were flying around, lazily gliding and floating around waiting to go to roost. It was a wonderful experience watching these beautiful birds come to roost with a stunning sunset creeping below the top of the rushes. Although we didn't see the male Hen Harrier, we did see up to 3 female Hen Harriers, which was nice and number 338 for Japan, thank you!
(Baikal Teal)
Dip Day 2: The Saturday just gone was another day out with Kazu and Harendra (aka Divdude007 on Flikr), and later joined by Sakamoto-san, to Saidaiji to look for a flock(!) of 5 short-toed larks (lifer) and short-eared owl (JP tick). We got there by 7am and started the search for a tick. We were blown away straight away by the sight of a Goshawk feeding out in the open on what appeared to be a wigeon. When we tried to creep closer for a photograph, the bird just lazily took off and away over the ridge..damn! The rest of the day was reasonably okay with some amazing views of Wryneck, Pacific Golden Plover, Baikal Teal, Falcated Duck, Smew, Rustic Bunting, Common Snipe, and Sparrowhawk. We also found a probable Baer's Pochard x Eurasian Pochard hybrid which was nice...pity it was not a pure one, as I've only seen one individual previously. Despite the wait and the perseverance of looking through the many hundreds of Skylark, and scanning the low-lying land for the silent flight of the short-eared owl, we once again dipped on the target birds. What made the day even worse was that we heard that Japan's 3rd(?) Redhead was found there 3 days previously...and we didn't see that either.
(Japanese Skylark)

(Pacific Golden Plover) Christmas is coming so I hope Santa Claus will deliver the goods for me this weekend...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating breakfast bars

Carmo's Birds: see above...338 for Japan now

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Naomi Watts

CosBar

2007-12-07T21:58:00.000+09:00

it's been a while...story of my life these days, if you know what I mean. So, the last couple of weeks have been eventful, sort of. First of all, to update you on my previous post, I couldn't get the external hard drive to work again on my newly updated Leopard OS-running Mac. I spent 90 minutes at the Genius Bar in Apple Store here in Osaka but not even those Mac-Geniuses could solve the problem. I'll just have to wait for Seagate to release a fix for this. That meant that a new external hard drive compatible to Leopard was purchased and all is good again...in a sense. I did lose some photos (not a lot) and all my tv shows which sucks arse!!

Secondly, my beloved EOS-1D Mark III (aka The Wife: high maintenance and expensive to accessorize) had to go in for a nip/tuck job and get her secondary mirror fixed, which was faulty from day of manufacture. I was without the beast for a week but finally it arrived back yesterday and I'm all happy again and able to take some photos and torment you all with bird pics next week, ahaha.

Thirdly, I went to a CosBar with PK and his JP friends last Friday night and had a great time. We went to an Izakiya first for some grub and then onto the CosBar. This basically consists of a place selling liqour and costumes to get dressed up in. The bar straff also were dressed up, mostly in nurses uniforms. Not one from shying away from a laugh (stop laughing) I got dressed up a in a little Santa dress and war-type cap. PK was a cheer leader and the JP friends ranged from busty nurses to slinky dress-thingy. THe other JP randoms who were also dressed up thought the sight of a gaijin in Cos mode was hilarious so we posed for many, many photos with them. The random thing about this experience is that the bar is situated in the underground shopping area under Osaka station!!! One of the busiest hubs in Japan rail network! Great fun and definitely a good memory from Japan.

Now, the weekend is upon us again. Tomorrow, or rather in a couple of hours, I leave for Mie prefecture to twitch a mega in Japan (Lesser Whitethroat) and then on Sunday it's off to Biwa-ko to see Steller's Sea Eagle and hen harrier...nice. At least I'll twitch a truly wild bird and not some hand-reared wader with a gammy leg (Ya can't tick that KP boys, ya just can't tick it!!! If you do, the Spotted Crake goes on the list, yaaaahhhhoooooo!!!!).

Sin e for now. More posting about the Christmas experience in Japan later...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating Prawn Palak

Carmo's Birds: nothing yet, but maybe... (still 337 for JP)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the chick on the 6th floor....heaven

damn leopard

2007-11-25T20:07:00.001+09:00

having upgraded to leopard this morning from tiger, it turns out that the software with my external hard drive is not compatible and so I can't access my external drive (mind you, I haven't been able to access my internal drive lately either). Now, after spending 3-4 frustrating hours this morning trying to remedy this situation, I gave up trying to fix what seems like the unfixable until Maxtor, now owned by Seagate, release a fix for this. They've known this for at least a month!!!! Why the fcuk can't these goddamn people coordinate everything. Why the frickin hell didn't they release the fix with the release of Leopard. Apple gave these companies the code to work with to enable those companies to provide their customers with the necessary fix to ensure that all systems would be operational once Leopard was installed...WHY THE FCUK CAN'T PEOPLE ORGANIZE THESE THINGS EFFICIENTLY!!!!

ah, that little word that makes my day harder and harder at work, is now creeping into the only time that I have where efficiency is always there...my time. it's bad enough living in a country which lacks "efficiency" without the freakin companies who produce products to ensure that my sanity is kept in check also demonstrate a complete lack of that small, tiny attribute. Now, I can't access the photos I've taken over the last couple of days of photographing scenes, birds and people and it's really frustrated me. I opted not to go into Apple Store today as I probably would have leapt over the counter if they told me there was nothing they could do and that would not be good. Instead, I will go there after work tomorrow night and see what happens. By that time, I might have calmed down or else taken it out on people at work...I love my job. Right now, a punching bag, an external hard drive compatible with Leopard and an efficient world within which to live would be most welcome.

I really can't write anymore. today's post has now finished. I bid you all, farewell.

...autumnal ramblings

2007-11-14T21:16:00.000+09:00

I guess it's about time I updated the blog. I'm sure my avid readers must be wondering what the hell I'm up to and whether I've disappeared off the place of the planet. Don't worry reader in Timbuktu, I'm back. Since I last wrote here I've been doing, well, not a lot really. Working and birding as usual but heading into the mountains in pursuit of eagles has been the highlight, but more on that later. It's autumn now in Japan, and the color change in the leaves is certainly breathtaking, even giving the leave changes in Conneticut I saw many years ago now, a good run for their money. Bus loads of Japanese folk head to the hills to ooh and aahh over the colors, and yes, taking many thousands of photographs too, ensuring that the stereotype of Japanese folk being mad photo-takers sticks. It's funny and makes one feel secure in the notion that somethings just don't change, maintaining that cosmic balance which makes the world go 'round...if you believe in that sort of thing, like.

Here's a good one for you. Public holidays are there for a reason. To give the public a well-earned day off for working their bollix off. Everyone looks forward to the short working week, a long weekend. It recharges the batteries and allows one to plan a long-weekend away perhaps. Well, in certain lands and worlds where all reason and logical thought are obviously thrown out the window (I think Alice visited there sometime when she was looking in the mirror one morning), due to the fact that a full working week was not fulfilled as a result of said public holiday (which ironically is commemorating labor day), and in accordance with some imaginary law pulled out of the abyss, the missed day is made up for the following weekend by working the Saturday...and that's all I'll say on that.
(this is a common buzzard)

The last few weekends were spent birding in the parks around Osaka and also in the hills of Ibukiyama in Shiga prefecture, or is it Gifu prefecture...the borders here are unclear once in this particular moutnain range. I went on my first ever outing with H, aka divdude007, a fellow flikrite who lives between Nara and Osaka. A very nice guy with an interest in birding and taking photos of everything and anything. We spent the day looking for Chinese Yellow Bitterns and a Ruddy Crake but failed to see either. H did get a class photo of a goshawk being mobbed by two jungle crows. It was great meeting up with H, who is from Nepal, and we chatted throughout the day about birding, our countries, cultures and likes/dislikes of Japan.
(looking out across the mountains of Shiga Prefecture towads Biwa-ko, Japans biggest lake)

The following morning, Neil, Kazu, Sakamoto-san and I went to Ibukiyama in the hope of seeing some Golden Eagles. A train journey beginning at 6am changed to a car journey from 6.45am and setting foot on terra firma at 8.30am on Mt. Ibuki was quickly followed 5 mintues later with a sub-adult Golden Eagle gliding across the valley below us before I even had the camera set up. Magic. With the back-drop of the changing leaves, it made for a wonderful sight. We spent the next coulpe of hours or possibly more watching the bird sit there on a rocky outcrop preening, calling, sleeping and then it took off across the valley again and behind a mountain and out of view. The day, it turned out, was only just beginning.
(if you squint, you'll just make out the eagle...)

While watching the eagle, flocks of brambling, bullfinches, siskin and greenfinches were streaming through the gap we were standing in. One small flock came through and a bird gave a funny call. Neil and I both looked up and saw a large, well, massive finch fly past with a glorious undulating flight and a mad "pruit" call. A flash of two wing-bars and a bullish neck with a blunt face and long tail...Pine Grosbeak. Unbelievable. Within 10 minutes another flock of 12 dark and light finches came through. This time, undoubtedly Asian Rosy Finch, a lifer for Neil and Kazu and the next surprise of the day. Later on, when the eagle flew off, we went in search of Alpine Accentor which we were told that morning were in the area. After more great views of Asian Rosy Finch we had no luck with accy. An email from Kazu on my keitai (mobile phone) saying he had just seen Nutcracker and Alpine Accentor!! Mad dash, Accy a lifer for me and both birds JP ticks for Neil. I waited for the Accy to come out while Neil raced up the hill to a shrine atop the mountain for the Nutcracker. I saw the Accy but Neil missed both!!! Disaster for Neil, I scored. Thems the breaks.
(Ibuki-san covered shrouded in cloud)

Not to be outdone, and I'll wrap this story up now as most people are asleep, a kestrel decided to make an appearance. Kazu noted it first. It was a new BOP for the day after seeing 14 Common Buzzards, 3 Goshawks, 2 Japanese Sparrowhawks, a Eurasian Sparrowhawk, as well as the Golden Eagles. The bird hovered...odd for Japanese kestrels (not many small mammals to prey on so they generally don't hover). It was very pale...too pale to be a common or garden kestrel. Panic. The bird disappeared over the hill-top. We raced out to the road to get more on it. Photographers waiting for the eagles trained their cameras now on the kes. Click click click. The bird landed...more panic "There's not markings on the mantle!! That's a short tail!". Shite. Desert form of Kes from China or Lesser Kes...one or the other. I raced back to get better angle for photos. Bird hovers again and then heads away around the corner never to be seen again. Nice pointed tail, short wings, no markings, clean face...panic. After getting home and consulting the books, on-line reseach, looking at photos taken by Kazu and I...Lesser freakin Kestrel!!!!!!! Turned out to be the 3rd record for Japan, which was nice. Neil's 4th new falcon species in Japan in as many weeks. Not a bad day out really.
(this is a dodgy shot of the kes...it's a Lesser, honest!!)

The weekend just past was spent again on Ibuki-san (the mountain, not a chick..unfortunately). More amazing views of the Golden Eagles and Asian Rosy Finch but not much else apart from frostbitten toes and fingers. It was bloody cold. The colors of the leaves now peaking to full fall rainbows. It was so nice to be out of the city and up in the mountains. Peaceful. Quiet. Now, where did I leave those bird photos...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been sitting at the table of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Carmo's Birds: PINE GROSBEAK; GOLDEN EAGLE; ALPINE ACCENTOR; Lesser Kestrel*; Common Buzzard; Japanese Sparrowhawk; Goshawk; Asian Rosy Finch (337 species in Japan)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Olivia Wilde

... again

2007-10-29T21:51:00.000+09:00

...another week done at the firm and it's the same old ding dong. The work is not too bad of late, so I am going to enjoy the most of that quiet time (getting out by 7pm being a quiet time). That means applying for jobs wholesale and seeing what bites. A nibble or two and an out-and-out PFO to date so all not too gloomy. Fingers, and whatever else you can manage, crossed please...
(this is a Lanceolated Warbler: )
I got hammered drunk on Friday night with PJ, his bro and his bro's missus who are over visiting. It was a great laugh and just what the doctor ordered. Obviously Saturday was written off which was probably a good thing as I had things to do in the apartment like and I had no choice but to do it on Saturday. Why getting hammered drunk was good? My dreams are haunting me. I woke up screaming the other night with fright and I was addled all day. It happened again last night. The funny thing is is that they are not nightmares. Just a fragment of my past which is haunting me again. I thought I put all that shite away but the fecking bastard of a thing is saying boo in the my dreams. I'll have to kill it with a bottle of whiskey I think, ahahaa (joke Mother, that's a joke)!!
Anyway, I finished a great book by Mikhail Bulgakov called "Heart of a Dog" which was absolutely hilarious!! I had previously read "The White Guard" and "The Master and Margarita" and thought it was giving this one a go and it certainly was worth it. I finished it in a couple of hours waiting for my plane in Schiphol airport. Another book I read on that long journey home was "JPod" by Douglas Coupland...brilliant. Total piss take and it even features himself in the book. Well worth reading. Now I am reading the "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" by Michael Chabon. So far so good. I have also read his books "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay", "Summerland" and "Wonder Boys". He's worth a read but the best has been Kavalier and Clay.
(This is a Narcissus Flycatcher:)
Recently I downloaded In Rainbows the new album from Radiohead which is available to download from their website and you, the listener and fan, can decide how much you wish to pay for the album. I have loved it from the first note of the first song burst through my headphones....FRICKIN' AWESOME!!!! "Reckoner" (my favourite so far), "Jigsaw falling into place" (fcukin brilliant), "Faust Arp", "Weird Fishes/Apreggi", "Nude", and "15 Step" all jump straight out as classics. Definitely worth getting. Even if some of you are doubting whether it would be worth it...remember...it's up to YOU the listener to decide how much you pay :)

(This is a Dunnock or Hedge Accentor:) Liverpool are as inconsistent now as they have been for the last 20 years. I want the League title. I don't care for Europe. I don't care for the FA Cup and the Worthless Cup...I just want the league title. Bring it home Stevie G (and i don't mean the legendary Cork DJ and fan of the music Stevie G)...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating walnuts, almonds, pistachios, blueberries and cranberries

Carmo's Birds: Quiet really, Japanese Grey Thrush, Garganey, Arctic Warbler, Narcissus and Brown Flycatcher the best

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the new iMac with Leopard...it's just about the sexiest thing out there right now

... part deux

2007-10-22T21:57:00.000+09:00

and so, I return home to Osaka from my home in Ireland. I had a great 12 days at home, chilling out in Cape Clear and West Cork, spending some quality time on this occasion with my family and not drinking too much actually. I really needed a break from Japan, from work, from everything...and I did just that. Although my schedule during the holiday was packed, I did find some time to myself, and to do things I wanted to do...that is, birding in some of my favourite places in Ireland and actually seeing my parents for more than one night during my holiday!!!! For those reasons, amongst other commitments made before I came home, I didn't see everyone I wanted to see, so for those of you who read this and didn't see me...my sincerest apologies.

I spent a couple of nights on Cape Clear with AV and CC, chilling out in the evening and just strolling leisurely around the island during the day in cloudless skies and balmy temperatures (as balmy as they can get in October in Ireland). Cape Clear is just like a priceless jewel in this weather and waking up to clean air, no noise, no crowds, no pollution at 7am was so refreshing. I relaxed for the first time in 2 years during my time on Cape Clear. It was AV's first time there and could understand why I love the place. It was just what the doctor ordered and made it incredibly difficult to get back on the plane to Japan.

Driving around in Dad's car was great and the sense of freedom that I lack in Japan was flooding through me again. It was marvellous. A perfect example was a 4.30am start one morning with CC and JW to get to Lissagriffin in West Cork for a dawn...a twitch!! We couldn't remember the last time the three of us went on a twitch together and it was great fun (we also saw the birds so it made it the day). Meeting up with HH at B'cotton was good as I hadn't seen him since I moved to Japan. Being knee deep in mud wasn't the most pleasant of surroundings to catch up, it was good nonetheless.

The family time was better on this trip, catching up with Dad's side of the family this time at my cousin RC's wedding. I was groomsman (hence the reason I went home) and it was a great day. The only hitch being the visiting Americans being late for the dinner but in true Irish fashion, we turned their tardiness into a laugh and a joke so the great fun was had by all. My inability to drink was obvious on that day as the hangover the next morning killed me and all I wanted to do was sleep. It was also the first time that a photo of CC, JH, RC, and I was taken but Dad still hasn't given me that (DAD!!!!). It was great to have the four of us together. I guess being friends for the bones of 30 years makes it hard not to have fun together. Although JH was missing for the stag, we had a great day and night. Sailing around Cork Harbor for the afternoon was great or "awesome" as I kept telling Skipper TO'R. The funny thing was that there was no wind so we motored for 90% of the time. Still though, motoring around Cork Harbor on a yacht was damn nice....

So much happening when I was home that it would take too long to write about. The birding was great. Catching up with the lads from Uni undergrad days and the lads I used to work with in the Biochemistry department was fantastic. Dinner with DW was just like the old days from when we lived together. Going for pints with GB. It was no wonder I found it hard to come back to Japan....

However, in saying that, I'm back a week and it feels like I've never been away. Birding, photography and work taking precedence, but not necessarily in that order. 2 new JP ticks and a lifer for me in the last week is pretty incredible. The Lanceolated Warbler feeding no more than 6 feet away in the OPEN was mindblowing (photos on Flikr by the end of the week)...backed up by Pectoral Sand and Little Stint finally added some rare waders to our season list. Much to our dismay, we discovered that a Spoon-billed Sandpiper was seen at a place in Mie prefecture 2 days afer we were there...c'est la vie.

And now, it's back to the mayhem of work, work, and fitting it all in at the weekends...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating ommlettes

Carmo's Birds: BUFF-BELLIED PIPIT (Ireland); *Pectoral Sandpiper; *Little Stint; LANCEOLATED WARBLER; (JP:333; IRE:274)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Megan Fox

...

2007-09-27T07:10:00.000+09:00

well, what can I write at 7am on the day before I head on vacation? Not a lot really. I have been birding a lot, the only thing preventing the disillusionment I am beginning to feel now with Japan taking a stranglehold. Yes, it is like that. I am looking forward to going home for a vaca, although a death in the family has put a bit of a downer on things. It is hard to take all that in. I guess it will be all the more apparent when I get there. However, this is not going to be a gloomy post. This is probably not going to be an overly exciting post either (are they ever I hear you roar!!!).

So, without further ceremony, I shall continue. Work has been okay of late, not as busy as previously experienced for some strange reasons. The High Court cases we are involved with are coming to a close so that has freed up my time to do the bread and butter work. Hence, I am way ahead of my game. It makes time for the gym and stops me from eating pringles :) I went out with a friend of mine on Saturday night (PK) for a bite to eat and some pints which was a great laugh. He originally worked with me but "left" and after a stint back in Canada and up near Tokyo, has returned to Osaka to a position in Osaka University. A funny man, an interesting man...
Birding has been okay with the best birds being Painted Snipe (above and further below), Greater Sand Plover, Temminck's Stint, Garganey, Grey-faced buzzard (below) and a JP tick with Hobby, which is a rare bird in Osaka. The mozzies are out in full force and prevented me from birding Osaka-jo on Saturday morning. I had to make a hasty retreat having forgotten to bring my mozzy repellent and with the 3/4 length shorts on me, my legs were attacked with a viscious and relentless aggressiveness.

In the news, Israel are at it again and cutting off power and water supplies to Gaza. Wankers. USA are piling more troops in to Iraq and finally, the blood-thirsty "Security" companies are being kicked out for murdering innocent civilians in Baghdad. It's a pity they don't kick the US army out for murdering, raping, torturing and pilaging the people of Iraq. I wonder who's more the tyrant in this instance: the private security companies or the US army. I know my opinion on that.

Ireland have albeit limped through the World Cup in a demoralising display of fatigue, staleness, and no form. It's disappointing. At least I'll be able to watch their total demise in a pub in Cork this Sunday. And here was I thinking we could actually win the competition!!! Cork got trounced by the savages of Kerry in the Final of the football. Thank Christ the ladies football team brought a bit of pride back to the county having lost 2 All-Ireland finals this year and the hurlers not preforming at all...beaten by the Deise. Honestly...

On that note, and as I really don't feel like adding anymore at this hour of the brain dead morning, I will bid you all adieu. I shall return post haste with tales of drinking, birding, and whatnot from the emerald isle anon...

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating figs

Carmo's Birds: Hobby*, Temminck's stint, Spotted Redshank, Garganey, Grey-faced buzzard, Goshawk, Oriental Honey Buzzard

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: anything at this stage

Danjiri Matsuri - more dangerous than the bull run of Pamplona and the outrage of Irish rugby fans

2007-09-17T17:09:00.000+09:00

This weekend was a holiday weekend which meant that we had Monday off...thank Christ. A firend of mine from back home (the masterful Master O'Laoi) visited for a night and the craic was had. On Saturday morning, I went to the Danjiri Matsuri,(float festival) in Kishiwada, a small hamlet of South Osaka, famous for it's Yakuza element and dodgy dealings. A stubbornly traditional community who take pride in coming from this town. The Danjiri Matsuri of Kishiwada is said to have its origin in the "Inari Matsuri" held in the 16th year of the Genroku era (1703). Created by the Lord of Kishiwada Castle to pray for an abundant harvest, the festival, from its very beginning, enjoyed tremendous local support.

The Danjiri Matsuri quickly grew in significance for the people of Kishiwada. Gates normally barring townspeople from entering the castle grounds were thrown open on festival days. Feudal Lords of Kishiwada looked on as each danjiri was pulled in, and each danjiri pulling team staged various, high-spirited performances. Over 300 years of tradition and all of Kishiwada behind it. 34 danjiri teams bring their sacred float on a recklessly swift tour of this castle town in a race of strength, endurance, and celebration.

The wood that the danjiri is constructed from is Japanese zelkova, sturdy, expensive, harvested from Osaka, Nara, Wakayama and thereabouts. It dries for two years before carpenters build the danjiri. Then for five years artists carve scenes on the wooden vessel. Kishiwada features some of the world's premier woodwork and a well built danjiri will outlast the men who made it and their children.

The privilege and risk of dancing upon the upper roof of each danjiri belong to Kishiwada's local carpenters, or Daiku-gata. The most visible, popular and the most likely member of the danjiri team to die, each daiku-gata creates his own style of performance. "Hikoki-nori", (the Airplane dance. below) performed with arms spread wide and standing on one foot, is particularly famous.

The most exciting aspect of the Kishiwada Danjir Matsuri lies in the skill of Yari-mawashi (Corner turning). The teams working both front and rear levers in unison, literally skid their heavy floats around each street corner. Done quickly to the beat of drums and shouts of the pulling team, corner turning is one of the most dramatic elements of the festival. In fact, it is this at this particular stage of the races around the city where people get seriously hurt, and most often than not, killed. This has earned the Kishiwada Danjiri festival the reputation of the most dangerous festival in the world (yes, even more dangerous than Pamplona Bull Run). In fact, it is said that if a memeber of the team dies or someone from the public gets killed by a danjiri, that neighborhood will reap the rewards of a bountiful harvest. The team members and bystanders alike are reputed to believe that they the risk of injury is a consequence of courage and accept a dramatic death as a consequence of a dramatic life (I kid you not...this is serious shit).
The pre-empt for this dangerous part of the race around Kishiwada is the sudden blowing of whistles, the raising of ropes by the police and organizers and the appearance of young kids in happi (jackets with the logo of their neighbourhood shrine association) and jikatabi (rubber-soled boots with with a separate pocket for the big toe - they look weird). Attached to the kids arms is a long, thick, braided rope. The kids march in order of age, so little by little, you notice the average height increasing as the procession passes. The kids and adults alike are chanting a mantra. Then, suddenly, you hear a whistle and a lantern on a long pole is waved. The kids break into a trot, then a run, then the teenagers pass, pulling larger ropes, then a full-on sprint as, from around the corner, the danjiri dashes, loaded down with elders, flute-players, taiko drummers, and young men tempting fate and defying gravity by jumping and dancing on top of the rumbling, skeetering danjiri. Then, as it clears the corner (or doesn’t), it dashes past. It's a sight to be believed so I hope you enjoy this selection of photos. More can be found on my Flikr.

A certain highlight of my weekend and I am glad to have gone to see it.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating walnuts

Carmo's Birds: A nice few waders added to the season list this weekend and a new JP tick...I'll keep you all in dreaded suspense as to what it could be...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Uma Thurman

World Champions, Long toes, and other natural disasters

2007-09-09T18:08:00.000+09:00

Good evening/morning/night/afternoon everybody. It has been a busy couple of weeks since my last update. Between work, the IAAF World Champs, and birding, life has been packed to the brim with activity, excitement, and ticks galore. I attended the evening session of Day 2 of the IAAF WCs in Osaka, which hosted the Mens 100m semis and final, the womens shot putt final, womens heptathlon final day, women's 800m semifinals, mens 400m hurdles semifinals, and the womens pole vault qualifying rounds where I was honored to watch the amazing Isinbayeva compete (seen in action here). The seats I had were 8 rows from trackside, right on the final bend and into the finishing straight. This meant that I was sitting directly across from pole vault event and in aisle next to the competitors coaches and team mates. It was a pretty cool experience. I had never been to an major international event like this before, be it a World Cup, Olympics and the like. It was definitely paying out the 100 yoyos to go. To watch Tyson Gay run 100m in 9.85 secs (final photo below), see Maria Mutola still put fear into her fellow 800m runners, and watch world record holders compete was mindblowing. Isinbayeva was incredible. Such confidence. Also, the womens heptathlon athletes were amazingly fit. Kluft was magnificent in winning the event and the British girls Sotherton and Ennis were brilliant (see below). All in all, a fantastic day. Check out my Flikr page for a load of photos from the event.

WARNING: BIRDING POST FOLLOWS. The following weekend I went to Mie Prefecture with Kazu and Neil. We had a great day, seeing 26 species of waders, with exceptional numbers of Red-necked stints and broad-billed sandpipers. With a spoon-billed sandpiper in Tokyo, 4 in Hakata Bay in Kyushu, together with a Nordmann's Greenshank(!) and Pec Sand, our hopes for finding a major rare were high. Alas, we had to be content with the usual spread of waders but the sheer variety made for a fantastic and entertaining day. This weekend, we went back thinking that the passing of Typhoon No. 9, which caused some serious flooding in the Tokyo area along the Tamagawa, might have brought some goodies. We couldn't have been further from the truth....there were hardly any waders at all, managing only to add 3 more wader species to our impressive 26 species from the weekend before. The following are the wader species we saw over the 2 weekends: Black-winged Stilt (see above), Little Ringed Plover, Kentish Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Grey-headed Lapwing, Great Knot, Dunlin, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Long-toed Stint (see below), Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper , Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Marsh Sanpiper, Spotted Redshank, Common Redshank, Common Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew (JP tick for me coz I'm a tart!!!), Far Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, Common Snipe, Swinhoe's Snipe, Painted Snipe, Ruff, Grey-tailed Tattler, and Red-necked Phalarope. Pretty impressive...lots of more pics on my Flikr page.

For the last couple of evenings, I have been fortunate enough to be entertained by a singing Blue Rock Thrush from the apartment building across for me. It's so nice to hear a thrush sing, and it brings back fond memories of home. Speaking of which, I am heading back to the fair emerald isle in a few weeks time for my cousin, and best friend's wedding, at which I am groomsman. I am thoroughly looking forward to the event and the break from work, Japan and all that goes with it. I will have a packed agenda so R&R maybe few and far between. Rumor has it that a certain CB has surpassed my amazingly low Irish list last week, allegedly seeing the Spotted Sandpiper in Ballycotton. This information comes from CB but my sources are refusing to comment on the allegations. Roll on the holiday and a few megas for when I am on Cape Clear!!

Apart from all that, it's been okay at work, cruising now but waking up instinctively, if one could call it that, at 5.30-6am most, if not every morning. This is of course a bit of a drag as I'm falling asleep at work during the afternoon, and now take it upon myself to have a powernap for 10 minutes sitting at my desk in the evening to get that second wind for the post-6pm slot. All good fun I can assure you. Well, sin é for now. The yen is appallingly weak as piss-water. I just wish they (the JP Banks) would increase, or rather, introduce interest rates into the system here (you earn 0.005% interest, or something ridiculous like that, on your savings in Japan...nice eh?). Right, I am going to watch Spiderman 3 and go to bed. I got an hour's sleep last night in the back of the van so am quite tuckered out now. I bid you all adieu...

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating Gilco Protein shakes

Carmo's Birds: see above. JP list now stands at 326.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Allyson Felix (US track star and supreme athlete)

Wadertasia

2007-08-28T07:32:00.001+09:00

The last couple of weekends has seen a considerable increase in the number of waders passing through Osaka as the "Wader Season" begins to take hold. It's an exciting time for us poor miserable souls suffering the summer heat and humidity. It brings to an end, several weeks of inactivity and dullness. The last couple of weekends have certainly not disappointed.

The weekend before last, I decided to pop down to Nanko on Saturday morning to lead my little group of wannabe birders to the airconditioned (sort of - the windows open to the sea breeze) pleasure of summertime oppression...Nanko Bird Sanctuary in Osaka. Normally the birds are scattered and can be difficult to see but today they were bunched in with the high tide and the species list was impressive: Common Greenshank (see above), Common Redshank, LRP, KP, GT Tattler, Red-necked stint, Long-toed Stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Terek Sandpiper and the usual assortment of egrets and herons. I was very impressed with the number of species but the bird of the day, for me at least as I found it, was a single Broad-billed Sandpiper. Nice. Later that evening, I headed up to Ebie to try and connect with the Great Knot that were seen during the week. Alas, I did not but a party of 6 Common Greenshank were nice.

The following morning I headed out to Ogura with K...K referred to it as Hell during the week. The weather does not make for comfortable birding. The main target of the Ogura trip was Oriental Pratincole. I have searched the previous 2 August months but to no avail. After 4 hours trekking across the polder region of the rice-fields and lotus fields of Ogura, we finally stumbled upon 4 fantastic Oriental Prats (see above)...magic, at last. A lifer for me and one I had been sweating over for a long time (quite literally). The last of my 2 litres of water were drunk in celebration and we decided that with the Prats in the bag, it was time to head to the heaven of air-conditioned SunKus. The supporting cast for that day's birding was also impressive: Pacific Golden Plover (3), Grey-headed lapwing (100), LRP (12), Latham's Snipe (5), Painted Snipe (2), Wood Sandpiper (6), and a Ruddy Crake (a big surprise).

The weekend just past say my return to Nanko after a disappointing sojourn back to Ogura. I received an email from K telling me of the birds present in Nanko that morning and I was stunned. Much the same as the previous weekends but an additional 3-4 species...one of which was a lifer!!! I raced out the door and got to Nanko an hour later. I walked in and calmly hurried to the observation window...boom....there it was, straight out...Far Eastern Curlew (see below for record shot)!!!!! Finally, after all this time and the slagging from ND, I connected with this crazy looking wader. The bill on this bird is so long, it looks strange. I guess it's because I'm used to seeing Eurasian Curlews and Whimbrel. The supporting cast was impressive too: Long-billed Dowitcher (1), Marsh Sandpiper (4), LRP, KP, GTT, Red-necked stint (massive increase 500), Wood Sandpiper (1), Common Greenshank (2), Common Redshank (1), Common Sandpiper (1), Terek Sandpiper (10), Broad-billed Sandpiper (at least 40, incredible, see above), and GTT. A fabulous hour's birding...

Sunday of course was spent at the IAAF Championships...incredible. over 300 photos taken and mindblowing. more on that later.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating fruit juice

Carmo's Birds: see above...325 for Japan now

Carmo's birds for Byrdy: the English hepathlete Ennis...

Summer Sonic 2007 - Osaka, Japan

2007-08-22T20:22:00.001+09:00

Well, the weekend before last I went to the Saturday of the weekend music festival called Summer Sonic, here in Osaka. It was probably the most well-behaved, organized and cleanest event I have ever attended. It was just surreal. No problems, no drunken louts (except for us) and no queues...at all...for beer, food, or the porta-loos. Incredible. The only queue that formed was for the merchandise! Brilliant. As you can see, I'm still wooing the women with just my mere presence...we got married later on in the day (she was feeding me tequila...whaddya gonna do??!)

We arrived there at about 8.30am and started into our first pint at 9am...it was going to be one of those days :) I went with PJ, YN, and PJ's friend over on hols from Oz, Michael. It was a brilliant day. The venue was split up into 5 stages and all within 10 minutes walking distance from each other. The sun was blazing and it took it's toll on a lot of people at the end of the day. The "Oasis" area was set up for vendors selling food and in the centre of the circular walkabout was a covered-over seating area which was just full of pleasant, calm, and somewhat startled JP people when we sat down next to them. In fact, I was surprised at the lack of gaijin at the gig and to be honest, I was glad. Any gaijins we did meet were up for the laugh and were very nice people indeed.

YN brought a whiteboard for people to scribble a message on for us to pose and take a photo. that was a good laugh and we took advantage of the non-English speakers, predominantly hot women, and so in the spirit of feeling bad in the sober light of day, i won't post them here. If you want a copy, you can email me requests :)

Now, onto the bands. The highlights for me were Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, UNKLE (who were just mindblowing), DJ Shadow/Cut Chemist, Polyphonic Spree (the surprise of the day), and my favorite perfomance was by Jose Gonzalez. He was just unbelievable on his own for 75% of the acoustic set. I skipped Cyndi Lauper to see Jose and I was so glad I did. She was appalling apparently. He played most of Veneer and some new tunes which were top class. I definitely recommend seeing him live.

Polyphonic Spree are a massive band, with 22 members at least on stage, playing symphonic tunes in a cult like fashion. All band members were wearing the same clothing and for a second or two I thought I was at a mass religious rally being brain-washed to believe shite. However, their music is nothing like that. It's just upbeat, massive pop-music. Definitely worth a listen to and if you can catch them live, I'd highly recommend it.

Getting home was a pain in the ass but the orderly queue to the bus was surprising. I arrived back in the de gaff close to midnight after a detour for ramen in Umeda. All in all, a great day...

Last weekend was spent birding and it was a great weekend to boot, despite the searing temperatures that Japan's heatwave is tormenting us with. As the weekends birding deserves a post of its own, I shall post before the weekend. I am off to the IAAF World Championship on Sunday in Osaka!!! I can't wait...

A BIG THANKS TO YN FOR THE PHOTOS!!!!!

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating seaweed and feta cheese

Carmo's Birds: wait for it...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the tequila chick at Summer Sonic...

Heat, humidity, and more humidity...oh, and Happy B'day Pee Wee!!!

2007-08-07T17:43:00.000+09:00

As much as western Europe has been lamblasted with rain, rain, and more rain, Osaka is just being hit with typhoons, earthquakes, and now the unbearable summer heat and humidity. With temperatures averaging 32C with 86% humidity (not much better at night), wearing the suit and tie to work is an uncomfortable experience, and anyone who has worked with me in a bar with just t-shirt/jeans, one can only imagine what I look like....

Birding has been a non-participating sport of late, getting out one morning for dawn to find myself in the company of a dozen egrets, 4 Grey-tailed tattlers, a couple of Mongolian Plovers and common sandpipers, was not worth losing about 2 liters of body fluids in the form of sweat. Roll on the middle of August when it SHOULD get a bit more bearable.

Next weekend is Summer Sonic!!! I am really looking forward to going to this day of music and revelry. Highlights for me will be Arctic Monkies, DJ Shadow, UNKLE, Manic Street Preachers, Kasabian, Bloc Party, Jose Gonzalez, the Offspring, Brett Anderson, Bright Eyes and Cut Chemist. I was going to go on Sunday but I really need to get out there and find Oriental Pratincole and Far Eastern Curlew. Not to mention, I'd probably have to take the day off work on Monday to recover. Roll on the 11th!!!

Last weekend was a good laugh, going to see the fireworks in Osaka while dressed in traditional gimbe costume. A bit like a pyjamas and damn comfortable. Onto to Noon nightclub afterwards where Mick, PJ's buddy from Oz, was woken up by the cleaners at 6am somewhere in the club. Legend. Sunday was bbq day with friends and family of SY. A good laugh but far too hungover to appreciate the good food there. Sexy Da Vihnchi turned up who was a laugh for a bit. It was PJ's b'day but he was a bit in shock at SDV's approaches to have too much fun. Hahaha, that was hilarious.

Now, with a little over 6 weeks to go before I am home, I am relishing the thought of going to Cape Clear for a night of two if the damn Brits don't let the foot and mouth break out cause mayhem like it did the last time and all of Europe was in fear of it spreading to rest of the Eurozone. If that is the case, then my birding when I go home could be seriously curtailed and I will not be a happy man if that is the case. I guess if they couldn't contain it the last time then there's no hope in them containing it this time either....

I am currently reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins which is excellent. It certainly cements my belief in atheism and if any christians out there read it, maybe they will be slow to push their incredible beliefs down people's throats and their "good and just god". Anyway, I would urge everyone from devout believers in a supernatural force to those who know it's all trite to read this book. It will certainly spur discussion and amongs the christians out there, disbelief at the heathenist words. Imagine no religion...

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating pistachio nuts

Carmo's Birds: cicada's mostly...they wake me up every morning at dawn

Carmo's birds for Byrdy: Madeline Stowe

Weekeed away...with work...yippee do

2007-07-23T21:51:00.000+09:00

the last couple of weeks have been a bit of a drag because despite fabulous weather during the week, it would piss out of the heavens for the weekend. A bit like western Europe right now except at least we have 5 days of sunshine and not constant rain. It's horrendous the way the weather systems are becoming so out of sinc, at least what we consider to be in out of sinc. Who's not to say that this is the way it's supposed to go? We'll never know. Anyway, I'm talking through my...

The weekend before last was supposed to be the return of Team No Disc-o to the playing fields of Taj-ultimate 2007 starring as the Paul McGrath of Ultimate Disc, yours truly, but alas the long-standing back injurty prevented me from travelling with the team. I was pissed off about that and spent the weekend, a holiday one at that, in the chiropractor and doing not much else due to the pissing rain. On Sunday night I met a few friends and headed to a burlesque show featuring the world-famous murasaki babydoll troupe from Tokyo. They won some big awards in the States last year and this year. It was hilarious and we had a great night. Eva was hot as and we met her afterwards (see left). There was a magician who also performed called Sexy Da Vinchi and he had the whole place laughing. It was hilarious. We also met him afterwards and is, allegedly, coming to a bbq YN has organized for August 5th.

A massive earthquake hit Niigata the following morning on Monday 16th, and it nearly threw me off my chair while sitting in front of the computer at home. It was the fist earthquake that I have felt in my apartment. My apartment building is quite a strong and relatively new structure so it should be okay to withstand a big earthquake (at least I hope it will be). It was quite incredible to feel that power and I can not even begin to imagine what it must be like to experience a really big earthquake. Quite frightening I would think. Thankfully we didn't feel anything of the Man-yi typhoon that devastated western Japan. The wind was stronger than normal, but that was about all.

As for the Koya-san trip away with work last weekend...the highlight was driving in PJ's new motor. It's a class car and so cool. The car came with sat-nav which is just class. Looks like it could be an interesting few months while PJ has the motor...roll on the road trips to Lawson and Konoike 280!!! haha...(sorry Mum, as you can see I still have a ciggie in my hand...I don't inhale anymore though :))

Bird wise: nada, zero, nil, nought...weather all over the place, too hot, too wet, too windy. Insect photos are the new craze. Check out my photos for a better look see.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating mosquitoes

Carmo's Birds: Japanese Bush Warbler

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Jennifer Connelly (again)

Tv highlights: 24 Season 6

it's been a while...

2007-07-09T19:59:00.000+09:00

since I posted. Between back pain and all else Japan, it's been the usual run-of-the mill. I went to the chiropractor again last week and he did a good job. At a bbq yesterday I played a bit of ball which I shouldn't have done. Woke up this morning not being able to move so stumbled and hobbled to the chiropractor again. He did his job, gave me a "herbal" remedy and I have slept all day long. He told me to lie down for the day and not sit on a chair. So I did. I slept. And slept. If the cycle is broken then it should be okay. I am typing this standing up. If I can sleep, my back will get rest. If my back gets rest, i can sleep. If this cycle is maintained, all should be good.

The last couple of weekends have been pretty relaxed. A bit of birding with Neil, Rob and Aya. Plenty of Green Pigeons, Woodpeckers, Jungle Nightjars, calling Ruddy Kingfishers (still not seen them though), Little, Hawk, and Oriental Cuckoos. A long weekend next weekend. I am off to Tajima with Rob, Mana, and Aya for a couple of nights. Should be fun. I got a 100mm Macro lens for the camera yesterday so hopefully you'll be enjoying some photos of beasties and abstract images soon. Hard lens to work with though. The dof is so shallow.

I hope this finds everyone in good spirits. I am going back to bed for there is more healing to be done and work tomorrow.

Rainy Season

2007-06-24T16:47:00.000+09:00

The rainy season has certainly landed in Osaka with a bang the last week, although Saturday was the best day. I had originally planned on going to Kyoto on Saturday morning to get some shots of Brown Hawk Owl but seeing as I was working until 3.30am Friday night/Saturday morning, that put a dent in my plans so I went to DenDen near Shinsaibashi with PJ instead (see photo left). DenDen town is a "dodgy" area, as YN would say in his Brisbane accent. Full of electronic and porn shops, usually side-by-side. It is a great place to get good "deals" on computers, cameras and the like, but most of the purchases in some of the stores are hot as a tin roof in the middle of a desert. A very interesting place. PJ and I went in to t a porn store for a gander, as you do, and were shocked by a selection of DVDs containing kiddie porn pictures...girls no more than 8 or 9 in bikinis. It was disgusting and sickening. I was so taken aback, as was PJ. For a country that has all these sometimes bullshit rules about not talking loudly on trains, walking up the stairs on the left-hand side etc., the moral code of the place is very questionable at times.

Saturday night a gang of us went to see Gamba Osaka play Tokyo in the last game of the season in the J1 league. Osaka had already won the league but this was a game of pride. Tokyo took the lead after 10 mintues and then doubled that 2 minutes later. Osaka came back before half time and then annhilated Tokyo in the second half, running out 6-2 winners in the end. A good second half but a sloppy first. We were in with the die-hard Gamba fans, all wearing the colors and a particular group wearing t-shirts signifying they were Gamba Ultras. Very hardcore, and very scary. Reminded me of British hooligans really. One guy warned me that if I took photos once the game started, he would get very angry. It was the way he said it to me and the smile on his face that made me think that crossing this guy would not be such a good idea. The ringleader of this group stood for the entire game on a "podium", microphone in hand, directing the songs to be sung. A simple raise of his hand and the crowd would stop singing. A respite of 30 seconds and then he would begin the next chant/song and the entire west terrace would sing again. Madness.

Today, it has just been pissing rain. All I've done is sneeze non-stop...I'm on number 104 as I write this...105. I was going to go to Kyoto but no point in this pissy weather. I took a brieft trip to Shijoniwate to take some photos of the recently hatched swallow chicks but when I got there they had already flown the nest. So, I just hopped back on the train and went to the gym instead. Now, it's to Alias Season 3 and a very early night...

Oh, and for those of you who read this and happen to receive an email to say I've tagged you...accept my sincerest apologies and please delete accordingly. Thanks.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating crap

Carmo's Birds: not a lot

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: this incredible chick in Shinsaibashi on Saturday...oh my god

for how long more...

2007-06-20T22:14:00.000+09:00

I finished work today at 7pm. It was till bright outside, the sun hadn't quite set yet and still had another 30 minutes to go before it slipped in behind the ferris wheel at Hep 5 and disappeared for the day. I stood outside the building I work in and wondered...what the hell do I do now?? The gym was closed because it was the 20th of the month eventhough I brought my gym gear with me, just out of pure habit. I realized that all I do is work. I know you think this is going somewhere all dark and gloomy, but it's not really. I have come to a point now where I have to decide do I just go and wait for work or stay, save more cash and go home when something comes up that I want. So, hence the title...for how long more.

On a brighter note, I spent last weekend birding with Kazu and Sakaguchi-san, heading up to Minoo Park to look for Copper Pheasant (dodgy photo above) and on Sunday, we went to take photos of a breeding pair of kestrels (Photo below). Prior to the Kestrel watch, we drove around Ogura but there was not much there apart from egrets and grey-heading lapwings. Birding in Osaka is now approaching the limit of summer excitement. That is, not a helluva lot around. I will use the summer time to explore the limits of my camera and travel to places I have yet to see in Japan.

Saturday morning I went into Umeda to look at more camera stuff and took some photos of the more interesting buildings. Umeda has some okay buildings but Tokyo has some spectacular buildings. I plan to go there again and spend a lot of time taking photos of those. I bet you all can't wait. JW is off to see Faithless in concert tonight with PW...lucky b'tards!!! I've never seen them live and they are one of my favourite bands. I did, however, get tickets to Summer Sonic which happens in Osaka in August. I also plan to get tickets of the IAAF World Championships which are also in August. The 100m final is on August 26th so I hope there are tickets left that. I need to do that on Saturday.

This Saturday I am going to watch Gamba Osaka play Tokyo in the last J League game of the season. Gamba Osaka are champions so it should be good. Oh, I almost forgot...I'm following in my good brother's footsteps and am on NSAIDs, painkillers and Vit B1 for the 10 days in the hope of ridding myself of back pain....I love trapped sciatic nerves.

Until next time, I bid you all adieu...

Carmo's Diets: This week, I have mostly been eating pharmaceuticals that are only sold in Japan and Argentina

Carmo's Birds: Copper Pheasant; Cattle Egret

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Riyo Mori

Slackanerney

2007-06-10T14:47:00.000+09:00

Finally, I have a chance to sit down in quiet, unrushed surroundings (my apartment) for the first time in a few weeks. It's a nice feeling, not being rushed. I think I need more of this. I was supposed to go and see a spectacular firefly display last night outside Kyoto but the very violent thunder and lightening storms yesterday morning put a damper on that so it was cancelled. I went to Kyoto anyway and met Seiko for coffee, food and beer. It was a good laugh. It was great being away from work, away from all associated with it for the weekend. The place has been choking me lately and I feel like there's no escape at times. Not healthy to be honest. The last couple of weekends were also a great break.

The weekend before last, I headed up to Ashiu Forest, about 40km north of Kyoto city. It is one of the most beautiful forest I have ever been to. It stretches for miles and covers mountains, with rivers running through the area we were in, along the forest floor, was stunning. We drove around for a few hours at night trying to hear if any owls were calling. We head a couple of Collard (Japanese) Scops owls and probably a Ural owl but still not sure. Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo were singing at night, flying around noisly, as were Jungle Nightjars. A couple of Racoon Dogs were seen which were pretty cool. The following morning, after sleeping in the van, was stunning (see photo above), with Lesser Cuckoo, Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo, Oriental Cuckoo, Eurasian Cuckoo, Easter Crowned Warbler and Blue and White Flycatcher singing to greet the dawn. Plenty of birds were seen, highlights were Hodgon's Hawk Cuckoo, Crested Kingfisher, Japanese Grey Thrush, White-throated Needletail Swift, Green Woodpecker, and Japanese Green Pigeon. The bird of day, had we seen it(!), would have been Ruddy Kingfisher. We heard at least 7 singing birds but just could not find them. We shall return when the young have hatched and flying around. Amazing to hear Kingfishers singing in a forest. There were also plenty of Japanese fire-belled salamander to be seen, as well as Green Tree Frog "nests" (see below). The highlight of the trip though was seeing a Japanese Marten just a few metres away from us...stunning.

Last weekend I went to Tokyo to stay with Richard Carden, a British birder living in Japan. I arrived in Shibuya, Tokyo around 8pm and had a couple of hours to kill before meeting Richard and Kaori. Shibuya was just CRAZY!!! The busiest pedestrian crossing in the world is situated at Hachiko Square, with an estimated 1 million people crossing it per day. I was sitting in Starbucks which overlooks the crossing and took out my camera to take a photo. Just as I was getting ready for the green man to glow, a staff member came over and asked me to put my camera away and not take photos!! I was gobsmacked but he said it was a new rule now. I guess it prevents people from sitting there for an hour taking photos and only buying one cup of coffee. So, I sat there for one hour reading my book drinking one cup of coffee :) I will be going back to Tokyo in September for a wedding so I can take some photos then. I will probably go there again before that though. Here is a photo from someone else (Alexander Orstrom) showing the crossing...

The birding trip around the area was spectacular, with 7 new species for me, bringing my JP total to over 320 now. Highlights around Tokyo/Chiba areas were Great Sand Plover, Chinese Yellow Bittern, Japanese Reed Bunting, Japanese Marsh Warbler, and Great Bittern. We spent a night on Mt. Fuji which was brilliant. Singing Grey Nightjars, Serow deer, which resemble mountain goat than mountain deer, scrambling up the slopes when met with the car's lightbeams, the deafening silence of sitting outside at 2500m and the only noise is the buzz of the quietness ringing in one's ear. I love Mt. Fuji. It is such a peaceful place, no noise, clean air, clear skies, stars, planets, and satelites visible...simply beautiful. We were lucky that above 2000m the clouds had lifted and so we had a clear view of Fuji-san. Kaori-san was delighted and kept taking photos and catching energy from the sacred moutain. We could even see the summit of Fuji-san from across the lake at Hakone. The birds were great too, Nutcracker being the new bird for me on Fuji-san. Melodious Laughing Thrush was a new bird at Hakone. I had a great time with Richard and Kaori-san, and they made the weekend more enjoyable.

Since then, I've just been working and not working out. The belly expands while the buffness shrinks. Time to change the work times, and get the hell outta there by 9pm so I can get my fitness back. This weekend was nice, just realaxing, trying to get some sleep (still not happening). I hope this finds all well. No bird photos today, one can check out my Flikr page link on the left to see them...a collective sigh of relief is deafening...heathens

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating grapes of the sea and eel liver

Carmo's Birds: GREAT SAND PLOVER; CHINESE YELLOW BITTERN; JAPANESE REED BUNTING; JAPANESE MARSH WARBLER; NUTCRACKER; MELODIOUS LAUGHING THRUSH; Red-billed Leothrix; Black-winged Stilt; Oriental Reed Warbler; Great Bittern*

Carmo's birds for Byrdy: Angelina Jolie

From Tokyo returneth the traveller...

2007-06-04T00:40:00.000+09:00

i know, it's been slack of late. No posts and no word how I'm doing. Too busy with work to post and now just home from a weekend in Tokyo...a post will follow in a few days. Lots of birdy stories though as that was the priority of the trip. A boozy trip the a most amazing city is going to happen in the not too distant future. In the meantime, enjoy the picture of the Konoike Cobra bike gang...

The week that was...

2007-05-20T17:24:00.000+09:00

As promised from a previous post, here is a photo of the koi carp streamers that are hung up all over Japan to celebrate Boys Day during the Golden Week of national holidays. This particular stretch of koi was taken 2 years ago as a group of us were driving around the north-eastern corner of Shikoku that encapsulates the Aya Valley. The Aya valley has definitely been one the highlights for me while in Japan. It is one of the worlds deepest gorges and it is just covered from top to bottom with trees...a truly wonderful sight. So green, so alive. One of the few unspoilt areas left in Japan, well, apart from some of the rivers being dammed and the made "pretty" by carefully landscaped concrete and rock formations to make it look more "interesting" for tourists...honestly.

As for me, well, what can I say really that won't bore the pants off you like it has with me. A lot of my Golden Week was spent drinking and birding. Good actually but being back at work sucked arse big time. My back (i can hear the yawns already) went again and the ability to get more than 3 hours sleep a night is now my Holy Grail. A trip to the doc that thinks all ailments are a result of gout (I kid you not) and asked ME what I thought we should do! Morphine, xanex, vicadin, valium, an epidural, frontal lobotomy, to win the lotto all came to mind, but a sensible and well diagnosed case of muscular spasms lead me to ask for NSAIDs and injections if possible. Well, I am a doctor you know. But anyway, he agreed that that was the best couse of action for now and then proceeded to ask me what qualifications I had and I duly told him. He then continued on about his training in the States in the early 70's and how he thanks them for all he knows. They obviously didn't teach him much if he's asking me for to diagnose my own health problems. NSAIDs don't work people!!! Just give me the goddamn vicadin already!! A trip to him again next week is obviously going to be worth my while.

Apart form that my minds a blank. That's how mundane it is becoming. Now that the weather is starting to get hot and steamy (oh yeah baby), day trips aboot Nippon are in order so there will be many more breathtaking and glorious stories to be told and not pictures of birds!!! Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you're all delighted. Just don't go and talk to your friends about the time when YOU used to read a blog I used to keep and tell them at how you MARVELED at the raw talent and the amazing photographs of birds I used to take in Japan when I'm all famous and living the National Geographic/Discovery Channel guru-life that we all dream about...You can tell them how you used to gasp when my Flikr page used to open and the dazzling array of mind-blowing images would jump off the screen and smack you between the eyes!!! Seriously, check out My Flikr Photos, lots of new photos. Honestly, they're unbelievable...

Maybe my delusional mind needs a rest...now where's that vicadin

Today I went out birding in Saidaiji, which is very close to Nara city, and picked up a new lifer...Ruddy Crake. A class bird that I had to wait 90 minutes for before it decided to walk across a small stretch of water between reed beds. In the excitement (delusional some would say this is, but I don't think so) i forgot to take a photo so rattled off few shots but haven't looked at them more closely yet. Oriental Great Reed Warblers were singing everywhere and they were my first ones of 2007. Fantastic song and nice to see. Fan-tailed warblers tick-tick-ticking away, the hoarse call of the Japanese green Pheasant, and singing Japanese Skylarks provided a fabulous score to the chilly early morning dawn. With news of Curlew Sandpipers at Phoenix in Amagaski of Hyogo Prefecture, I hopped back on the train at 9am and got to Amagasaki by 10am to meet Neil waiting at the bus-stop. We ended up getting a cab as the bus was another hours wait so feck that for a game of soldiers. While picking up 3 breeding plumage Curlew Sands, a pair of breeding plumage White-winged black terns bounced over the levee to provide a quite pleasant surprise. Stunning birds and a Japanese tick for both Neil and I. The Curlew Sand was a JP tick for Neil so it was a productive morning...now, to start-up Photoshop...

Camo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating Herb Chicken with lemon vinagerette...yummy

Carmo's Birds: RUDDY CRAKE; White-winged black tern*; Japanese Paradise Flycatcher; Oriental Reed Warbler; Black-winged Stilt; Red-necked Stint; Long-toed Stint; Siberian Thrush; Fan-tailed Warbler; Narcissus Flycatcher; Oriental Cuckoo. JP list over 310 now I think

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Sarah Shahi

Forbidden Son...check them out

2007-05-14T20:54:00.000+09:00

Hello and how are you all. I think you must be wondering what is the good Doctor doing with a title like that. I know I would be if I was a total stranger and reading this literary wonder that is CarmoPolice. Well, here is the spiel: my cousin's band is called Forbidden Son and is founded on the roots of heavy metal, some would say heavy heavy metal, but if you read the bio of the lads in the band, the influences in their style of play is eclectic really, ranging from the classic 1970's to the under-rated 1990's and beyond. One of the lads (who shall remain anonymous for now) cites the Bee Gees...Having already penned, recorded and produced their first, self-titled album with producer John Murphy (a well-recognized and accomplished Cork musician), they are currently working on their follow-up album. The debut album is available on iTunes and can also be purchased at their gigs. The gigs sell out very quickly when they play Cork, packing out the Half-Moon and Cruiscin Lan whenever they play there. Whether you like some over-rated media-created J-pop star such as Yui, or are into the amazing disk-spinning of DJ Shadow and the like, check out Forbidden Son...you won't be disappointed with the quality and immense talent of this unsigned band.

CP

Golden Week...strike three

2007-05-03T12:12:00.000+09:00

This week in Japan is the celebration of Golden Week, a collection of national holidays spread out over a seven day period. The collection of holidays results in the busiest travelling period in Japan for locals, with the exception of New Year and Obon in August. Golden Week consists of:

April 29 Showa Day (Showa no hi): the birthday of former Emperor Showa, who died in the year 1989. Until 2006, Greenery Day (see May 4) used to be celebrated on this day.
May 3 Constitution Day (Kenpo kinenbi): On this day in 1947, the new post war constitution was put into effect.
May 4 Greenery Day (Midori no hi): Until 2006, Greenery Day used to be celebrated on April 29, the birthday of former Emperor Showa. The day is dedicated to the environment and nature, because the emperor loved plants and nature. Before being declared Greenery Day, May 4 used to be a national holiday due to a law, which declares a day, that falls between two national holidays, a national holiday.
May 5 Children's Day (Kodomo no hi): The Boy's Festival (Tango no Sekku) is celebrated on this day. Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power and success in life. The Girl's Festival, by the way, is celebrated on March 3. The carp streamers are pretty cool and the bigger the streamer, the wealthier the owners of such streamers. A photo shall be obtained for your viewing pleasure.

So, having spent last weekend in drunken oblivion on Friday night, falling asleep on the first train home on Saturday morning (5am) and missing my stop. Our search for a den of inequity in Kyobashi to celebrate SW's birthday fell on barren ground so a trip to a Karaoke den was undertaken and we sung until dawn. Saturday began at 3pm when I woke up and went to Shinsaibashi for some Mexican food and some more beer in Balabushka, which is a cool bar situated in the Amera Mura district of Shinsaibashi. Not a very heavy night as I had to show an American couple visiting Kyoto some birding spots nearby, and I was accompanied by Kazu so it made for a good morning's birding. The purpose of the birding was snipe, and we were successful in seeing Common and Latham's (Japanese) Snipe but the elusive Swinhoe's and Pintail Snipe were not seen. The b*stards just wouldn't stay still enough on the deck...oh well. Bonus birds were JP Waxwing and VB Starling.

Sunday afternoon entailed a small bbq with PJ and SW out the back of PJ's gaff. A nice relaxed afternoon of eating and drinking in the balmy late spring air. Monday morning, accompanied by DL, was spent in Osaka-jo trying to get some photos of Narcissus and Blue&White flycatchers. Some success was had and it was a really good morning, with the company being very entertaining indeed.

Now, i am off to the mountains in search of Copper Pheasant and Chinese Bamboo Partridge. To my man on the island that is Cleire, happy birthday for the 2nd my good friend. If I have forgotten anyone elses birthday over the last while, please forgive me, but I have known CC for over 25 years so I should know his b'day at this stage!!!

GO ON THE 'POOL!!!!!!! Milan will be ours again.....and the trophy back to it's rightful home....

Carmo's Birds: JP Waxwing; Pale Thrush; Violet-Backed Starling; Latham's Snipe; Kestral; Arctic Warbler; Narcissus Flycatcher; Blue and White Flycatcher; Black-faced bunting; Grey Bunting.

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating lemon herb chicken

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Kirsten Dunst

Entertaining parents and being entertained by three starlings

2007-04-23T22:48:00.000+09:00

For the last few weeks it has been hectic here in Nippon. The folks visited for a couple of weeks, taking on a spectacular tour of Japan in the little time they were here. I was very impressed with the fact that nothing fazed them, they got around with ease and never once rang me on an SOS call. Brilliant. Taking in Hiroshima, Miyajima, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Arashiyama, Yoshino (see cherry blossoms left), and Tokyo, with a day trip to Mt. Fuji and surrounding area. The JR rail pass was a total must for this type of touring holiday as for just 29000yen, all rail travel on JR lines, including the Shinkansen (but not the Nozumi) for one week. For example, a return ticket to Tokyo itself costs in the region of 22000yen! Chuck in the 18000yen return trip to Hiroshima and all the local lines getting around Kansai, it's a massive saving. A must for anyone coming to Japan on holidays. I must say it was a pleasure having the folks over here and I thoroughly enjoyed their company and having them stay here with me when they were in Osaka. They are back home now and still in shock I think at the fact they were here.

Since they left, work had been crazy all last week and I found myself unable to get out of bed on Saturday morning to search for migs. I did meet up with a friend of mine though at 10am at Nanko for a spot of birding for a few hours which was nice. A beautiful day despite the forecast. After the typhoon winds hit (albeit weakly) on Wednesday, I was hoping for a few rares in Osaka. Although not a rare, I finally managed to catch up with a Japanese Robin...a stunning male. No photos though (hurrah, I hear the multitudes cry).

The weekend previously, the day before the folks left, I got given a couple of hours respite from the olds to go birding. With a Silky Starling (pictured above) relocated in Hamadera and Violet-backed Starling in Danichi down by the Yodagawa, I managed to see three species of Starling in one day, with the ubiquitous White-cheeked starling abundant! Not too exciting for the avesphobes out there, but for the birders, especially from Ireland, that's pretty damn special (see my Flikr page for the other two species). The weekend just past, I managed to catch up with Japanese Grey Thrush (see below), Siberian Blue Robin and Grey Bunting in Osaka-jo. It started pissing rain on Sunday morning so I went home and went shopping with PJ.

Also this weekend, I bought 2 albums, namely "Veneer" by Jose Gonzalez and "Riot in an Empty Street" by Kings of Convenience which were recommended to me by JD (the artist formerly known as PW)...INCREDIBLE!!!! I think these albums are well worth buying and brilliant for chilling out. They have been constantly blaring from my iPOD since I bought them. Thanks JD, excellent choice. Anymore recommendations from people would be more than welcome. Bro, I can't find the comments you left with your recomms so please drop me a line with them. I also finished "Arthur and George" by Julian Barnes, a more than welcome gift from AW. Another excellent choice AW...simply excellent. I have read a few of Barnes' work, such as "A History of the World in 10 1/2 chapters", "Flaubert's Parrot", and "Oscar and Lucinda". A&G is funny, brilliant and so well written, as always is the case with Barnes. Now, the Master and Margharita by Bulkakov from PW. Although I read many years ago, I look forward to reading it again...it's so out there and hilairous.

Now, the week begins and I near a 2 day work week next week. The annual Golden Week holiday is upon us yet again. My third one since I have got here. It's mad to think I am here 2 years now. Time just flies. It really does. I leave you with a photo of Todai-ji Daibutsu-den hall which is in Nara and is the largest wooden building in the world, housing one of the largest bronze statues in the world, an incredible 63 metre statue of Buddha, first cast in 762AD. Well worth checking out...

Carmo's Birds: Silky, Violet-backed, and White-cheeked Starling; Black Kite; JP ROBIN*; JP Grey Thrush; Arctic Warbler; Narcissus and Brown Flycatchers; Grey Bunting; Siberian Blue Robin

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating Cheese and Onion Tayto

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: this chick I saw in Outback on Saturday night...

A side of Japan you don't hear too much about

2007-04-10T22:49:00.000+09:00

The weekend before the folks arrived over I wandered off down to a place called Sinsekai near Tennoji with PJ and YN. The purpose of the trip was to see the old othello, shogi and majiong houses that are scattered through one of the covered over shopping streets...or lane more like it. The side of Japan I am talking about are the homeless people. There are so so many. It is unbelievable. The homeless people don't beg. You never see them (in the places I have been too at least) out on the street asking for money. They have small communities in the local parks, under railway bridges, down by the river, or anywhere they can get shelter. "Temporary" dwellings are erected and they buy second-hand car batteries to provide energy to power heaters or radios...it is incredible to see. Some of these guys just have their home on their bike and where they lay down is where they call home for the night.

I was talking to one of the guys down by the Yodogawa river one day. He lived in well constructed wooden "hut" with 3 rooms, built on stilts, keeping the base of the structure out of the water. he had lived there for 3 years and was quite happy there. His only vice was the evil weed (and I am not talking about the Bale, the artist formerly known as PW) of which he smoked 60 a day. His English was perfect and he had served in the merchant navy for 20 years before becoming a fisherman and then he packed it all in. The government give him a pension which is enough to keep him in food and essentials. Although the government men come to him every year to ask him to move, he always replies only if they provide him with an apartment or house. He said they also turn around then and leave.

The saddest thing is that the locals don't really seem to care or mind. It is just like home in many ways with this. However, some of these guys also spend their days playing othello, shogi or majiong. In the local park in Tennoji, there were a few games of shogi going on which had attracted a few onlookers. One guy was just interested in reading and keeping an eye on his fetching luggage (see above). But what one should notice that, even though his home, his dwelling is the carboard he is sitting on, he has still taken off his shoes so as not spoil the surface he will sit on/eat on/sleep in.

The houses that provided a venue for the games were crazy. Just stacks of tables and rows of old guys playing away. I took a sneaky photo just to show you. I didn't want to be obvious in case the owner came out and attacked my ninja style. As YN kept saying all afternoon "so dodgy around here". I used to play Othello with my grandfather JW when I was a kid. A great game and he always beat me. He let me win one day but I told him not to as then I would never learn.

The folks are here and having a ball. They are in Tokyo now for a few days and just called to say the place is amazing. I really should get up and see the place...

Carmo's diet: This week, I have mostly been eating evidence

Carmo's Birds: not a lot...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Jennifer Garner

Drum roll please....300 has been surpassed

2007-04-02T23:03:00.000+09:00

The nerves were jangling as Neil and I sat down for a well deserved beer on the ferry following a 3 hour journey from Kyoto to Nagoya, involving three train changes, and then a 30 minute bus ride to the ferry terminal. I couldn't wait for sunrise, couldn't wait to get out on deck and feel the cold, oh so cold wind. Thankfully the room we were sleeping in (carpet floor with a futon each of about 18 inches wide and a sheet) only had 4 other occupants so it was not crowded. I didn't sleep well though. Arising at 4.45am was a struggle but we knew we had to be on deck just before dawn. Thankfully we were...

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, at 5.40am (JST), Wednesday, March 21, 2007, I connected with and correctly called a Laysan Albatross off to port flying south (how was the lingo C?)...a dream bird for achieving species number 300 in Japan, exactly 4 weeks short of my 2 year anniversary here. Perfect...I couldn't have asked for anything better. 300 species is not bad for someone who only birds at weekends and has not gone anywhere near the islands that contain the endemics and specialites of Japan. Anyway, I digress. In amongst the couple of Laysan were also Black-footed Albatross, thousands of Streaked Shearwaters (see above), and a large number of kittiwakes. We powered on up to Sendai, arriving at 5pm, the birding over for the day but not before we were treated to a massive mixed flock of 4000 Black and White-winged Scoters before entering Sendai harbor. A fantastic way to finish a successful day's birding. Other birds on the first day were a handful of Rhinoceros Auklets, a dozen or so Brunnich Guillemots, a Spectacled Guillemot and a couple of Pom and Arctic Skuas. Now it was time for a bath, some food and a beer before hitting the floor at 8pm for some shut eye.

The next days trip was to Tomakomai in Hokkaido was quiet, with a single Red-throated Diver and more auks being the highlights on the water. Streaked Shearwaters were present in only a handful instead of the constant stream of thousands in more southern waters. The wind got icier and the snow capped moutains were incredibly scenic. The ice-capped volcanoe entering Tomakomai harbour, with smoke rising from small fissures on the top, was breathtaking (see right). Under the water, and from dawn to 11am when we docked in Tomakomai, all we saw were the violent wake of Dall's pospoises as they powered their way through the water at speed in chase of prey. It was just incredible. Everywhere we looked we could see little pods of Dall's. Amongst the small interludes from the Dall's we also saw a couple of minke whales and an amazing group of hunting Northern Fur Seals in deep water, breaking out of the waves in sleek fashion and at incredible speed. That was something I'll never forget. We also saw small groups "jug handling" on the water's surface (see below). Above the water, we were lucky to watch a couple of large flocks of Bewick's swans migrating over open ocean, heading north to their breeding grounds. One group numbered close to one hundred. They flew very close to the boat and it was mad watching this massive white "V" shaped flock coming towards us. Brilliant.

The return leg from Tomakomai to Sendai the next morning was incredible. Non-stop birds from dawn to dusk. Literally thousands of Ancient Murrelets (see below), hundreds of Rhinoceros Auklets, Kittiwakes, a handful of Crested and Least Auklets, a couple of Pom and Arctic Skuas and a single South Polar Skua. Stars of the day were a single Japanese Murrelent close to the boat, and a single Horned Puffin which is a rare winter visitor to Japan from the eastern and northern Pacific reaches. A lifer for Neil and his only lifer of the trip. He was delighted. We had a period of time for about 20 minutes at one stage when there were divers (Pacific and Black-throated) and grebes (Red-necked and Great Crested) flying up off the water and we just didn't have time to check all the auks that were flying out and away from the boat. It was mad. The whole day was busy with birds flying by and the end of the day was just as exciting as the begining.

I picked up yet another Laysan Albatross in the quickly fading light at about 5pm. This was quickly followed by a Black-footed Albatross (see below), and 8 more after that. It was just perfect, almost too perfect a way to end what was an amazing day for bird numbers and species. Watching a Black-footed Albatross just cruise along the waves with the sun setting and the wind a mere gentle breeze will always stay with me as a reminder of what a crazy, stressed-out and overly fast-paced life we lead. To be able to just cruise on by with little effort wasted and yet still get to where you want to go quickly must be idyllic.

The last leg of the journey was quiet and 2 hours shorter than expected as the ferry made some good time overnight due to the incredibly calm conditions. However, even on the approach to Nagoya bay (it takes over an hour to get to dockside) we were still seeing Ancient Murrelets in good numbers and thousands of Black-tailed gulls streaming towards land from open ocean, obviously attracted to something the fishing boats were discharging. The Black-tailed gulls were fantastically tame in Sendai, allowing us to feed them out of our hands, which permitted very close photographs being taken (see below). Madness. The closing scene from the ferry trip were small parties of Finless porposie in Nagoya bay, presumably a resident group as there were also there when we arrived back in to Nagoya the previous time we took the ferry last August. A nice way to end the trip (see my flikr page for lots more photos, avian and non-avian).

All in all, my list expanded to 306, and with news that the shrike on Shikoku is now accepted as a Red-backed (due to moulting into adult plumage), is now at 307. Oh roll on spring, and it's rolling in fast. The swallows arrived in big numbers on Sunday and the cherry blossoms suddenly exploded this morning. I dread and look forward to the spring because around the corner is the onset of 5 months of hot and humid city life...yummy. My folks arrive in this week so I will post again before the week is out...just to get off the birdy theme that has no doubt bored some of you, in which case you won't have read this last sentence...

Carmo's Birds: LAYSAN ALBATROSS, Black-footed Albatross, Red-throated Diver*, Common Guillemot, Spectacled Guillemot, Bruinnich's Guillemot, CRESTED AUKLET, RHINOCEROS AUKLET, LEAST AUKLET, JAPANESE MURRELET, ANCIENT MURELET, HORNED PUFFIN, South Polar Skua, Streaked Shearwater, Sooty/Short-tailed Shearwater, Red-necked Phalarope, Pacific and Black-throated Diver, Asian Rosy Finch...the list just goes on

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating roast beef sandwiches

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Kiele Sanchez

Sumo Wrestling and Melancholy Whores

2007-03-24T16:25:00.000+09:00

Good evening everyone, and welcome to this evenings cabaret. I have just returned from a brilliant 4 day trip on the pacific ocean, travelling from Nagoya to Tomakomai in Hokkaido and back again. All 2200km of open ocean and nothing but the wind and the sound of the sea stimulating my aurical senses. Wonderful. Did I pass the 300 species mark on this grand adventure? I'll leave that for another day...On with the show!!

Last Saturday was St. Patrick's Day. Ireland showed England that it is better at two sports which they invented oh so many years ago...Ruby and, yes folks, Cricket. The victorous boys in green whooped the asses of Italy and, surprsingly, Pakistan (ranked 4th in the world in one-day international cricket). Although the French, yet again, beat us on points scored, we really should have taken the b*tards in Crokers. Choke Park they may have called it that day, but we certainly showed Engerland how to play the game the following week. Glorious. Meanwhile, as Ireland was wowing the world of sport with their magnanimous displays on that auspiscious of days, I attended that most traditional of Japanese sports...Sumo wrestling.

The Grand Sumo Tournament was held being held in Osaka this season so after much painful and disappointing moments, we finally got some tickets for Saturday's event, the half way stage of the two week tournament. The earlier bouts begin at 9am or some such hour, and it is not until 4.30pm that the big guns come out to play. The guys who appear on all the talk shows, get paid a fortune to advertise products, and are generally held in such high esteem in Japan that the most beautiful women in the country want to have their babies (politely put as the Grandmother may read this....Hi Gran!!). Can you imagine bedding down with this fine specimen of a man ladies (see left)?? Hhhhmmmmm, I didn't think so. However, this guy is just an amateur and wouldn't even be looked at by the common folk...but as my old lady (hi Mum!!) would say, somebody loves him. And I am sure they do Mum.

A bunch of us from the gulag, as I fondly call the office these days, went along, some earlier than others. As I was at Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium at 10am to get the tickets, I had some time to kill so I took a wander around Namba Parks (affluent shopping area...Brook Brothers is here you know) and had quite a delictable luncheon in a Japanese Organic food shop sampling some quite equisite miso soup, rice balls with smoked salmon and walnuts, and a lovely cup of organic soy chai (can you make that for me Master Daly??!!). So, while munching down on that fine cuisine, I decided to finish off that Melancholy Whore which had captivated me the night before. No, not that kind of melacholy whore, but a feast of masterly writing by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. His book "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" is well worth a read if anybody is interested. The man is simply a genius, even at his ripe old age of 80.

Anyway, we went to the sumo tournament at about 12.30 and stayed until 6pm when it finished. Some beer, lots of fat men pushing and bitch slapping each other around a tiny ring, and plenty of shouting made for a brilliant day. The customs and traditions that accompany the sport are amazing. The colourful attire of the referrees, the singing of the names of the combatants before each fight (in the junior events) and the intense rivalry of the opposing fighters always evident. The grand finale of the day's fighting saw a packed house cheer on their favourite fighters. It was brilliant to see them give it their all and watch the crowd beam with delight as their man won. This tournament was broadcast nationwide and is only a few of such high standing held each year so I was really excited to have seen it. A brilliant day out.

Sunday was spent with Kazu walking the hills and forest parks around Mt. Rokko near Kobe. A beautiful place with incredible scenery and some pretty cool birds too. I managed to notch up my 299th species that day, finally catching up with a species that had eluded me all winter...Long-tailed Rosefinch. Fabulous. The days other birds included a fine flock of Yellow-throated buntings (photo above) and a resplendid male Red-flanked Blutail that posed by a small river (see below). The walk down the mountain took about 2 hours and it was called "20 crossings" in Japanese as one crosses the river 20 times while going down the moutain. What suprised Kazu and I the most was snow!! It snowed quite hard during the early part of the morning but thankfully didn't snow very much while we were walking down. The bullfinches and siskins didn't seem to mind the snow too much, but the Japanese Accentor took cover in the dense undergrowth. A good day and a pleasant way to finish off a good weekend.

Following that, I just couldn't wait to get on the ferry in Nagoya and make our way up to Tomakomai in Hokkaido and the possiblity of my 300th species in Japan...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating Viking buffet

Carmo's Birds: Yellow-throated buntings, LONG-TAILED ROSEFINCH, Dusky Thrush, Pale Thrush, Bullfinch, Jay, Red-flanked Bluetails, Daurian Redstart, Siskin, Willow Tit, Green Woodpecker...pre-ferry trip...299 species in Japan

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: All that talk of melancholy whores and whatnot....not that the chick I name is a whore...it's just the talk of women etc... I knew it wouldn't last...me giving up women??? As much chance as GWB aka The Gimp getting voted in for a 3rd term in office...the chick this week for Byrdy is...Jennifer Morrison

White day shines some light

2007-03-14T20:05:00.000+09:00

Good evening everyone and welcome to this evening's cabaret. I am totally delirious tonight following a regular man's 8 hour day on 2 hours sleep. The reason for the 2 hours of sleep? I worked a mammoth, and current record, 19 hours between 8.30am on Tuesday to 4am on Wednesday morning, being back at the office again at 8.30am...ain't life grand.

So, without further ado, and while I am still awake and jittery from the gym, I give you...THE BIRD POST for Feb 4th-March 3rd, 2007 (daaaa da da da...dddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa).

February 4th: A twitch to a place near Nagoya in Aichi for a plethora of potential ticks, lifers included. The overnight drive and a couple of hours kip in the car made for a bleary-eyed start, but through the murky light of the pre-dawn, a magnificent (Oriental) Shore Lark was visible in amongst a handful of Skylarks feeding on some waste ground near the Pacific coast. After a couple of hours of watching the lark (lifer by the way), we took a walk up the beach and saw Sanderling (JP tick), Dunlin, tons of Vega gulls but no sign of the Oystercatchers we also wanted to see. We drove up the coast and stopped off at some amazing habitat that we just don't have in Osaka...nice open mudflats in a big estuarine floodplain....glorious. From in amongst the hundreds of ducks, cormorants, and egrets, 4 Brent Geese wenting swimming by...another JP tick. This is probably Branta bernicla orientalis, the race of Brent Goose occurring in E Siberian and W Canada. Info on the web suggests it's either a race of Black Brant, Pacific Brant or it's part of Black Brant and isn't racially distinct. Don't you just love geese. Then a couple of Saunder's gulls floated by (see photo above)...magic. In total we saw close to 30 Saunder's gulls, including a flock of about 20 on a sand bar. Definitely coming back here again during migration time. So, 3 ticks including a lifer. Not bad. No Oystercatchers though...

February 10th-12th: Spent within the environs of Osaka, the 10th being filled by showing an English birder from Tokyo around the various parklands, providing class birds such as wryneck, Golden-Crowned Sparrow (still around) and Chinese Grosbeaks as lifers for Richard. We also stumbled across a glorious flock of 34 Japaense Waxwings (see photo above). The female Goshawk being persistently mobbed by a flock of Jungle Crows made for an entertaining spectacle while waiting for the Golden-Crowned Sparrow to appear from the reeds. The 12th was supposed to be another trip to Mie Prefecture to get the Oystercatchers but I slept out and missed it. Bollix to working so much. I ended up going to Phoenix where I found a Spotty Red, LBD in winter plumage, plenty of duck, Kentish Plover, Green Sandpiper and a brilliant flock of Reed Buntings and Chinese Penduline Tits.

February 24th: A trek up to Tobakaido in the early morning was worth the unmerciful waking hour of 4am. A walk for about an hour up a trail in the woodland finally rewarded me with my first Grey Buntings, lifer!! Beautiful buntings but difficult to see as they can be skulkers. While waiting for the buntings to reappear, a pair of Red-billed Leothrix were noisily flying around my head, accompanied by the mad JP White-eyes. After a few hours in the peace and quiet of Tobakaido and Fushimi-inari, I headed to the Imerial Palace grounds in Kyoto, where a probable hybrid Dusky x Black-throated Thrush was found during that week. Although I didn't see that thrush, a fantastic White's Thrush showed extremely well on the lawn before it flew up into the trees (see above). Aswell as that, there was a supporting cast of Rustic Buntings, hundreds of Olive-Backed Pipits, Pale, Brown, and Dusky Thrushes and a large flock of 60 JP Grosbeaks. A lone Daurian Redstart and Bull-headed Shrike were nice to watch amongst the blossoming Plum trees (aaahhhhhhh).

February 25th: Another twitch to Mie prefecture, this time in the company of Kazu and 2 of his friends. It was a great day out and it was good to spend some time with Kazu. We had an amazing day, seeing Ruff, Wood Sandpipers, Long-toed Stints, Common Snipe, LRPs, Grey-headed Lapwings, Northern Lapwings, Rustic, Meadow and Black-faced Buntings and skylarks. However, the stars of the trip were a brilliant flock of 7 Temminck's Stints (a lifer and major bogey bird, see photo above) and Japan's 2nd Semipalmated Plover (photo below), also a lifer (I think). The Plover was a cool bird but bird of the day for me had to be the Temminck's stint. Although an annual passage migrant in Japan, I have waited a long long time to see one of these birds. Kazu found the first Temminck's and I was so thrilled. We also watched a Japanese Green Pheasant crash in to a window, bounce off and tumble into the ditch but he looked ok. Neil could not make it that weekend but he caught up with the Plover the following Thursday...and he got the Oystercatchers....fecker.

March 3rd: A mega twitch to Shikoku with Neil for Japan's 2nd Red-backed shrike (photo below)....or is it??? Answers on a postcard please and more photos available on My Flikr Photos. Other birds that day included a flyover Crossbill, JP Sparrowhawk, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Bull-headed shrikes and tons of JP Bush warblers singing everywhere...spring is coming. Although it was 22Deg C that day, it was snowing in Osaka a week later. The world is going mad...

Enough I said!!!! Check out more photos on My Flikr Photos!!!

I think that I...

2007-03-12T22:32:00.000+09:00

am coming to the end of my time here. I didn't go birding this weekend, I didn't go boozing or cruising for chicks (I've given up on them, remember). I didn't do anything constructive this weekend (except tame that bitchin side-crease). I filled my water bottles. I didn't have mental fortitude to write to my swan. I dreamed the dream, where I was not tired as I passed out on the couch of PJ's on Sunday afternoon while watching Lost...waking up and not knowing where the hell I was. Lost. Freaked. Exhausted...roll on the day I get on the ferry in Nagoya and sail the Pacific. No office, no 14 hour days of writing, just 14 hour days of watching and observing. I look forward to that. This is not a sad post, nor a doomsday post...it's just a very exhausted and sleepy post. The humor is there and the form is good. The anger I keep for the office. The bird post is coming, the photos are edited. Time to sleep now. Time to sleep...

My love/hate relationship with Apple...and why I now look more like my Dad

2007-03-04T17:01:00.000+09:00

Hello to one and all, it's been a while so I am sure you are starved of your weekly rundown by yours truly. So, to ease the pain, I have found some time to finally post. If you are wondering about the title, as I am sure you are, once again my iPod decided to take on a life of its own and do its best to really piss me off. Those of you who know me well will be well aware of my allergy to speaking to people for the first couple of hours of waking in the morning. Can you imagine my absolute horror and immediate vein-bursting rage that ensued when I discovered upon turning on my iPod that the SOB had deleted all my tunes, photos and backed-up backed-up files!!! As I was out the door and heading to catch the train to work, I did not have time to go back and reload the beast. Instead, I had to force upon my confused and dazed mind, the noise of the morning rush hour...not pleasant. Two days later, after resetting the Pod and reloading de tunes, the FSOB did it again!!! Enraged and ready to push any annoying pavement cycling local off their bikes if they rang their bell at me again to get out of their way as they careened past me on the pavement, I took the Pod to Apple store in Shinsaibashi that night after work. While at this time of night (9.30pm) my mind was saturated and not wanting to deal with anything irritating, I managed to keep my cool and negotiate in a very calm, persuasive, and in, which is what shocked me, such an eloquent manner, the replacement of my iPod...for the 4th time!!! I was hating Apple right there. Yes folks, this was my 4th iPod in less than a year...hence my frustration. However, what I was most proud of was getting the store to honor a verbal agreement I had with the Manager which was if my iPod broke down again, I would get the latest generation iPod as a replacement. They conceeded to this verbal agreement in the end. Nice wan I thought when i walked out the door and headed on my hour long journey home.

About a week or so later I received a phone call from Apple store saying my replacement, the latest gen iPod was in. After having convinced my self that I would get a 30GB ivideo generation iPod to replace my 60GB iPhoto iPod, when they produced an 80GB iPod I was dumbfounded!!! I didn't particularly care if I was getting a 30GB as that is all I require to be honest. However, I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I appreciatively accepted the generousity of Apple and walked out the door a happy man. I love Apple.

Apart from that drama, the slog that is work at the moment...sorry, that is always work (boring topic I know but such has my life from Mon-Fri become), and the general malaise that comes with not knowing what day one has until someone realizes at 10pm on Friday night while sitting at our desks that it is, indeed, Friday. With that it's off to 280yen for some beers and soy beans (yes Master Daly, I even eat the beans that provide the milk for my latte that you so love to make). i've been out birding a bit at the weekends lately trying to notch up my 300th species for Japan. After today's mad twitch with Neil, I am on 299...only one to go. More on that later when I post a birdy blog towards the end of the week, which will probably mean the weekend.

Anyway, did anyone see the lunar eclipse last night (Sat March 3)?? Although Europe was supposed to get the full show, us mere mortals in Nippon only saw a fraction of the spectacle. It was however, quite cool to see the moon glowing red as it was sinking in to the Inland Sea of Japan, from the north east corner of Shikoku. Pretty damn impressive. I also visiting Mt. Kongo (see pic below) on Saturday just gone, about 2 hours travelling from my apartment all told. Nice place, quiet, calm and void of a lot of people. Although the typical Japanese hill walkers were out in force, walking poles, bear-bells and loud conversation, I avoided them as best I could. While they are nice people, they just don't walk very quietly and it ruins and spoils the whole point of being out in the peace and quiet of the countryside....

By the way, that mad twitch with Neil saw us cross a series of six major bridges and five viaducts in crossing the Akashi Straits between Honshu and Shikoku. The six bridges are: the Shimotsui-Seto Bridge, Hitsuishijima Bridge, Iwakurojima Bridge, Yoshima Bridge, Kita Bisan-Seto Bridge, and Minami Bisan-Seto Bridge. The worlds longest suspension bridge, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge (1.991 Km long at its central span), I drove across shorlty after I first came here back in 2005. Pretty spectacular...here is a photo of the Kita Bisan-Seto bridge (I think). Massive.

I bet you are all wondering "why does Carmo think he knows he looks like his Dad?". Genetically of course, I resemble my ol' fella a helluva lot, and phenotypcially I do aswell. However, with the lack of barber time since I returned to Japan, I am now sporting a lovely side-crease people!!! Just like my ol' fella...no disrespect Da, but I think it's time to get a bazzar.

With that lovely thought, i bid you all adieu...

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been trying to burn off the spare tyre...it's not quite working

Carmo's Birds: Some goodies...but here's a taster, Long-toed stint, Wood Sand, JP Snipe, LRP, Crossbill, Osprey...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: I've given up on women

And so it goes on...

2007-02-20T22:26:00.000+09:00

yes, the never-ending cycle that is work and no play, the ever persistant presence of the tired eyes, the bags that reach my knees (bags from my eyes lads, bags from my eyes!!!). I don't know how much longer I can do this to be honest but I guess I had better wait until my parents come to visit in the next 6 weeks or so. I am looking forward to that, it should be fun seeing their faces and observe them look on in awe and wonder. I will enjoy that.

Well, the last couple of weeks have been pretty heavy on the work-side and quiet on all other fronts. A bit of birding the weekend before was good. I was guiding a visiting British birder from Tokyo around the parks of Osaka in search of JP and life ticks for him. We had a 75% success rate so that was good. He enjoyed himself and the company was thoroughly enjoyable. I of course slept out on the Monday when Neil and I were due to go back to the find the Oystercatchers so I woke up and screamed in frustration at my inability to hear my alarm clock. I guess I needed the sleep. I went out birding locally anyway and came home to watch some movies and generally chill out. I ended up sleeping for most of the day...I think my body is trying to tell me something!!!

I have seen some class movies lately. Namely "Lucky Number Slevin", "Scoop", "The Departed", "The Illusionist", and "The Black Dahlia". I recommend people should go and see them. I can't wait to see the "The Last King of Scotland" with Forrest Whittaker as Idi Amin. The reviews have been awesome. I also watched "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" which got my wind up and as those of you who know me well can only imagine what I was feeling as I was watching that...fecking Black and Tans, murderous pigs. Anyway, enough of all that. Oh by the way, if anyone is interested in seeing a politician in new light, or rather an ex-politician, watch "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore...excellent and frightening all at the same time....

The world appears to be going mad, Baghdad is like Beirut about 20 years ago at the height of the kidnappings and car bombs. The US of Anarchy wants to put even more troops into Iraq to ease the transition...bollix. When are they going to wake up and realize that they are better off putting the money into better things like research into renewable and clean energy!!!! The sooner that gimp gets out of power and somebody decent (hahaha, yeah I know, I laughed aswell) gets in with a bit of commen sense and decency, the better.

Well, I have no more energy to write anything interesting. I was hoping to post up about the Chinese New Year festival that was held in Kobe on Sunday, accompanied by breathtaking photographs but the weather forecast was bad so I didn't go. Of course, the weather turned out to be really nice in the afternoon and the place was supposed to have been mad. Whaddaya goin to do...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating mexican

Carmo's Birds: not to give too much away....Long-billed Dowitcher, Spotted Redshank and Penduline tit the picks...JP 295

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Jessica Biel

The January Bird Report

2007-02-12T13:57:00.000+09:00

Well, to spare all you avesphobes out there the uncomfortable feeling of reading a posting where I talk about birds and what not, in amongst the remainder of what else I got up to during the week, I have decided now to summarize the birding in a monthly post. Please be aware that this may change as the mood suits. Thank you.

So, January was a good month in notching up 8 Japanese ticks, including 5 lifers and a cat. C JP tick. The first weekend back after my break back home was exciting if not long. Despite being totally out of it from jetlag, Neil and I headed up to Kanazawa on the Japan Sea to look for the wintering Upland Buzzard, and if time permitted, a quick look at the geese flocks in Fukui. An overnight drive from Kyotanabe, a few hours kip in the car at the site of the buzzard, and by dawn we were ready to twitch. I didn't know where I was or what time it was but it was great nonetheless. A dozen or so Black Kites sitting in the now ploughed and dry rice paddie fields set the heart racing, and common buzzards gliding low over the ditches causing Neil to slam on the breaks, I quickly gathered my senses. A merlin bombing right over the car in pursuit of a buff-bellied pipit was incredible to see, while a couple of Marsh Harriers hunted along the grassy verges. After about 30 minutes of criss-crossing the roads that traverse the fields, I spotted a pale buzzard sitting on a ditch. We slowed down and got a better look...Upland Buzzard!! Magic. The bird gave us a stare and off it flew giving exceptional views. We spent the rest of the day driving around the fields but we never could relocate the bird. However, it wasn't over yet. As we were driving along, admiring the 6-7 Marsh Harriers hunting over the reedbeds that skirted the river and pond in the area, I was woken abruptly by Neil thumping my arm and applying the brakes...Azure-winged Magpies!!!!! 18 in all. Beautiful birds and an unexpected lifer for the trip. It had been so long since Neil had seen them they may as well have been a new species for him. I was thrilled as the only place that I know of where one is guaranteed to see them is Tokyo...sweet. A fitting end to a great day.

The following weekend was kept local with news of an overwintering Red-breasted Flycatcher and a pair of Chinese Grosbeaks. We met early enough and headed for the grosbeaks first. After finding the city park they were in, we quickly located the birds by the presence of the photographers. Stunning is all I will say really. The photo (above) does them some justice. When the birds flew off amongst the flock of Japanese Grosbeaks (below), we headed back to the train station and onto the next site. After 2 train changes and a taxi, we finally reached the park and once again, we were alerted to the bird's whereabouts by the click-click-click sound of camera shutters and the shouts of "sugoi" from the locals. Red-breasted Flycatchers are rare in Japan, with the more annually occuring Taiga Flycatcher being the more likely species to occur. Although we weren't too sure at the beginning if it was an RB Fly, we finally agreed that it was one. Many of the Japanese birders/photographers there were not aware that 2 species existed now which can be difficult to tell apart. Still, it constituted a JP tick as we had seen Taiga Fly on Hegura-jima a year earlier. After some stunning views (first photo above), we headed off and called it a day.

The following weekend was another local twitch. I dipped on the first morning there, even waiting in the one spot for 5 hours and looking at the reeds/scrub that the birds was last seen fly into. I returned the next morning and, after a 2 hour wait, was treated to spectacular views of Japan's 2nd Golden-Crowned Sparrow (see below). A birds common in the United States, but only the second time seen in Japan, the first being back in 1935 in Tokyo. Although some will say it is only a sparrow, it is actually a nice looking bird. I got some dodgy photos but it's enough for a record shot. The park where the bird was found is massive and so the area was packed with birds. Brambling, Siskin, Greenfinch, Black-faced Buntings (see final photo), White-cheeked Starlings, Pale and Dusky Thrushes aplenty. Despite a brief search, I could not find the reported Common Starling which would have been a JP tick for me, but the consolation came in stumbling across a few Red-flanked Bluetails, Daurian Redstarts and Hawfinches. Magical morning.

February is not yet over, but it has been exciting also...if my life gets as banal as it is looking like it could be, I may be posting the bird report a bit sooner than you think...

I have posted more photos on my Flikr page, including some more shots of birds from home...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been buring the candles at both ends

Carmo's Birds: As mentioned above...with February ticks added on...295

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: I've given up for now

Not quite the bird post yet...

2007-02-03T17:40:00.000+09:00

Well, it's been pretty crazy since I last posted. Work has just been ridiculously busy and I have not had any time to do much else really. As well as that, I have been pretty sick all week and not being able to take a day off to shake off the chest infection/fever/head cold/snot factory that is my nose. Life is just marvellous.

Last weekend I managed to get out for a few hours birding on Sunday morning, heading up to Tobakaido for some early morning bird calls and a walk in the forest. It was cold, bright and rather beautiful. The area is a just one massive shrine/temple complex nestled in amongst the trees. It is a very calm place and something that I needed after the week of work I had just put down (LM was away on hols for the week so there was more work to be done other than my own). I didn't see any new birds or anything out of the ordinary, just the usual woodland birds of this time of year...Daurian Redstarts, Red-flanked Bluetails, Pygmy Woodpeckers, Japanese White-eyes etc. However, they are always nice to look at. The area also enompasses Fushimi-inari and the temple of the fox. A place very popular with the Kansai folk in the new year as it is a place to go to pray for good fortune and wealth.

I also swapped all my Nikon gear for Canon...yes, sorry Dad, I went to the dark side. I am very pleased with my choice and the quality of the photos are superb. You can see a collection of such photos on my Flikr page. I didn't have to add too much to the trade-in and so it was worth it. I was going to go out to Phoenix near Amagasaki this morning but figured a sleep in was in order to try and shake this illness and it seems to have worked a bit as I feel so much better now. Instead, I went to Tsurumi park to see if I could take some shots of the American Wigeon there and sure enough, the fella obliged (see above). Lots of locals out for their walks and plenty of people there feeding the ducks. All in all a pleasant afternoon.

Tonight, Neil and I are heading off to Mie Prefecture in search of a Shore lark and hopefully some nice gulls. A couple of Saunder's gulls were also seen there last week. Fingers crossed we will have a successful trip. I will fill you all in the bird-dedicated post during the week. Bet you all can't wait...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating dried blueberries

Carmo's Birds: American Wigeon, Goshawk, Peregrine Falcon. JP List: 291

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Heidi Klum

Was I really back home...(part 1)

2007-01-21T17:33:00.000+09:00

First of all my apologies for not posting anything since I came back from my all-went-too-quickly vacation at home. For those of you I did not get a chance to meet up with, I apologize profusely but I really did not have much time. In fact, I did not have much time to exactly what I wanted...I needed a holiday when I came back and thankfully I had a long weekend ahead of me when I did return. However, that was spent driving over night for a mad twitch, but I will spare you all the details of that for the next posting which shall be bird-related...the collective sigh of relief now sends the meteorologists in a spin as a untold numbers of mini-tornadoes and hurricaines pop up in regions where they don't normally occur. A bit like what is happening now across Europe which is crazy. Global warming? Natural fluctuations? Are we due another stormy period in the earth's weather patterns? Who knows...

Moving on, it was great being home, seeing the family and as many people as I could. I found it very strange at first, being able to understand everthing that was being said, being able to read all the signs, the tv, the radio...it was a bit overwhelming for the first couple of days but then it just settled into the madness that ensued. A family wedding thrown into the middle of the mix made for a fully booked-out Carmo diary. It was hectic. Coming back, I was sad to leave my family, being around them was good but I knew that this was just a very short vacation. It was not a move back. The city had changed a bit, some cool and quite ugly buildings thrown into the mix but the mood and atmosphere of the city was changed. I don't know if it was a good or bad one...it was hard to put one's finger on it. However, one thing for certain was that there was a particular edginess to the city that was not there before in such an obvious manner. People appeared very tense and wary...interesting.

Upon return to Nippon, it was full steam ahead and back into life here as if I never left. I questioned myself a few times to remember that, yes indeed, I was really back home for a bit. A couple of sessions with the boys here and HD from the ol' stomping grounds was good and it was nice to hear a familiar accent and share my stories of being home with HD and the friends back in Cork that we have in common. Of course, being back at work was just like getting back on a bike after a rest from being on it. It just came back to me. Although the first day back was the slowest day of my life I think. Even slower than sitting through one of Bishop Magee's sermons when I was a kid and went to mass. It was that brutal. As big brother has an extensive and thorough reach, that is all I will say on that. Work is work is work...and that's all I do.

And to really bring home the fact I was back in Nippon, the new craze to hit the streets of Osaka is the MEGAMAC...four beef patty's in one glorified heart-attack-guaranteed-or-your-money-back big mac. The locals went nuts for it. You should be able to check out a commercial here. Even I had one and felt like throwing up for quite some time afterwards. I think that ghoul of a clown wants to fatten up the locals and bring their life expectancy of 81 down to the rate of the US which is currently at 77 (and rising by all accounts). I am led to believe by the media that such a burger has been banned from being sold in Britain...those munchers of the "pork pie betty" and other glorious wonders such as deep fried mars bars. Now that is saying something.

One of the coolest things I have seen yet these last couple of weeks has been the release of Apple's new iPhone . It is spectacular. I wouldn't buy one mind you, as it is going to retail at about 500USD but it certianly makes the prospects of the next generation of iPods look very intriguing indeed.

So, at last I get a post up. I will update the bird-lovers amongst you with a separate post as I have been pretty busy and let's just say, 5 new species in the last 2 weeks, 4 of which were lifers....oh, nice. Also, news just in. My allegiance to a certain camera maker may be coming to an end but more on that later.

I hope all is well and answers to emails shall begin posthaste.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating hot lemon drinks

Carmo's Birds: oh, wait and see. 291 species for Japan now...9 to go

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Lucy Liu

it's finally arrived...

2006-12-22T00:12:00.000+09:00

I'm going to bed for the last time in Japan in 2006. For those of you whom I haven't email'd in a while...my sincerest apologies. My mind wasn't quite with it and it still isnt' now. It's been a mad couple of months. No time to sleep. No time to eat. No time to go birding. No time to breathe.

I go home for the first time in nearly 2 years. It's been quite a while. i've changed. My country has changed. No doubt my friends and family have changed. Soon I will find out by how much...

For those of you who do or do not know me...I wish all the best at this strange time of year. Swans fly and leave what's familiar. Realizing their freedom is what will save them. I will be talking soon.

As such, I bid you goodnight, and a safe trip home...

Pallas's Rosefinch, number 286 in Japan...Copper Pheasant about 15 minutes earlier was 285. Nice way to end 2006 birding in Japan

11 days to go...

2006-12-11T21:40:00.000+09:00

only 11 days to go. It feels like an eternity!! Last week was tough although I did manage to get to the gym twice...managed to lose 10 ounces and drop one eighth off my waist. I'm very proud of my 39 and 7/8 waistline now. Stressed to the hilt and looking like I'm 90...marvellous.

Worked 6 days this week and it pissed rain on the day off I had...typical really. So that means no photos of birds, buildings, stupid stuff or anything!! The streets are now alive with the sound of Christmas carols blaring out from the public tannoy system, which is a bit freaky really. Mind you, it has been that way for the last few weeks. It's crazy. Watching people scurry around trying to ignore the westernization of Japan...ah well, it's bound to happen sooner or later and the rate that McD's is springing up on every corner the nation that once lived the longest will not live the longest anymore. Maccers is always packed and the kids just love the stuff. Mind you, I am partial to the Big Mac here, rather tasty...

Anyway, I ramble. A big congrats out to Mike and Fiona back home who got engaged recently...fabulous. And of course to Dr. Carmody and Dr. Keeshan for also doing the same. Looking forward to seeing you all sooooonnnnnnnn.

Been watching Grey's Anatomy recently...hooked.

Oh, managed to notch up another JP tick on my lunch break on Friday...Ferruginous Duck, 284 baby, only 16 to go...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating garbage

Carmo's Birds: Ferruginous Duck* (JP 284)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Katherine Heigl

It's my life...I like it

2006-12-05T23:38:00.000+09:00

My life the past week (or couple of months really) in a nutshell:

Work

gym (once)

Sleep

Alarm...

Weekend: drink; sleep; wake; eat; shower; dinner; drink; wake; bird; eat; sleep; dvd; sleep...

Work etc

Went for dinner with the gang from work on Saturday evening to celebrate a birthday and then went home due to falling asleep after a couple of pints (not the company's fault). PJ's good mate from home, Michael, went back to Oz on Monday so we had some mighty drinks on Friday night and a nice dinner in an Italian pizza joint near home on Sunday evening. A good man and good craic...

Sunday went birding with Neil but it was not very exciting by Japanese standards. The best of the day was the red-eared terrapins (see above) trying to warm up on the rocks heated by the winter sun on the Yamatagawa...it is getting very cold now. The ski slopes in Hokkaido have opened so the snowboarding season is about to take off big stylie. In fact, a gang from work are heading up to Sapporro in Hokkaido on Thursday this week for a bit action...steady. Unfortuntaely due to the fact that I am taking all my available holidays to go home for a bit of a break, I was not able to join them. Maybe in the new year before the season ends...However, I am glad I am taking all my hols to get home for a bit. It has been a while...

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Rua and KS on their engagement a couple of days ago...magic lads. Bon voyage to my bro heading off to Dubai today for the next year or so anyway. I will be out to visit fella, it's only an 8 hour flight!!!!

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been living on low-fat latte

Carmo's Birds: Black-faced bunting; Bull-headed Shrike; Mongolian, Slaty-backed, Kamatchka, Black-tailed and Vega gulls.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Vanessa Paradis

Burning the midnight oil...

2006-11-27T22:51:00.000+09:00

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

6 weeks and counting...

2006-11-12T17:12:00.000+09:00

6 weeks is all that stands between me and my first pint of decent guinness in nearly 2 years. Oh, and also to see my family and friends of course!! The time will fly and I am thoroughly looking forward to being back on Irish soil once again. It has been far too long. Being busy at work and not having enough time to get proper rest at the weekend, I am hoping that I can relax when I get back to ol' gaff and taste some really good home cooking. Don't get me wrong, Japanese food is fantastic and I love it, but there are some aspects of it that really just don't do it for me. As you can see in the following photos, this was dessert that was served up to us at the work retreat in Akame a week or so ago. It looked nice, but dear god it tasted like... Please note that I've aged about 100 years since i arrived in Japan.

On Friday I went to see Capote in Umeda Sky Theatre and it was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and having read the book many years ago, it was cool to see a movie based on how the book was written and the impact it had on Capote. Seymour Hoffman was superb. It is a real treat going to the movies in Japan as tickets cost about 12yoyos and the standard of some of the cinema theatres remind me of the old Ormonde back home many many years ago. Not great but it serves a purpose. Next in line is the new Boorman movie, "the wind that shakes the barley" which is being released here next week and only in selected cinemas. I am really looking forward to that. No doubt I will come out of the movie in an irate and angry mood, singing rebel songs and ranting on about how the Black and Tans were the devil's horsemen incarnate. It should be entertaining for those around me.

Last night I went to Tin's Hall, which is a bar in the Tennoji area of Osaka, and there was an excellent jazz/soul band playing. Gav, Sam and I managed to nab a table and we had a few beers while listening to a covers of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, and other notable soul legends. No singing though, just a bass guitar, sax, piano and drums. Then a moment occurred bringing me back to my school days of old, when somebody came up to me and said that their friend liked me and wanted to speak with me. So, for the laugh I went up and talked to this chick via her friend who was translating. Fantastically nice people but the lack of Japanese on my part really does hinder these kind of moments. Still, I might call on that...

When I got home I decided to stay up and listen to Ireland trounce South Africa and it was great to hear that Davide Wallace, my flatmates cousin, was back wearing the green, and generally played his all round excellent game. Listening to Ciaran Fitzgerald commentating was marvellous. Today, went birding with Neil along the Yamato-gawa in search of the winter's first gulls and we werent' disappointed. The only problem was that it was so damn cold...winter is truly on it's way.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating oranges

Carmo's Birds: Mongolian, Slaty-backed, Vega, Black-tailed and Taimarensis Gulls.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Lily Evangeline again...episode 6 Season 3 of Lost rocked!

48 waterfalls and a skylark

2006-11-04T17:36:00.000+09:00

Well, the last week has been pretty hectic, with work, some photography, the CT challenge and an overnight work trip to Akame falls in Mie prefecture, about 2 hours drive north east of Osaka. The bonus of the week was having a public holiday yesterday which was nice. I bought myself a nice new monopod/head set up for the camera, trying to minimize the shake at long focal lengths and hoping to maintain the object in sharp focus. It worked well, the Siberian Rubythroat photograph (below) testament to that fact...a nice little fella that popped out in front of me while taking a leisurely stroll through Osaka-jo park last weekend. The rest of the week was humdrum but the work trip away had its pluses, as well as its minuses. An incredibly beautiful setting in the hills, the temperature somewhat chilly and the autumn colors just about begining to peak through now.

Although the area is called Akame 48 waterfalls, there is actually only 24 waterfalls but there is only one path winding through the valley. So, when one walks the entire length of the path one sees 24 waterfalls, however, one also has to walk back through the same path, thereby seeing the 24 waterfalls again...which in Japanese speak means that you have seen 48 waterfalls. Logical really. The purpose of the work gathering was to talk together and have a rest. Talking together we did for the first 2 hours after we arrived, the gaijin staff having a separate meeting to the Japanese staff. Then, a 2 hour period of personal time, with only 1 hour of light left, was spent walking along the path of the 48 waterfalls. It is truly spectacular. The dense forest, the heady smell of vegetation and the sound of bird calls sometimes overcoming the noise and rush of the fast flowing river and the crashing sounds of the waterfalls. This is also a protected area for the endagered Fire Salamander and other species of salamander that live here. Unfortunately we didn't see any in the river but a couple of 1 metre long speciemens were on display in a small exhibit situated at the begining of the trail. Incredible creatures.

That night, a traditional Japanese dinner, some of it great, some of it terrible. A lot of free beer and a lot of speech making. It was my responsibility to take the photos so I spent most of dinner and speech time doing just that. I prattled on about our expedition to Mt. Fuji, entertaining as you can imagine. Then, another hour or so of personal time so we just got some beer and drank outside in the chilly mountain air. Nice. I really wanted to go to the onsen but with the tattoos I have, it was better that I didn't. If the boss saw them there could be a chance I would get fired. I kid you not. Furthermore, most onsens have a blanket ban on tattoos but I have never been asked to leave one before. It's very taboo in Japan these days as most of the people who have tattoos are members of the yakuza, the Japanese mafia. Then, a meeting with the boss that lasted until 5am from what I heard. We lasted until 3am and had to sit through an uncomfortable experience of watching one of the senior staff members being publicly humiliated, with some of the female staff members crying silent tears at the horror unfolding before them. It was horrendous. Totally out of order. Thankfully it was all in Japanese but the faces of the JP staff told the story without the need for a translator. I left at 3am and went to bed. While having my last ciggie of the day, standing on the balcony overlooking the river and forest, an Oriental Scops Owl was singing away to its hearts content and bats were hunting under the street lamp...magical.

The next day, we awoke to a beautiful morning. With Jays flying back and forth across the tree-covered mountains, Ashy Minivets calling from the dense forest, and the hammering of trees by woodpeckers, it was the one relaxed moment I had in the 24 hours previous to that. After a group photograph, it was back to Osaka (above) by 11am and to work for an hour of so to check that there were no emergency matters needing attention from that morning's incoming correspondance. Then, as we thanked the boss for the fabulous evening, he asked us did we get a good rest. It took me a few seconds to realize he was being serious. What the fcuk? Of course I wasn't rested. I got 4 hours bloody sleep and had to listen to BS all night. I just smiled and answered in the affirmative and went home. I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out.

Last night I went for beers with the boys and few of the girls, which was a great laugh. Today, I woke and arose at 9am, tidying the apartment, cooking some food, reading a book. I received a fantastic parcel from JW and the Blanan inhabitants during the week, filled with books, S&V Tayto, a DVD, a t-shirt and a signed copies of the rare Forbidden Son's first album and of the Whales and Dolphin Guide that JW wrote and illustrated. I have enough books now to last me at least 6 months! I was over the moon. So, I started The Master by Colm Toibin this morning. So far, so good...

So, you may be wondering why I have the word "skylark" in the title of this post?? Well, I decided to take a wander on the local train and got off at Hoshida station where there are nice fields of farmed land, mainly rice paddies, although these are very dry now. However, I wanted to get some photos of the local birds (feathered kind boys, the ones that fly...) and build up my portfolio of images. I spent a very relaxed and frustrating afternoon chasing skylarks. In the end, I still didn't manage to get one decent shot. However, I did manage to see another lifer...Chestnut-eared Bunting!! I was totally surprised and quite delighted. A cast of Siberian Stonechat, Olive-backed pipit, Black-faced bunting, Daurian Redstart, Bull-headed shrike and Fan-tailed warbler,plus a flock of at least 700 Tree Sparrows made for a very entertaining afternoon.

And now, maybe I will finally get to catch up on all the emails I need to reply to, I just haven't had the energy lately and the emails are mounting! Therefore, I shall leave you to do whatever it is you are doing and I am off to write some emails...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating tofu and seaweed

Carmo's Birds: CHESTNUT-EARED BUNTING*; Siberian Rubythroat; Ashy Minivet; ORIENTAL SCOPS OWL (calling only); Mandarin Duck; Daurian Redstart; Black-faced Bunting; Jay;

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy:Missy Peregrym

2006-10-27T00:06:00.000+09:00

Once again I appear to you rather tardily due to an intense work schedule and a lack of motivation in writing anything about non-existent life at the moment. Last weekend was spent in the office on Saturday, my first time since I have arrived in Japan, so that was not pleasant but it had to be done. I needed to catch up on a few things and at least I got them done to put me back on track. All that after a 65 hour week...the joys. At least the days go by quickly and the weeks will fly by. Before I know it, I will be back in de real capital supping on the black stuff and wondering had I ever left. I look forward to it.

Also, the rumours of my new job as sumo wrestler can now be put aside as I give to you proof of the next job in my life...stuntman. Yes ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, Evel Carmo-Kinevel at work, providing the crowds with thrills, spills and daredevil activities. An action shot of me on my bike, taken by Action Johnson with Samuel L. "Windley" Jackson's leg at the edge of the frame. We were coming back from playing a bit of ball in the park, jumpers for goalposts...nice. After that it was straight to the 280yen bar for some beer, edamame and carage. Excellent!!

I also attended a costume party for one of the girl's birthdays which was great fun but those who know me will know that I did not dress up in any attire whatsoever, as I am a boring bastard and to be honest, it's just not my bag baby. A great night was had by all but some had more fun than others....if you know what I mean...family show and all that :) Anyway....

A bit of birding in Osaka-jo produced 6 species of flycatchers (Narcissus flycatcher above), a couple of warblers and some fine brambling having a bath with a White-eye...all very exotic. Photos of some of the birds can be found on my Flikr page, the link for which is on the left. Check them out, there are other photos of Fuji, Osaka, Kyoto etc.... And so, after this brief and rather BBBOOOORRRRRIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG account of my last couple of weeks, I will head to bed and prepare what's left of my sanity for another day in the office.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating small oranges

Carmo's Birds: Brown, Sooty, Blue and White, Grey-streaked, Narcissus and Mugimaki Flycatcher; Brambling; Arctic Warbler; Brown Thrush; Pale Thrush.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Rebecca Romijn

Losing my mind

2006-10-14T14:20:00.000+09:00

The last couple of weeks since I last posted have been pretty hectic, crazy and mind-numbing. A persistent chest-infection and head cold, which is finally abating now, had me feeling like death warmed up, and a 70 hour work week the week before, kept my strength down. Last weekend was quiet, a bit of birding but nothing new or unusual of note. A scope view of Redshank, Spotted Redshank, Greenshank and Black-tailed Godwit made me feel like I was back home, but for only a second or two. The arrival of 5 Marsh Sandpipers into view brought me back down to earth with a bang. It was nice while it lasted. I am looking forward to coming home this Christmas. It will be the bones of 2 years since I last stepped on the hallowed turf of Ireland. It is going to be a good day....

This week was just as bad as regards work, we are very busy with some high profile cases due yesterday, of which I am involved in one. It's exciting, frustrating and amazing work to be involved in. Although I have my work face on (those who know, will know what I mean...basically, I look like I could kill someone if they spoke to me) I am relishing the challenge.

Some interesting tidbits of late, a great night out to see Giles Peterson at Club Noon was superb, a train full of unicyclists was unnerving and surreal, young folk randomly dancing in unison on the street corners of Umeda, some beautiful buildings in good light for a change, a trip to see Match Point with my friend Seiko was excellent ("the wind that shakes the barley" or moves the barley arrives in next month....excellent), Seiko and another friend of mine quit work which made me sad, screaming people atop a float moving through my neighborhood at 9am this morning, banging drums and playing whistles was not good, the opening of a 280yen bar near me gaff is very good, hearing about all the amazing birds from America dropping on the shores of my homeland was not good to hear, knowing that the boys have twitched them makes it even worse (LANGERS), finding a Western Sanpiper in Osaka was great, dipping on Temminck's Stint was not good; watching a Peregrine Falcon soar around buildings from 15 floors up was cool.

I believe that rumors are begining to spread through the land that I am going to stay here to take up Sumo wrestling I would like to rubbish. Although some people think that the guy in the yellow t-shirt is me, the blurry image just could not be me.

Another weekend ahead, not much planned, a bit of R&R and some movie watching, maybe editing some photos, are in order. I need a break. On that note my good readers, I shall leave you to your own devices and I am going to make a cup of tea...more photos have been posted up on Flikr page (see links to the left)

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostl been eating dates stuffed with almonds, all the way from Dubai

Carmo's Birds: WESTERN SANDPIPER; Marsh Sandpiper, Spotted Redshank, Redshank, Greenshank, Sooty Flycatcher, Streaked Flycatcher.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Scarlet Johansen

Back at last...it's been a while

2006-09-26T21:13:00.000+09:00

Greetings one and all, it has been quite a while indeed. Finally have internet access in de gaff so it's rock and roll. I am sure you are shaking with excitement and anticipation at the thought of reading some more scintillating posts on my birding exploits and how much work sucks...So, instead I will spare you the adrenaline fuelled read and tell you the most exciting thing I have done in the last few weeks. And what is that I hear you ask?? Well, apart from a whirlwind visit of my former work colleague Mel Ball, I climbed Mt. Fuji over the weekend of September 16. Standing at 3776m in height, it was a daunting and overwhelming experience. It will probably be up there with one of the best and worst things I have ever experienced.

Having rented a car with 4 of the lads (AK, KC, TM, and PJ), we set off at 1am from Osaka on Saturday morning and reached Fuji-shi at about 5am, staring right up at Mt. Fuji as we entered the city boundaries, the clear skies allowing Venus to shine bright in the eastern sky, peeping over the horizon just before the sun came up. It looked ominous and quite scary but we were glad, in a way, to see that there was no snow on top. The Japanese official climbing calendar is from the begining of July to the end of August. Climbing anytime outside this is deemed to be dangerous and crazy. Although this may be the case in the depts of winter, a couple of weeks outside the window was surely going to be fine. Seeing as they think you are crazy if you swim in the ocean in June, when the kids are still in school and the water is only a balmy 15 degrees, I didn't think Fuji would be too much of a problem.

We camped on the shore of Kawaguichi lake (see above) on the northern slopes of Mt. Fuji that morning and got some sleep before driving around to the other lakes for a feast of beautiful countryside and tree-covered slopes. We availed of one of the onsen (hotspring baths) for an hour to relax and prepare for the climb. The area surrounding Mt. Fuji is truly beautiful. We were lucky that the rain and typhoon which was forecast for that weekend, had not yet arrived on the shores of Honshu. Although cloudy, it was dry. That was the main point. We stocked up at a local 7/11 convenience store, conveniently situated near the US Marine Base on the base of Mt. Fuji before heading up to the 5th Station of the Fujinomiya trail, placed 2500m up the mountain. The drive up the mountain side was spectacular, with immense hairpin bends and steep corners. The view from 5th station was spectacular, Fuji-shi and Tokyo in the distance, lighting up the night sky (see below for Fuji-shi). We put on all our clothing we brought and decided to begin climbing at 8pm as we noticed groups heading up. This would turn out to be a big mistake at one juncture of the climb.

The initial climb from 5th to 6th station was not difficult and we were soon in our stride. PJ and I decided to plough on at a good pace, leaving the boys to take it at their own pace. We were soon at 7th station, only the beams from our head-lamps lighting the way, making sure we had the guide-rope in our sights at all times. It was incredible be climbing Mt. Fuji in the dark, particularly when we turned off our head-lamps and just sat for a rest in silence, listening to the wind and feeling the mist from the low cloud that surrounded us. When the cloud lifted, the view was amazing. The silence was moving. When we reached 8th station at 10.30pm, we realized we had at least 4 hours to kill before we needed to make a break for the summit (ala Malory style). It was at 8th Station (3200m) that the low levels of oxygen began to take effect, with light-headedness and shortness of breath obvious. It was also bloody cold. Exposure was also digging into the bones and I was starting to freeze. We discovered that the first aid hut was open so we clambered in and the 5 of us huddled together to try to keep warm which although painful at times, good fun all the same. At about 2.30am we decided to make for the summit. Again, PJ and I headed off at our own pace and reached the top at 4am...the final half-stage was gruelling, my head was spinning, the pain in my lungs and the shortness of breath very apparent now. When finally reaching the top, it was such a good feeling. I started reflecting on the amazing feats of people who have climbed Everest and the likes of the incredible Tom Crean who went through such hardships in the most atrocious of conditions to get to a safe place. I then realized how amazing these people are. Here was I battling with my own will, forcing my self to make the next step, scrambling up the rocks, making sure I made it to the top to witness dawn rise over the valleys below.

It was with great relief and frozen bones that I witnessed dawn rise over the valleys below. With ice on my clothing, hat, and the bag I borrowed from SW (me and the bag on the summit below), I looked over an incredible sight, the Izu islands in the distance, cloud creating a halo around the peaks of the volcanic creation nestled in the Pacific ocean. With only the sound of the wind and annoying gaijin voices, I marvelled at the view. It was mindblowing. The light was very poor due to a lot of cloud stretching out as far as the eye could see but it was still beautiful. I would highly recommend anyone who comes to Japan to climb Mt. Fuji. The view alone is worth it.

While three of the boys went off down the Gotemba route, I went back down the Fujinomiya trail, the same way we came up. I wanted to get back to the 6th and 5th stations to do some birding so I knew I would have time with the boys going down Gotemba. It only took 2hours to get back down and the views going down were also amazing. I was passing many many people begining their climb of the mountain on my way down. I think they are braver souls climbing the beast in the daylight rather than doing it at night. If I was climbing her during the day, I probably would have given up and gone back down. It's better not seeing what is ahead. Some parts of the climb are practically veritcal!! The colours of the soil was also beautiful, the volcanic green, black and reds mixing in to make an alien landscape.

And so with aching limbs and a near broken spirit from lack of sleep and exhaustion, I got down to 6th station and sat on a rock watching a Japanese Accentor singing from the top of gorse-like vegetation, and hearing a bullfinch call in a tree a small way below. Lizards ran beneath my feet and the clouds still hovered below me, stretching out over the Pacific. The silence and sun warmed my weary body and I felt total contentment for the first time since I was seawatching off Hokkaido a month earlier...it is moments like this that Japan reveals to me what a marvellous country it really is.

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and anti-cold medication

Carmo's Birds: ohh, it's been good; JAPANESE ACCENTOR; HOUSE SWIFT; SOOTY FLYCATCHER; BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER; Bullfinch*; Culew Sandpiper* brings my Japanese list to 279 species!!

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Evangeline Lilly

Dear God I:m going insane

2006-09-14T12:44:00.001+09:00

Hello my dearly beloved and faithful readers of Carmopolice.

I apologize profusely for the lack of scintillating tales of birding, work and inebriation but the gaff hasn`t got internet yet. However, all is not lost and the damn thing should be installed later next week. By then I hopefully should have climbed Mt. Fuji, cured cancer and found myself a woman.

A big congratulations to LJ and Olwen on the birth of their first child, Sarah, who no doubt has a wardrobe full of Cork camogie jerseys and a lifetime membership to Dan Buckley Sports on de Northside.

The Leurve Machine and de Missus are still waiting for their waterfall the coming of the new messiah. I have my fingers crossed.

I hope all others are well and that the Bale hasn`t fried Pee Wee`s brain yet.

I miss you all and will back on air soon....

The Good Doctor.

ps: any rumors that Cronin, aka de Langer, is seeing stunning birds on Cape are totally based on untruths

Dear God I:m going insane

2006-09-14T12:44:00.000+09:00

Hello my dearly beloved and faithful readers of Carmopolice.

I apologize profusely for the lack of scintillating tales of birding, work and inebriation but the gaff hasn`t got internet yet. However, all is not lost and the damn thing should be installed later next week. By then I hopefully should have climbed Mt. Fuji, cured cancer and found myself a woman.

A big congratulations to LJ and Olwen on the birth of their first child, Sarah, who no doubt has a wardrobe full of Cork camogie jerseys and a lifetime membership to John Buckley Sports on de Northside.

The Leurve Machine and de Missus are still waiting for their waterfall the coming of the new messiah. I have my fingers crossed.

I hope all others are well and that the Bale hasn`t fried Pee Wee`s brain yet.

I miss you all and will back on air soon....

The Good Doctor.

ps: any rumors that Cronin, aka de Langer, is seeing stunning birds on Cape are totally based on untruths

And then there were three..

2006-08-27T18:00:00.000+09:00

...three rooms that is. The biggest news I have for you at the moment is that I am moving apartments and so I will keep this as brief as I can. Basically it is at least twice the size of the apartment I have now, with a spare bedroom for would-be visitors, a sizeable kitchen-cum-living area with a gas cooker (oh bliss) and grill (oh heaven), and a separate bedroom. Furthermore, there is a sizeable balcony also!! At last, something that will feel like a home and not a prefab temporary dwelling.

Other news, my species total for Japan goes beyond my Irish list with 274. What the magical bird was...you'll just have to wait and see. Work has been quiet lately so getting out early is a bonus, particularly with moving my stuff across to the new apartment all week. By early I mean between 7-8pm. I shall write an interesting comparative piece about the "in-humane working hours" of an Apple plant in China and the firm I work but later.

I hope this finds everyone well. Presently enjoying low 30's temperature and lessening humidity...nice. I leave you with a photo of me taking a photo of a dragonfly which is out of picture. I have come to wearing towels around my head when out birding in the sun...keeps the sweat out of my eyes and I don't get a burnt scalp. All the cool kids are doing it...

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating...spaciousness

Carmo's Birds: not yet...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: one from my little bro, and a dinger at that....Rachel Weisz

Fog, birds, whales and fog...oh, and Albatross

2006-08-20T17:52:00.000+09:00

I spent 5 fabulous days aboard a ferry which runs from Nagoya to Tomokomai in Hokkaido for a spot of R&R and what I hoped would be world-class seawatching. I was not to be disappointed. Neil and I set off on Friday night from Nagoya with 36 hours and 1000km of the Pacific ahead of us. We couldn't wait. A bath, a bite to eat and a beer set us up for a good night's sleep. It was weird going into the public bath on the boat, sitting in the bath with the water sloshing around was a strange feeling but funny all the same. We arose at 4am and were out on deck for 4.30, just before the sun rose. The 3 mornings we had on board were foggy and foggy. It was so thick we couldn't see past our noses. That was boring, frustrating but exhilarating all the same. The joys of seawatching, as a wise man once said to me. When the fog cleared we were sometimes greeted by thousands of birds or none at all. It was an up and down, if you pardon the pun, kind of trip. We stopped off in Sendai (see above) on the Saturday evening and headed back out again en route for Tomokomai, on the south coast of Hokkaido. Black-tailed gulls greeted us in Sendai, taking bread directly from my hands as I stood on deck, waiting for the boat to leave again, allowing us to see Sendai through the eye of a gull (see below).

The Sunday morning found us staring into fog but when the fog cleared, it was like entering nirvana. The first bird of the day was an Arctic Skua, follwed quickly by hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters. Then, as I was checking the port side, I heard "...ross" being shouted by Neil from the starboard side. I ran around to see him frantically pointing and shouting the word I dreamed of hearing..."Albatross!!!!". I couldn't believe it. I saw this majestic bird, with an 8 foot wingspan, effortlessly glide over the waves, banking with the skill of a bird with one with the ocean. What was more amazing was that this was just not an ordinary albatross (not that there is one), it was a Short-tailed Albatross. A lifer for both Neil and I and one of the rarest Albatross's in the world. There are only 2000 of these magnificent birds in the world. Amazing. Then, as we were celebrating and recounting the bird, I spotted a pair of Black-footed Albatross off the stern!! Incredible, 2 species of Albatross. I couldn't believe it. The day only got better with South Polar Skua, Flesh-footed and Short-tailed Shearwaters, Maderian Petrel, probably Swinhoe's Petrel, probably Ancient Murrelet and 20-30 more Black-footed Albatross. An amazing 4 hours before we landed in Tomokomai. The remainder of the day was filled by a walk in a forest and the purchasing of food-stuffs for the return leg. So, after 7 hours ashore, we boarded the boat again and headed back for the 36 hours and 1000km of the Pacific.
Monday was a write off with no birds and thick fog but it was relaxing and quite boring. Although we were tired from getting up at 4am every morning, the sea air was fantastic and the mood was good. Monday evening's sunset (above) was made all the better with sightings of many cetaceans, most notably an acrobatic Baird's Beaked Whale which performed two quite magnificant leaps clean of the water and twisting in mid-air. It was a fitting end to a quite uneventful day, the performing whale obliterating all memories of the birdless day. The follwing morning we were greeted with a magnificent sunrise, with Mount Fuji in the background (below), making it a surreal moment. I was suddenly reminded I was in Japan, and not on a ferry off the south coast of Ireland. It was beautiful. The morning, we were happy to be on deck at 4am to be greeted by no fog and hundreds and thousands of Streaked Shearwaters. The final journey into Nagoya harbour was quite good, with the Shearwaters and Red-necked Phalaropes in their thousands, a surprise flock of Grey Phalarope, and scattered pods of Finless Porpoise with young, swimming quickly away from the boat as we cruised into the harbour. About a thousand Little Terns had Common Terns (black bills) mixed in with them greeted us as we were pulling into port. All in all a fantastic trip, great to be out of the sweatshop and to breath clean air. I miss the sea, the smell and the movement. It was good to be there again. Great to be out of the city.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been feasting on the sight of an Albatross

Carmo's Birds: SOUTH POLAR SKUA; Long-tailed Skua; Pomarine Skua; Arctic Skua; Common Tern; SHORT-TAILED ALBATROSS; BLACK-FOOTED ALBATROSS; MADERIAN PETREL; FLESH-FOOTED SHEAWATER; SHORT-TAILED SHEARWATER; Red-necked Phalarope; Streaked Shearwater...Japan List: 273 species (the same as my Irish List!!!)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Anybody...

In search of dragons

2006-08-10T23:39:00.000+09:00

A trip last Saturday morning to a beautiful part of Kansai called Kabutoyama Shinrin Koen where a forest park and ponds are situated, half-way between Osaka and Kobe. A long walk up the road from the train station in the morning heat and humidity took TM and I to the entrance of the park where we encountered our first dragonflies. This was the main reason for going there, particularly to get some photos of the dragons for JW back home, but also to get out and sample some fresh air. We came across a fantastic temple perched atop one of the hills with a spectacular view of Osaka and Kobe. Eventhough the cities are approx. 40km apart, it is nothing but a sprawling metropolis which join the two cities together. There is not much along the coast that resembles the area of old. It's just a mass of concrete. The light and air quality was so bad though, that you couldn't quite make out the view from the photos but I'll be going back there again in winter so I'll get some better shots then.
A walk through the hills and we came to the main pond areas where there were dragonflies flying around everywhere, at least 8-9 species. Amazing. The photo above is the Giant Spike-tailed Dragonfly which is Japan's largest dragon, at a whopping 4 inches in length. It was also a brave bastard, chasing swallows around the pond when they came down to drink. I spent some time there taking photos. This beast was the most impressive.

However, there were some other beautiful dragons present, such as the much smaller but just as striking red dragonfly species. Skimmers were also present, as were damselflies. We just chilled out here for a while, enjoying the sun and fresh air. It was great to taste vegetation and look at the colours around us after a week of staring at a computer screen and walking on and seeing nothing but concrete. Mind you, work was not that bad this week, our docket is somewhat quiet at the moment, primarily because the JPO are on holidays, or are certainly short-staffed right now. August is the time of year when a lot of people take holidays, it's a traditional Japanese thing to do.

So, I am following suit and heading off to Hokkaido on a ferry for a few days. Sailing from Nagoya (3 hours away by express train east-north-east of Osaka) to southern Hokkiado takes approx. 36 hours, so that will give you an idea of the size of the country, although we do stop off in Tokyo aswell on the way. After we get to Hokkaido, we will have a few hours, not sure how many, on dry land and then it's back on the boat for another 36 hours. Why I hear you ask? Seabirds. Oh yes folks, with a bit of luck, there could be another bird blog next week! My primary target on this trip is, not the Red-Rumped Swallow pictured below (just had to squeeze a bird shot in), but ALBATROSS.... the wanderer of the oceans. We have a good chance of seeing 3 species but if I see just one bird, I wil be so happy. I can't wait. I have been starved of seabirds for two years now so this is going to be exciting. I'm sure you all can't wait for the report :)

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating dates stuffed with almonds.
Carmo's Birds: not a lot...they've all decided to stay in the shade
Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Rachel Nichols (from Alias)

A man came to visit...

2006-08-08T08:06:00.000+09:00

It has been a while since I posted anything, time, state of mind and all that played there part. So firstly, I shall tell you what I did the weekend before last, when a friend of mine from home came to visit me in Osaka. John Lee (see photo below), genius scupltor, and all round good man, was on a visa run from Soeul, South Korea, and was staying in Osaka for the weekend. I met up with John on the Friday night. We went for a bite to eat in a ramen shop, a rather plush one at that, and then went for a couple of beers. It was great to see someone from home, to hear a familiar accent and to talk about places, people and experiences we had in common. I had not seen John in probably close to 2 years, as I did not see him much when he returned from a trip around Asia (Tibet, Nepal, Thailand, and other places) a couple of years ago. He is now in Korea teaching English trying to save money to go travelling again. I had a great laugh that night and made me realize how much I miss my friends back home, the banter, the craic agus ceol (John played a bit of tin whistle for me on Saturday).

The following day a group of us, Pads, Paul, Gavin, John and I, went to Kyoto for the day. It was the first time that John and Gavin had been in Kyoto so we took them to Gion and the temples in that area, particularly to see the impressive Koyizumi Temple (not sure of the spelling for the moment). I think the boys had a good time, and we visited the war memorial for all the unknown soldiers that died during WWII. We sat around there for a while and then just went wandering around Gion.

On our wanderings, we met up with some wannabe-geisha, who gladly posed for a photograph and John was delighted. They looked pretty cool. However, as we wandered down this side street, we stumbled upon the real deal...a genuine Geisha, ready to go to some party or a private audience. The cab driver got out of the car, received instructions from the house mother, he then removed his hat and bowed. That was impressive. Cabbies never do that. Much to our delight, the Geisha posed for a couple of photos for us before being whisked away in the cab. You can see pictures of her on my flikr homepage, the link is on the left. The difference between the wannabe-geishas (see below) and the real thing was so obvious. The quality of the make-up, the ukata, the poise and general aura surrounding the genuine Geisha was amazing.

After that fantastic surprise, we headed to a bar to watch the All Blacks beat Australia and then we headed back to Kyobashi for some food and a couple of beers before heading home. John stayed with me and we had to get up at 6am to get him to the airport on time. It was good to see a familiar face and to chat about home. It felt good to do that. I was sorry that John was only here for a couple of days, but it was a good couple of days.

Now, it is back to normality and the routine of work. However, a brilliant morning spent walking around a park and looking for dragonflies on Saturday made up for what was a routine week at work. But more on that later....(I bet you can`t wait for those photographs!!)

Carmo`s Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating soba, chicken, tomato, and greenage
Carmo`s Birds: not alot, just the usual residents
Carmo`s Birds for Byrdy: Liv Tyler

Just to lighten the mood

2006-07-29T00:47:00.000+09:00

Hello all,

just in case the previous post was just a wee bit too depressingly painful, here's what I got up to last weekend in a mad pub called Rock Rock, situated in Amera Mura district of Shinsaibashi. It was a night of fun, frolics, and bisexual women...nice. Anyway, we decided to go Shinsai (my favourtie quote of a Saturday) to have a bite to eat and show the Gavster the place as he had not yet been. Good fun was had by Johnson and company, while Gav's twisted ankle from falling down the subway station steps at 5am tells us that he had a good night also. Here are a few photos of my behaviour...if there are children watching, they may need adult supervision. As you can see to your left, I do sweat a bit. By the way, I may have had a couple of pints....oh, if only the Bale was here

Pee Wee, Deb...this is dedicated to you

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating humble pie

Carmo's Birds: it's too hot and humid, even for them

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the couple last week, well....

Condi's in La La Land

2006-07-25T21:24:00.000+09:00

The last couple of weeks has seen some of the most brutal attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon by an army backed, funded and encouraged by the US government. When Bush first publicly talked about Israel's over the top reaction to 2 of their soldiers being kidnapped, all he had to say was to keep the civilian deaths to a minimum. Keep civilian deaths to a minimum. Jesus. What in the hell does that mean?

The kidnapping of the soldiers was wrong. Don't get me wrong. But the retaliation was abominable. It took the Israeli army 3 days...3 days to target the Hezbollah headquarters. In the meantime they bombed bridges, power stations and fuel depots in order to stop the Hezbollah. What they were doing were fuelling recruitment to the Hezbollah. Just like the Brits did in Northern Ireland in the 70's by killing Catholics...the perfect recruitment drive to join the resistance. But that's another story. I have been trying to keep a breast of the happenings, reading outside the main news feeds and also the mainstream news. While they were bombing the main bridges, many civilians were killed and just like the sonic booms that the Israeli Air Force are tormenting the Palastinians with, the targets are surely not military. If so, where are the military casualties?? The first 3 days was were predominantly killing civilians.

Here's an exerpt from Robert Fisk writing in the Independent yesterday:
"The Shia Muslim refugees of southern Lebanon, driven from their homes by the Israelis, are arriving in Sidon by the thousand, cared for by Sunni Muslims and then sent north to join the 600,000 displaced Lebanese in Beirut. More than 34,000 have passed through here in the past four days alone, a tide of misery and anger. It will take years to heal their wounds, and billions of dollars to repair their damaged property. And who can blame them for their flight? For the second time in eight days, the Israelis committed a war crime yesterday. They ordered the villagers of Taire, near the border, to leave their homes and then - as their convoy of cars and minibuses obediently trailed northwards - the Israeli air force fired a missile into the rear minibus, killing three refugees and seriously wounding 13 other civilians. The rocket that killed them is believed to have been a Hellfire missile made by Lockheed Martin in Florida. Nine days ago, the Israeli army ordered the inhabitants of a neighboring village, Marwaheen, to leave their homes and then fired rockets into one of their evacuation trucks, blasting the women and children inside to their deaths. And this is the same Israeli air force which was praised last week by one of Israel's greatest defenders - Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz - because it 'takes extraordinary steps to minimize civilian casualties'." So, where are the Hezbollah fighters in that lot?? At the moment, the death toll ratio is 11 Lebanese to every 1 Israeli. 600,000 Lebanese are fleeing and heading to Beirut where the people are taking them in with open arms...humanity amongst the destruction.

Anyway, I am sorry for going off-line about me here, but the appalling scenes and shocking situation in Lebanon is just too horrific to ignore. Now Condi Rice is over there, unplanned, unannounced, in order to bring a "lasting peace" to the Middle East...christ, which speech writer got lazy and just lifted that horseshite off the standard quotes they use. If they actually stopped backing Israel financially, militarily (Israel are the largest arms customer the US has) and in the UN, then maybe it will be possible. Israel are still an occupying army in a country that is not theirs. UN Security Council Resolution 242 should be upheld and not quashed by the US...then may be, just may be, peace could begin to be established.

On that note, the rant herein ends...

A Trip to see Paradise

2006-07-17T15:26:00.000+09:00

On Saturday morning, early, almost too early some would say, I went off to Okamoto. It is a small town about 20 minutes west of Osaka on the limited express Hankyu rail-line. I thought it was about an hour or so from Osaka, so the 5am start could have been put back to at least 7am, which would have meant a bit of sleep. However, it was a great morning, a good laugh and great exercise. The heat and humidity were killers and we duly sweated our entire body weights that morning. My t-shirt was a nice shade of light brown when I put it on that morning but by the time we finished the hike up the hill, it was dark with sweat. Rather pleasant don't you think. I was accompanied by Paul, Gavin (see left), Dave and Michaela for the morning jaunt. A good time was had by all I think. My objective was to see and photograph the pair of Paradise Flycatchers that had nested there. Also, as we walked up the hill, we were met by a family of wild boar on the path. Although fabulous creatures, I was expecting the more atypical image of wild boar, hairy, big tusks and mean in appearance. However, our pigs were just nothing like and the young boars were quite funny, squealing and making more noise than was necessary.

When we entered the shrine at one point on the hill, the target area, I met 2 birders/photographers. I asked them about the flycatcher and the Brown Hawk Owl but they said that they had both gone. I expressed my dismay and when I mentioned that my friend Kazu had told me that the young had flown the nest, the woman, Wako-san, just said "Ah, you are Mark-san!!", such is my fame here, and promptly showed me where a female Paradise Flycatcher was building a nest!! Right overhead of where I was standing!! The bird had been there while I was talking to them. I found that funny but good I guess. The flycatcher is a scarce breeder and the locals are very protective of their Paradise Flycatchers. I can understand why, such beautiful birds. Unfortunately, I did not see the male who has long tail-streamers, but the female was stunning, with a blue beak, a big blue eye-ring, and fabulous brown wings. She also started singing which was very beautiful indeed. A search for the owl turned up a blank but it didn't matter. With Varied Tits, Japanese White-eyes and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers joining in on the show, it was a cool morning's birding. I may go back again to better explore the area, as it has really old mature Japanese woodland there. The woodland around shrines are in pristine condition as the trees are not touched for hundreds of years if not more, so the birds prefer them. Hence, a lot of birders visit shrines when birding.

While I was taking photos of the flycatcher and talking to the locals, the lads had gone off exploring, heading a couple of kilometres further up the hills. They said it was quite thick with vegetation and some of the trails had massive spider webs across them. They returned an hour or so later and I showed them the bird and then we headed off back down the hill and to civilization once again. Okamoto is a beautiful place, and I really liked the feel and atmosphere to the place. There were many beautiful houses and I think it is quite a wealthy suburb of Osaka, or rather a neighboring town of Osaka. It is so hard to work out which as Osaka seems to spread out for miles and miles. We sat in cafe having an iced coffee afterwards and it was cool to sit in a local cafe and watch the world go by. I would not mind living there. It was the first time I have felt part of anywhere since I arrived in Japan. It's not too far out of Osaka, and maybe 45 minutes or so to work. HHmmmmmmm.....

Being a long weekend, we went out for pints and food on Saturday night, as one of the girls from work is leaving after completing her three year tour. Sunday was spent resting in the morning, cleaning the apartment, reading about the Israeli over-the-top attacks on Lebanon and Bush's response of "try not kill so many civilians"(!!) (a post of which I will write during the week), going for lunch with the boys, watching Scrubs in the afternoon and then heading to a 280yen bar for some more food and beer. That was a good laugh and we got home late last night. We then wanted to go for another beer and stumbled into a hostess bar where it cost 4000yen to sit down and 1000yen for a beer so we legged it out of there. Funny really as we were all quite pissed. Now, I have spent the morning resting, snoozing, reading and writing this. I was going to go out to the Phoenix to see Oriental Pratincole (a lifer for me) but it has been pissing rain all morning, with thunder and lightening thrown in for good measure. It is just too nasty to go out in. Hopefully the birds will stay around until the weekend. Having had the pleasure of watching a Paradise Flycatcher build a nest on Saturday, I can't really complain can I...

So my friends and casual readers, I shall return to my book, and to Mr. John Kenny on The Mystery Train...

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating soba and seaweed

Carmo's Birds: Japanese Paradise Flycatcher and the supporting cast of Japanese Bush Warbler, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Japanese White-eye, Varied Tit...

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Uma Thurman

ZiZou flipped and I blame the heat...

2006-07-12T23:07:00.000+09:00

Last weekend I went birding near Nara, along a small river which had a nice pond half down, about a 45 mintue walk. Although it was 6am on Saturday morning, there were many locals out walking, bringing their dogs for a run or just going for a run themselves. Now while this is not a strange activity for Japanese people at that godawful hour of a Saturday morning, what got me most was that the heat and humidity was unbearble. As they were laughing, chatting, walking at speed, there was I, a ball of sweat and general fatigue, feeling as if I was walking across a desert without water and not oasis in sight. It was crippling. Despite the glorious song of the Oriental Reed Warblers (see left), a family of Kingfishers, and the tac-tac of fan-tailed warblers, I just couldn`t take it anymore and headed back to the train station at about 9.30am. It felt as if I had been walking through a sauna. Welcome to summer in Osaka.

It was with this in mind that I looked on　in shock-and-awe (how often we use that phrase these days) at one of my football heroes planting a rather fine head-butt to the chest of Mattarazzi(?) and being duly shown the red card. Some rumours were abound that they called in the infamous Carmoniator out of retirement to add a bit of guile, skill and hard-man tackling to take care of Gattuso in the middle of the park. Looking at that head-butt, one could say that that rumour was true. Alas, although I too would have knocked seven shades of sh*te out of him if he called me a terrorist, to see ZiZou go like that in his last pro game was devastating to me. I just hope that he will be remembered as the man who brought grace back to the playing pitch, in the style of Platini and Cryuff, but much much better. I think if Mattarazzi was educated in the histroy of Algeria, calling ZiZou a terrorist was not the smart thing to do. It would have made the Pope react like that. Furthermore, as can be seen on the photo above, how could I, a changed man who now thinks that it`s all about taking part that counts, who visits pretty castles with my fellow work colleagues such as Maeda-san, head-butt a guy like that....yeah right!

Look, there is another picture of a placid man, enjoying the cultural platitudes of Japanese history....

Anyway, I also had the pleaseure of watching the All Blacks beat Australia. Although it was a scrappy game, the All Blacks look good, even when they don`t play well. A few beers later and I was game for anything, but being up since 4am had taken it`s toll so I toddled off home and to a good night`s rest. This weekend is a long one for us, so it`s Monday off and festivals galore. I plan to go hiking on Saturday morning near Kobe with the hope of seeing and photographing some Japanese specialities. I am sure you are all shaking with the anticipation of seeing those photos!! Just to keep the excitement brimming, here is a photo of a Little Egret, a bird one can see regularly in Cork City centre, Cobh, and all along the south and east coast of Ireland. AAHhhhh....

Until next time...

Carmo`s Diet: this week I have mostly been eating power smoothies

Carmo`s Birds: just the usual summer breeders...

Carmo`s Birds for Byrdy: Monica Bellucci as she appears in Matrix:Revolutions...just perfect (I watched it the other night)

An Ultimate Weekend

2006-07-04T22:19:00.000+09:00

After a pretty uneventful week at work regarding my personal life (it's been like that for quite some time now), I left work early (7.30pm) to meet up with Rob, his wife and his daughter (see left) to head up to the northern part of Hyogo prefecture for an Ultimate Frisbee competition. Hyogo is the prefecture immediately west of Osaka and it is a beautiful area. Tajima was the destination and it is well known for it's skiing slopes, onsen and soba. Indeed, the scenic location for the comp was very beautiful, and the smell of the trees, vegetation and rain was such an exhilarating feeling compared to the dirt and smelly air of Osaka. I was in heaven and felt totally relaxed for the first time in ages. We stayed in a friend of Rob's, Takeshi-san, who was a fantastic host and he had an amazing house, particularly for Japan. It was huge. We stayed in one part of the house while he lived in another part...and his parents lived yet another part!! It was a beautiful house. We arrived in time to watch the Argie/Kraut game, and in our folly stayed up for the entire game.

The following morning we got out of bed at 8am and got ready for the comp. This was the third year the competition had been held and it was by far the biggest, with sponsors such as Coca-Cola, a car manufacturer and Hero Disc. Rob's friend Gatson arrived in the middle of the night and was sharing the room I was staying in. I slept so soundly I didn't hear him come into the room. In fact, the two nights we stayed in Takeshi-san's house were the best night's sleep I have had in Japan. The mattress was just perfect. No back pain in the middle of the night, and no back pain in the morning when I wake...heaven. Anyway, we got to the comp site and me up with Lorelei, the organizer of the tournament (see below with Gatson) and the rest of our players. The only person who had played before was Gatson who had played and coached people back in Oregon Uni in the States. As it turned out, we came 14/20 teams, winning one game and losing 4. However, it was all about taking part and i loved every bit of it. The only problem is that one needs to be extremely fit as it is all about sprinting, sprinting and more sprinting. However, if you are as good as Gatson is, you can just be the player who distributes the disk. The teams are mixed with a minimum of 3 female team members from a total of 7 on the pitch at one time, substitutions allowed whenever you want, and for as many times as you wish...which is nice.
Saturday night saw us taking part in the bbq and free drink fest so Sunday morning was hard but a quick rain shower soon taking away the tiredness and hangover. We only played 2 games on Sunday but it was great. The old knees were torn to shreds and required first aid to get the grit that was embedded in the flesh. Same old story really. Although I was not the best at the game, it is something I would love to continue doing and have made steps to connect with a couple of Osaka teams that train locally on Sundays. It would be great for the summer. Anyway, the level of skill of some of the players were phenomenal and I was blown away by the fitness level of the winning team. The team that won, Osaka Nato, are off to play in the World Champs in Australia in a couple of weeks. They were immense. One of the girls, who is no more than 5'2", was able to outjump a guy who is 6'4"!!! I kid you not!! They were awesome!!! The guys jumped better than Michael Jordan (see below). They beat a team from Tokyo who were also fantastic and were the defending champions. I'm hooked. We each received a free disc from Hero Disc, especially commissioned for the participants. Nice. Maybe I'll turn professional....

So as not to be sore for the next day, Gatson, Rob, Takeshi and I headed off to an onsen after each of the days competition to soak our weary limbs and enjoy the feeling of the natural hot springs. It has to be one of the most relaxing things one can do. It is just fabulous. And so as not to be starved of birding, while watching the final game (see Rob above relaxing), a Pacific Swift and a Green Pigeon flew by, and the song of the Japanese Bush Warbler and Japanese Skylarks was pleasant background noise. As I had called Rob a couple of weeks back about the Swinhoe's Egret, he figured he owed me a lifer. Not to let me down, he brought me to see an Oriental White Stork which has been in the area for a couple of years. A fantastic bird with the palest eyes I have ever seen in a bird. To top it all off, the bird started displaying, showing off it's red throat and clacking it's beak loudly from the top of a dead tree...magic.

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating dirt

Carmo's Birds: ORIENTAL WHITE STORK*; Pacific Swift; Green Pigeon; Merlin/Hobby...one that got away

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the chick from Black-Eyed Peas

Almost a Million Dollar Baby

2006-06-26T21:51:00.000+09:00

The last 16 of the World Cup is coming to an end tonight, the rainy season has hit Osaka with a bang, and I was fortunate enought to see a mega rare bird for Japan on Saturday morning. I was also unfortunate to watch a jaded Irish rugby team succumb to an unnecessary defeat to Australia on Saturday night, so I drowned my sorrow in style, waking up at lunch time Sunday to find myself in my own bed, thankfully as I have no recollection of getting home. Ah, the joys of watching the game in an Irish bar and knowing the manager...brings back some memories I can tell ya. As a result of my suffering body on Sunday, I didn't have the energy to stay up and listen to my fellow Cork Republican comrades show Tipperary how to play hurling and secured our 50th Munster Senior Hurling title. Looks good to bring the Liam McCarthy back home again this year.

So, I arose at 4am and went in search of a Pheasant-tailed Jacana on Saturday morning (see photo above) and I was lucky to have glorious weather. At 6.30am that morning, the heat was such that I drank 2 litres of water by 8am! I also got sunburned in that time!! Madness I tells ya. A stunning bird and it was being watched by about 100 people, 99 of them Japanese and one young man from Cork. When I walked up first they were more intrigued by my presence than a bird that even made the local press. For a bird or anything involving nature making the paper, it must be something incredibly special. In my joy and rapture of watching this bird, it was only on my way back home that I realized I never took a photo of the masses of cameras and lenses that were pointed at the bird. I estimated that there was at least .75 million USD worth of camera gear there...it was incredible. I was kicking myself for not documenting it, just to show how crazy it is here when it comes to wildlife photography. If one saw the scene front-on, one would think they were at a World Cup game! Anyway, I went home a happy man...

I also was practicing my "paning photography" with dragonflies on the way home and this is the best of a bad lot really (see below). I am off on a ferry trip in mid-August with Neil, travelling from Nagoya to Hokkaido with the hope of seeing some seabirds...fingers crossed we get a typhoon a day or so before which may bring some nice stuff up from the south pacific. So long as the ferry isn't cancelled!!!

That happiness was quickly soured by our tired display in Australia. The boys just didn't look like they had the energy. It's surprising as they have had a hard and long season. So, after a few pints of fabulous Guinness, we decided to stay up and watch the World Cup games. I made it for the first game but by 3am I was fit for nothing so I was duly thrown in to the back of a cab and somehow I got home. All good really and a great night. Having the craic and banter with Mick behind the bar was great fun and made me realize how much I miss the craic back home. Nothing beats a good bar with decent staff who will take the piss out of you and expect it back 10-fold. Brilliant craic!

Now, it's Monday evening, the Aussies are playing tonight but seeing as I didn't even have the energy to listen to the mighty Red Army bring home the 50th Munster title, I don't think I'll manage the soccer tonight. I think bed beckons. However, Brazil play tomorrow night so maybe i'll stay up for that game. I was surprised that England stuttered through to the next round. They really are doing well considering they are playing terrible football. It was a similar way when they won in '66...dear god i hope they don't repeat that or else we'll never hear the end of it. I can't see anyone stopping Brazil, and now with Ronaldo finding his form with some great goals in the last game, they just might be unstoppable.

I don't think there is anything else, so I will sign off and bid you all goodnight.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating vegetables and drinking green tea

Carmo's Birds: PHEASANT-TAILED JACANA*; Little Cuckoo; Oriental Reed Warbler; Japanese Bush Warbler; Asian House Martin; Ashy Minivet (258 for Japan now).

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the chick from Underworld

Less starch in the collar thank you

2006-06-18T13:41:00.000+09:00

Good evening one and all, I write (some of) this to you on a wet and pretty horrendous afternoon. The rainy season has hit Osaka with a bang today. Although the rain is a welcome break from the heat, the humidity remains a constant thorn in the side of gaijins and locals alike. What is particularly harsh is the fact that we have to wear the suit going to work even in this tropical weather. However, this week, as a treat to myself, I decided to get my shirts dry-cleaned as it is less than one yoyo a pop, cheap as my dear fellow. When I got them back, they were fantastically pressed and the collars and cuffs stiffly starched...just a tad maybe. All in all, a pleasant and somewhat nice feeling not to have to iron the shirts this week.

A trip to Nanko bird sanctuary on Saturday yielded a multitude of mozzy bites for my troubles and little else. A sojourn to Shinsaibashi in the afternoon to watch the game against the All Blacks was a pleasant and frustrating change. I thought we were unlucky, and lapses in concentration cost us the game. As that legend of a man, Paul O'Connell said, the game was there to be won, but they didn't go for the win. Is there something within the psyche of this team to become the best in the Northern Hemisphere and beat the best of the Southern? I hope not, as I think this team has the players to win on the big occasion. As the beer flowed and I got progressively louder and more aggressive in my shouts and rants at the large tv screen, the fun began. I don't think the locals were ready for the Carmo attack while the other punters remained calm and very eloquently raised their objections to the game play. Well, one Kiwi in particular who watched the game with us after the first half, probably feared for his safety after a I made my point known that the All Blacks second try was a knock-on while I thought the first try was a double-movenment. The lads thought I was hilarious. Those who know me will understand. Anyway, Andy the Kiwi ended up coming out for pints with us after the game and I must say I had one of the best nights in Osaka in a long time. We caught the last train home and good fun was had by all.

Sunday was spent in bed in the morning after a last minute cancellation to head to Kyoto. With that, I browsed the internet and came across this brilliant Cork band called Cartoon. They have a brilliant song called karmasookie, which can be downloaded as an mp3. I was well impressed. It was good fun browsing the Cork blogs such as Pure Cork Boy and the infamous StevieG. Great craic and mad to see that the place is still going strong. Now with that man Pee Wee back on the green shores and strutting his stuff down Pana and serving up a mix of beer, wine and excellent tunes in the new Roundy, I look foward to visiting home again. I was in stitches reading some of Pure Cork Boy musings on the club scene back home. Well worth checking out. Listening to Cartoon reminded me of the days with young master Pee and our times alighting on the dance floors of Cork in all sorts of horrendous conditions doing the tunes justice with our sleek and slick moves on the dance floor...nice...I look forward to doing that again, oh yeah.

As I was chilling out waiting to go to Kyoto, Kazu, a Japanse birder whom I met here last year, emailed me to tell me that there was a Chinese (Swinhoe's) Egret at Ebie!! I missed the one there last year so it was great to hear there was one here again. Although annual in Japan, they are very rarely seen in Osaka. I legged it to the train, rang Rob, and was on site 40 minutes later. Cool, another new species in the bag (see first photo above)!! Rob arrived 2 minutes later and we had a brief chat, making plans to go camping and trying to get me to play in the frisbee tournament next weekend. Anyway, he had to leg it back home before the family woke up as he had snuck out without them knowing. Although the heat haze was bad and the heat unbearable, a couple of Green Herons flew in (see second and third photos) which was nice. All rounded off with a close Spot-billed Duck (see photo below) which are common as muck. So, I left there in good spirits, notching up another lifer, and trying unsuccessfully to photo dragonflies, butterflies, Little Terns and Japanese Skylarks. A pleasant afternoon.

Off to Kyoto then, and back again as the whole venture north was cancelled at the last minute due to our inability to get the car. An emergency came up which there was nothing we could do. Oh well. There's always next weekend. So my friends and those I don't know, I bid you all farewell and good night...

Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating Subway Club, with Subway Avacado Special as a treat

Carmo's Birds: SWINHOE'S EGRET*; Little Tern; Green Heron; Kentish Plover; LRP; - 257 Japan

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: The brazilian chick I saw in the crowd during the week watching a game...

Mishima Island: The Bird Post

2006-06-11T14:57:00.000+09:00

After watching a lacklustre English performance last night, I don't think they'll do much damage at this year's World Cup. It was an abysmal display and looks like they couldn't break through a wet-paper bag to score in a brothel. "Traditionally slow starters" was being mooted by the press. I'm sure they compared this start to the boys of '66. Like they have been doing for the last 40 years. So with that, I decided to tell all you bird lovers out there, the joy and wonder of spring on Mishima.

The ferry trip from Hagi to the island produced the first lifer for me, Red-necked Phalarope, flying parallel to the boat, mixing it in with the Streaked Shearwaters. For such an expansive body of water, the Japan Sea seems bereft of seabirds. Strange really. Even after the storm on the third day on the island, very few birds were seen flying past from the headland. Of all the birding scenario's I miss the most from home, it's seawatching. But that's not for here. Once we dumped our bags into the Minshiku, we headed out and walked around for the day. There were birds everywhere and we were hearing reports from other birders of what was around and the list was mouth-watering. A scan of the reedbeds produced Chinese Penduline Tits, Oriental Reed Warbler and Japanese Bush Warbler. Finding 4 Richard's pipits was also a pleasant surprise in amongst summer-plumaged Buff-bellied pipits. A nice selection of birds to start off the trip.

The following morning, as we walked along the path we met some more birders, a mega was just found within one minute from where we were standing...we rushed around the corner and up the hill to be greeted by a hungry and busily feeding Black Drongo, a bird from mainland China. Stunning. Jet black, with a long tail that curved out on either side (see second photo above). Magical and a real rarity in Japan. I was chuffed. After watching the bird for 30 minutes, we headed back down the road in search of a Grey-backed Thrush, another rarity. On the way, I scanned the trees and picked out a roosting summer plumaged Chinese Pond Heron! The bird had been around for a week or so but had not been seen that day. Magic. As I was folding my tripod away, I looked up and saw a pigeon flying past...Japenese Woodpigeon!!! A scarce and local bird, it was a surprise to see on on this side of the island. I was on fire!! We walked up the hill towards the area where the thrush was reported. As we were just about to round the corner, I flushed a Japanese Night Heron from the roadside! Sean didn't get onto it and it disappeared around corner. Although the views were enough to id, I was not too happy with them. This bird is still on many a "wish list" for Japanese birders. Very hard to locate. As we joined the gathering watching and listening to the singing male Grey-backed Thrush, the heron flew past again and the views were cracking. I ran up the road after it and it flew right past me again, rounded the corner and disappeared for good. What a bird. Stunning. I felt like I could walk on water at this stage.

The rest of the day was spent walking and driving around the island, picking up birds like Red-throated pipit, Richard's pipit, Black-browed Reed Warbler, Pintail Snipe and migrating Grey-faced Buzzards. It was fabulous to watch the buzzards fly over our heads while eating our bento, enjoying the weather and listening to singing Blue and White Flycatchers (above), Mugimaki Flycatchers and Narcissus Flycatchers. The sound of the Arctic Warblers, Eastern Crowned Warblers and the flycatchers catching insects was brilliant. The snap-snap of the closing beaks, heard through the quietness of the island. Magical. At another location, while watching a Richard's pipit, the unmistakable call of a swift was heard, and then, barrelling over us at speed, came a White-throated Needletail Swift! Incredible bird, like a big, fat, short cigar with scitimar's for wings, a white throat and vent patch. It was a bird I really wanted to see.

As we made our way back down to the paddyfields, we saw more birders gathered and wondered what they were looking at. It was the Drongo again. However, we were also greeted with great views of Chestnut-cheeked Starling and Red-billed Starling also, the latter a major rarity in Japan. Nice. We were also treated to fly-over Crossbills, black-faced bunting of the Siberian race, and a bird I have also wanted to see...Japanese Yellow Bunting. A very plain but beautiful bird. While watching the buntings, a number of waders flew in, a collection of Pacific Golden Plovers (the first photo above) with a Mongolian Plover in amongst them (see Mongolian above). A nice bird, regular in Osaka during migration time but it was nice to see them on the island. We spent some time here watching the plovers and were then treated to Pacific Swifts coming down for a drink and hawking insects over the flooded paddy fields. Another swift species I wanted to see. I love swifts, the speed, agility, flying skills are mind-blowing. Fantastic birds.

Next day produced another find and another new species...Dollarbird!!! Cracking bird and well chuffed in finding it too. The weather was hot and birding was difficult. Things had quietened down, but flyover Oriental Cuckoo, more swifts, and migrating Oriental Honey Buzzrds, Grey-faced Buzzards, Japanese Sparrowhawks and Eurasian Sparrowhawks. Despite searching hard, we failed to see one Chinese Goshawk, which was a bit of a disappointment. However, the day was to get better. Singing Siberian Rubythroats, Siberian Blue Robins and then, Rufous-tailed Robin! Despite waiting and waiting and waiting, the bird never came out of the undergrowth. The bonus of the wait though was a Styan's Grasshopper Warbler!! A very difficult bird to connect with. Nice. There was a noticable fall of Brown Flycathers (above) and Eastern Crowned Warblers so there was some excitement in the air that evening. We weren't disppointed. A calling Hodgson's Hawk Cuckoo proved to be frustrating. Great views of Richard's pipits, red-necked stints (see below) and then, while waiting for a Yellow-rumped Fly to appear, out popped a Rufous-tailed Robin!! MAGIC!! Despite dipping on Yellow-rumped and Sooty Flycatchers, it was an amazing day.

The following day was was excellent again, with Yellow-browed warblers in amongst the hundreds of Easter Crowned Warblers, birds flying out of every tree and bush. Singing male Siberian Thrushes were fantastic, Ashy Minivets flying around the trees were stunning. Then, while walking down a track, listening to the birds calls, I noticed a large flycatcher in a tree...Japanese Paradise Flycatcher!!!!! Good god I was in paradise. An amazing bird, beautiful features, the most stunning being the blue eye-ring and blue bill. Another dream bird seen on this trip. The surprise of stumbling upon one making it all the more enjoyable. Another bird we stumbled upon was a Jungle Nightjar while walking down another track in the pissing rain. Another trip down to the paddyfields produced a Black-winged Stilt (below) and more Pacific Golden Plovers. As the rain was getting too severe, we called it a day at about 5pm.

The following, and final morning was amazing. There were hundreds of birds after arriving in. At our first stop, three races of yellow wagtail, another Black Drongo, a Terek Sandpiper (below), and then, as I rounded the corner, Sean was watching a Brown Shrike! I finally got on the bird and it was a cracking male of the cristatus race. Then, we found another Brown Shrike which was of the other race, lucionensis! Cool. While watching the shrikes, we noticed a martin flying around the paddy, which we are positive was a Plain Martin which would be the second or third record for Japan!! We couldn't believe this. Then, I looked up and saw a large, long-necked white bird following a Vegae Gull....Black-faced Spoonbill!!!! I was starting to believe I was still in bed dreaming. This was the first record for the island. I was so happy to have finally seen one. On that high, we went off to look for what else was about. Then, while walking down a track, I flushed a bird which was unusual and certainly not a Reed Warbler. After some excellent views of not just one bird, but two(!), and searching the literature subsequently, I think it is a Blunt-winged Warbler which maybe a first for Japan! I didn't want to leave the island. It was scary to think what could be there. So, it was with a heavy heart, we packed up our bags and headed to the ferry. Mishima is certainly an amazing place for migrating birds...I will be back next spring again.

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating beef coated with parmasan cheese.

Carmo's Birds: nothing much this week, still thinking of the Mishima list!! Species seen in Japan to date: 256 (26 lifers on Mishima!)

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Brooke Burke

Verballage

2006-06-07T00:03:00.000+09:00

Good evening. Welcome to verballage. A new concept of how to make life in Japan sound exciting when in fact, at the moment, it seems to be just about work, which although interesting, does not exactly set the world alight. The last week has been pretty crap to say the least but needless to say, life outside work has been okay. I took it easy last weekend and did sweet FA on Saturday. I managed to haul my ass out of bed early(ish) and clean the entire apartment, despite my subtle hangover. I think Japanese beer does strange things to one`s mind. The effects tend to get progessively stronger the longer one stays awake, despite the cessation of consuming the beverage. Great that this may sound to those who like to become inebriated in a different way, it can be quite misleading and tends to throw one for a loop. As a result, one gets more bollixed than expected. Good I know, but it depends on the situation. I would like to know what they put in the beer to make it react so. As it is, the Japanese genetic makeup prevents the vast majority from drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Maybe I am becoming assimilated.

Saturday afternoon was spent roaming the streets of Umeda doing nothing in particular and going home to chill out and read a book, watcha a DVD and get to bed at a reasonable hour. Sunday was a day of rest and in the afternoon, I went playing some ball in Osaka-jo park with the lads. That was good fun and the back held up remarkably well! Looks like a comeback could be in order. An impromptu bbq that evening left me puking my proverbial ring up in the early hours of Monday morning, and a quick exit from the train to empty my otherwise drained and parched stomach left me late for a meeting by a few minutes at work. Oh, Monday morning was not pleasant folks to say the least. You will all be glad to hear that I am now in good health and intend to go to the gym tonight as I left work at 10.30pm last night, by which time it was too late to go. The gym keeps me sane. I am thinking of taking up the noble sport of boxing as there is a gym near me gaff. A friend of mine, now in Korea, is urging me to do it. I reckon I will enjoy pounding all sorts of hell out of a heavy bag. Keep tuned...it may never happen.

On that note, I will leave you all and get back to work. I am writing this in a broadband promotional place so only have a short period of time. I hope this finds everyone well and enjoying whatever season is now bestowed upon you.

Carmo`s Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating whatever I can keep down.

Carmo`s Birds: not a lot apart from crows and pigeons

Carmo`s Birds for Byrdy: anything at this stage fella

On a different note entirely...

2006-06-01T23:34:00.000+09:00

Ok, the rage is under control, simmering nicely, not going to bring it to the boil again in case it ruins the recipe, but it needs to simmer for at least another 4-5 days. Will let you all know how the dish turns out. I love talking code.

Anyway, I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate a few people I know on the birth of numerous babies in recent weeks. First of all, the Crotty's in US of A, congrats on the birth of their first daughter, a sister for James at last. Typical Crotty and Dr. O'Leary. No details on anything else though, weight, reach, Ko's or titles.

Secondly, a big congratulations to Col and Claire on the birth of Cillian Michael, in the West Cork corner weighing in at an impressive 10lbs 4oz folks. They must ptu something in the water in West Cork. Nice one centurion, can't wait to bring him birding when I get home...just to give you two a break, and get his Galley list started. Must make sure to find a mega that morning just to piss you off, heheee.

Thirdly, and by no means last, to Billy and Lisa on the birth of Rory, weighing in at 7lb 11oz. Obviously a future star of Cork hurling and football, and the future captain of the Irish soccer team. I'll teach him how to tackle properly Billy...he should have no problems then!! Well done lads.

I'm falling way behind you guys. What with a trio of the next generation coming from my generation to a plethora of more waiting in the wings back home, I'd better start looking I guess. Or else find out if there are any of mine floating about :) Christ, I hope not...anyway.

Well done one and all. Can't wait to see youse all when I get home.

By Christ I'm pissed

2006-05-30T21:15:00.000+09:00

I rarely if ever let my emotions out on this blog but today, I have no other choice. I am one angry young man. What's the point in bursting one's balls and then get no recognition for it whatsoever??!!! Exactly. I'm lost for words. All's well here...

I atop a castle and Munster on top of Europe

2006-05-21T18:57:00.000+09:00

It was a gruelling week, putting down 72 hours and being constantly run off my feet. Two of the bio team staff were gone to Hawaii to compete in a Triathlon (congrats girls, great times too) so it was left to muggins here to hold the fort. As the team leader and vice-team leaders were gone, I was Lord of the Bio-team for the week and I had to answer every call, request, and demand. Ordinarily, having a full complete of team members would have made the job easier, but having two gone was certainly a big loss. However, it was a good experience and I learned an awful lot in the process. After all, that is the point of working here, to learn and gain the experience.

Saturday morning was glorious so I set off to Himeji where I was supposed to attend a Matsuri festival, and meet one of the guys from work who's from there. The city is about 80 minutes from Osaka on a special rapid regional train. I was about 10 minutes outside Kobe when Maeda-san called me to say the event was cancelled due to threat of thunder storms. I was pissed off but decided to go anyway and see the castle and japanese gardens there. I met Maeda-san, a professor from Osaka uni, now working as a translator at the firm. A nice man in his early 60's, very knowledgable and capable of having a laugh. I spent the next 4 hours or so walking around the castle and gardens. It was pretty cool and the castle is the best I've seen so far in Japan. It is a World Heritage Site and I must say it was very beautiful. I think it featured in one of the modern day Bond films, possibly one of the Brosnan films. The reason the castle is still standing and survived WWII was that the Americans used it as a landmark to make a turn and head west to Hiroshima and Nagaskai. Grim really.

However, despite the fact that when I arrived in Himeji the sky was threatening, it turned out to be a glorious day with beautiful sunshine and a clear skies. The humidity is begining to start and it was uncomfortable at times. The five floor climb to the top of the castle tough and everyone who was at the top floor was sweating and giving out about the heat. The Japanese are like the Irish in that respect. When it's too cold, they'll complain. When it's too hot, they'll complain. When it's just perfect (in my book) they'll complain that's not warm enough. Wonderful consistency.

The highlight of my week had to have been the boys in red, finally getting their hands on the European Cup. Alas I couldn't watch the game as i couldn't locate a bar that was showing it. However, I read the match reports with glee and followed the score the net last night. It only dawned on me then this morning that I could have been listening to it live on Radio 1...what a twat. Anyhow, if anyone would like to burn a dvd of the game for me, I'd be most delighted and forever indebted to you!!!! Man-of-the-match performance to the smallest man on the pitch and a brilliant individual try to that man, Peter Stringer. A legend and a player coming into his own now. He doesn't appear to be as slow and predictable as he used to be. A good omen for the Irish team too. Hopefully they can do the job in NZ and Oz this summer.

Not much else to report fans. A bit of a bbq on Saturday night with the lads and a new team bio member who starts work tomorrow. No birding for me this weekend. A bit of a rest was needed this morning. I need a holiday....

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating nato and broiled eel

Carmo's Birds: Narcissus Flycatcher, that's about it.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: that chick from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Macaques, finally...

2006-05-14T20:41:00.000+09:00

A horrible week at work was memorably washed from my memory as I spent an hour today watching the Japanese Macaques in Arasiyama, near Kyoto. I went birding this morning with Neil and an Auzzie called James, who has come out with us on a couple of previous occasions but is heading back to Australia for a holiday before going to Thailand for 2 months and to a job in Turkey teaching English either in a language school or a Uni in Istanbul. Nice.

Anyway, we birded the hills surrounding Arashiyama which were beatiful, lush and very green after the recent heavy rains. Bird song was evident but the birds themselves were not. However, a fly-by and perched thereafter Green Pigeon (or sometimes known as White bellied Green Pigeon) was a lifer for me which made the 4am rise well worth it. Apart from that and a Long-billed Plover, it was very quiet. Everthing is breeding, feeding young or just about getting down to it. So, birding is very much like hard work.

At 1pm we decided to call it a day as the heat was getting too much so I said my goodbyes to the boys at Arashiyama, while they continued on to Kyoto. My mission, to find the Macaques. I knew I was going to find them as the feeding station in Arashiyama has about 150 monkeys there at this time of year. A wee entrance fee and a 15 minute walk up the steep mountain side brings one to the feeding area. Tourists are warned not to stare the monkeys in the eye as this will be a sign that you are interested in a gloves off and no-holds barred confrontation. It was quite strange being put inside a cage to feed these wild, yet "tame" macaques. A bag of nuts of fruit for 100yen and the the Macaques just stick their hand in through the cage mesh to recieve the food. It's amazing watching their hands move and ever so gently remove the peanuts or fruit from one's hand/fingers. Quite remarkable really how alike we are.

I then wandered about outside, taking photos, and just sitting down observing them. Most of the time they were lying around, preening each other. At one point, a young Macaque came along and sat down beside me. I wanted to look at him but for fear of recieving a right hook from a southpaw, I just sat there and admired the view of Kyoto, which was quite spectacular. He/she just sat there for a bit, scratched it's head, squeaked and walked off, non-plussed. Brilliant. The troupe is a very well studied group, with each of the members having a name and their date of births known. There were many age groups there, from the old boys to the wanna-be gang, to the teenagers and newly born. They were quite aggressive towards each other when being fed by the humans, but generally, when not taking hand outs, were just sitting in the trees, grooming each other or just walking around strutting their stuff. One of the monkeys had only one eye, as you can see from the photo below. I really enjoyed just hanging around there. I'll have to go back again.

I then headed home and did the usual Sunday drivel. I also managed to catch up with V for Vendetta on Saturday. I really liked the movie, but then again I'm a sucker for those kind of movies. I thought Natalie was stunning and Hugo Weaving superb as V. Stephen Rea was excellent as the cop. I think it is well worth going to see. But that's just me...

Carmo's Birds: GREEN PIGEON; Long-billed Plover

Carmo's Diet: this week, I have mostly been eating vegtables and salmon

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Kiera Knightley

Mishima Island...heaven

2006-05-10T21:57:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you fans, it's just been nice to relax and chill out before heading back into the stresspit that is the Firm. I got back from Mishima on Sunday night but it was Tuesday night I left for Hiroshima, and 5 days away from Osaka. I love Golden Week. The 8.50pm Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka was delayed by 15 minutes (scandalous) but once away, it was smooth sailing all the way. I hadn't realized it before, but when the train goes around a corner, one can feel the sides of the train buckle and bend under the stresses and torques (great word) due to the speed of the train. I got a fright first but then realized how cool the Shinkansen is. Can you imagine a train getting you to Dublin from Cork in under an hour?? Now that would be cool.

When I got to Hiroshima, Sean and Noriko were there to meet and greet me so we headed back to their place for a beer, in the company of their friend Dylan, whom I met previously when I was visiting Sean in Hiroshima. A few hours of chat and the headline news being the delayed Shinkansen (I kid you not; 'twas due to an earthquake up near Tokyo), we headed to bed and the excitement of the birding ahead. I won't go into the birding here, I'll keep that for a separate post, just to keep the pattern going.

Mishima is situated west of Osaka, off the coast of Yamaguchi prefecture, on the Japan Sea. Approximately 80 minutes on the ferry from Hagi (a fabulous old Samurai town where the civil war started that ended the reign of the Emperors) and Mishima beckoned. Although no photographs were taken on the way out, the smell of the sea and the sight of a tree-covered island was immediately relaxing. I couldn't wait to get off the boat and start breathing fresh air, looking at stars at night, feeling the sea-breeze, and the need NOT to avoid bumping into people when walking down the street. In fact, it turned out better than that in the end.

We had beautiful weather, albeit for an amazing storm on Saturday afternoon, so the heat was hard and the going tough. We were fortunate to have the use of a car for the 4 days so it was great being able to drive again. The island is proably 2/3 the size as my home, Great Island, in Cork so a car was necessary to cover all the areas. All I'll say is that the birding was some of the best I have ever experienced...just mindblowing, with...no, I'll keep the suspense going until the weekend. So for the four days, we just birded, watching the local farmers plant this seasons rice crop, the fishermen out on the water and for the first time since I've been in Japan, looking at cows grazing in a field.

At one point, while standing on the cliffs, trying to bird during the storm on Saturday, with the rain "falling" horizontally, I glanced across at one of the headlands and I had to look twice and clear the rainwater from my eyes. It was pretty much identical to Blanan on Cape Clear off the south west of Cork. I felt like I was back home for just a few seconds and I felt weird. I felt homesick for the first time in ages. I miss west Cork. Those of you who know Blanan and Cape Clear, will know what I'm talking about when you look at the picture. Also, down below from where i was standing, was situated a temple on the cliff edge. What a place to wake up in the morning. I was well impressed.

The Minshiku we stayed at was excellent, with classical tatami rooms everywhere. The food was excellent, and the beer good. The people of Mishima were very friendly and, like Cape Clear, know that it's a massive place for rare birds in Japan so they know all the previous years rarities that have turned up. For a country that doesn't really give a shite about its environment, it was refreshing to see that the locals knew important wildlife is for the survival of their community (about 1000 people), and the respect they showed for it. The stepped paddyfields were brilliant, and to see the old people in a doubled over position planting the rice plants was class. It gave the place an atmosphere of not being touched in centuries (although the massive dam did spoil that a bit).

So, it was with a heavy heart and weary body (4am wake up calls every morning were not pleasant), we left the body on Sunday. Rather than get a bus back to Hiroshima (it took 5 hours on Wednesday morning instead of 3!!), I got a bus from Hagi to Shin-Yamaguchi (70 minutes) and the shinkansen from there to Osaka (2.25 hours). The train was jammed, paying 80yoyos to stand for that journey was not what I call value for money but what could I do? It was the final day of Golden Week after all. A girl fainted near me and I felt like shouting "look to the lady!!", like they did in the old days, but seeing as I was the only gaijin in view, I figured it would probably not be a good idea to do that. Some of them think we're all crazy anyway. Instead, I just gave her my water as I'm that kind of guy :)

Being back at work has been difficult, trying to concentrate after the short break. I haven't had a 2 week holiday in over 2 years now and I think I need one big time. So I figure that holiday will be spent back home on the ol' sod but not sure when that'll be. Hopefully it will be soon(ish), within the next 6 months anyway...

So sin e really. I would just like to wish me Ma a happy b'day for Tuesday. I also ask all those who may see a wee man with massive sideburns and a good tan, wandering aimlessly and talking to himself down Pana, to give him a hug and tell him that it's ok to be home again. Pee, I hope you're holding up to the shock fella.

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating sashimi, weird shellfish, seaweed, tofu, mushrooms, and rice

Carmo's Birds: oh, I'll keep that for later

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Vanessa Paradis

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday...hello Ruby Saturday

2006-04-30T21:44:00.000+09:00

That's Keni and I doing our impression of James Bond. I've no idea what Bond Cherly is trying to do an impression of. Mine is obviously Mr. Connery. Anyway, onwards with the posting. I shall not bore you with the trivialities of my boring life here in bustling Osaka, or rather buslting stressful Patent Law Firm. Instead, I shall bore you all with the not so trivial events of my Saturday and Sunday morning/late afternoon visit to Osaka-jo park. An early rise on Saturday morning saw my rather jaded and now sagging ass in Osaka-jo at 6am. It was a beautiful day, the sun was trying come out and the temperature, a balmy 18C. There was a lot people about, some playing an organised game of softball, others just out for a run or a walk. But yes, some people are so crazy in this country they organize a game of softball at 6am. The game had started when I passed by. Nutters. I can understand birders, as we are mad, being up at that godforsaken time on a Saturday morning, but to get up and play a game of softball? That beats birders hands down for being entitled "mad".

So anyway, there were also lots of birds about, being migration time. With dozens of Narcissus Flycatchers and Blue and White Flycatchers flying above my head, singing Arctic Warblers and noisy Bulbuls, it was a beatiful morning. I had been looking forward to my day out all week. I knew that there would be some birds about but I had not expected there to be so many. Nor did I expect to see a bunch of people playing softball at 6am, so it was turning out to be an interesting morning. I was also talking to a few of the local birders, who quite candidly pointed out that the singing war going on between 2 individual birds were in fact Japanese Robins!! I have still not seen this species and it is one I would dearly like to see. As you may gather from my use of tense here, I could not find the little bastards. They are known to be notoriously skulky and they certainly proved that reputation. I am hoping they will be more forthcoming on Mishima next week.

As I had to meet Rob and his daughter Aya in Nanko at 10am, I started heading for the train station. I noticed a group of organized photographers standing near a bush. When I went over I found, to my delight and surprise, a stunning male Siberian Rubythroat. A lifer. A total surprise. It had made my morning. I spent a good 45 mintues just watching this incredibly smart bird feed on insects and run around a lot. Cool. Previous to arriving here, I also found a couple of female Japanese Grey Thrush...the first lifer of the day, and again, totally unexpected.

I spent the rest of the day birding and hanging out with Rob and Aya. She's a precocious little 2.5 year old, and tormented us for 6 or 7 hours before I finally had to come home and Rob had to go back home also. It was good to spend some time with Rob as we hadn't seen each other or gone birding together in ages.

Today, I went back to O-jo in the afternoon to take some more pics of the Rubythroat and see what else was around. The fantastic and rather surreal part to birding in Japan is the way that photographers here set up the scene. At the Rubythroat site, they had placed a bare branch in the ground near the bush it favoured most. Then, they would clear the area around the branch and place a few maggots on the branch for the bird. Sure enough, within 10 minutes of the maggot being placed on the branch, the bird arrives. Feeds, performs a bit and flies back into the bushes. While the bird is feeding and stitting around wondering what the hell are these strange creatures doing, the noise of the cameras going off is deafening. Fantastic. So, as I was setting up my camera on the tripod, a very kindly looking Japanese man came over and told me to come into the front so I could get better photos. When I said I had been there yesterday, he looked at me and said, "oh, do you know there's a male Siberain Blue Robin over there?" pointing to the south. I think my expression gave him the answer so he laughed and told me to follow him. He had excellent english and it transpired he is a Professor of Organic Chemistry, retired, from Osaka Uni. He said he needed hobby when he retired so he decided that bird photography was it. A typical occurrence amongst bird photographers. They are nearly all retirees. Anyway, I told him I had a PhD in Biochemistry so he was delighted. He informed me then that his son is an Associate Prof. in Marine Biology somewhere in Arizona and that he was going to visit him for a month next week. Nice. As we turned the corner, there was a scene that always makes me laugh. About 40 photographers waiting for the bird to come out. Again, the scene was set and when the branch was analzyed through the bins, one could see the maggots squirming on the edges of the branch.

As we said our goodbyes, the male Siberian Blue Robin popped on the branch, ate it's fill and disappeared back into the bushes again. Nice. I had seen one last year in O-jo at about the same time but it was good to get some photos of one. A beautiful bird.

Now, after taking about 200 photographs in the two days, I have a lot of work ahead of me. A 2 day working ahead makes this Sunday evening less painful and the prospect of going to Mishima island for 3 full days of birding, makes it painless. I can't wait to get on the shinkansen on Tuesday night to head to Hiroshima. Sean and I then will catch a bus to Hagi, which is on the north tip of Yamaguchi prefecture on the Japan Sea. Then a 2 ferry ride towards South Korea and we reach Mishima. Hopefully I'll be keeping you all enthralled with birding stories when i get back. I know, you all can't wait. Presently talking with some movie producers in the States about making a film called "The Birdman of Osaka". The producers want Clooney to play me, as he looks like me apparently. That will keep my Aunt Phil happy. Clooney reminds her of me. Oh well, the burdens one has to carry....

By the way bro, get your boss to send you out here. If the place is in Osaka, then your rockin' n' rollin' fella. That would be wicked if you they send you on buisness. Get working on it...

Until next week, after Mishima, I bid you all goodnight....

Carmo's Diet: gone to shite

Carmo's Birds: SIBERIAN RUBYTHROAT*; JAPANESE GREY THRUSH*; Siberian Blue Robin; Red-necked stint; Ruff*; Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit.

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Robin Wright-Penn

ps: my photopage is no longer working as I have to pay 100yoyos to upkeep it and I ain't doing that. I'm working on setting up a flikr pro account but am having problems with my paypal. Anyway, I'll have it up and running soon!!!!

Oh boy, summer's comin'!!!

2006-04-23T16:00:00.000+09:00

A leisurely stroll with Neil around Amagasaki and Kumijima today really brought home the fact that summer is on the way. It wasn't the fact that there were feck all birds about. It wasn't the fact that people are out picnicing everywhere. It's the onset of the humid, heaviness that Osaka has during the summer. It was and is, damn hot. I am presently sitting in my shoebox, with both the window and front door open trying to get a breeze going rather than turn on the air-con. I'm trying to do some editing for a friend of mine and the heat is making it hard-going. I can't concentrate because of the humidity. I am dreading summer...

It is a strange quirky behaviour of man whereby one moans and complains like a bitch all winter about how cold it is and then as soon as it gets warm, one moans and complains like a bitch again because it's too hot. Will the human psyche ever by happy with it's lot?! Somehow I doubt it.

So, I bought a clever little gadget from Apple which allows me to use my iPod as a storage device for my photos if I am on the road and don't want to bring my laptop with me. It's a simple little connector which allows me to connect my camera to the iPod and download the images via the USB cable. It saved me spending a few hundred euro on a portable storage unit. The connector only cost 20yoyos!! Brilliant. The people at Apple are clever folk. Now if they could only come up with a trouble-free iPod, they'd be laughing. After getting my iPod replaced about 3-4 weeks ago due to the fact that it just froze and stopped working, the brand-new replacement is now acting up. It's pausing on it's own accord and freezes aswell. I am going to bring it back during the week and get it replaced again. It's ridiculous. Mr. Job, get on it and make this frustrating glitch go away!! I need the iPod to be faultless for Mishima in 10 days time or I'll be in serious trouble. Make it so...

The weekend was grand. A few pints after work on Friday night, the gym on Saturday morning, coffee with one of the lads in the afternoon, and a couple of pints with PJ in the evening. Out wader hunting with Neil this morning was a total disaster in terms of numbers of birds...there is just nowhere left in Osaka now for them. We went to Amagasaki which is usually brilliant but they are after filling in so much of the habitat that there is hardly anything left. Singing Oriental Reed and Fan-tailed Warblers were nice, summer plumaged Red-necked Stints and Mongolian Plovers were beautiful and fishing Ospreys were majestic. However, the numbers were miserably low. Japan is slowly becoming a concrete block. It is quite sad really. I wonder will there be any part of Japan left untouched by the Concreters in the next 50 years?? Somehow I think there will not.

I have just finished reading "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu (translated by Thomas Cleary), which is considered to be a must-read for all strategists. I'm not saying I'm a stategist, but I was curious about the book. Apparently the likes of George Dubya and Tones Blarewitch have read it...you wouldn't think it when you read the book and then look at their strategy for the invasion of Iraq. Maybe they should read it again. Presenlty, although still reading Robert Fisk's tome at night, I am reading John Banville's "The Sea", which won the Booker this year. I only read him for the first time in the new year when the folks sent over his trilogy "Doctor Copernicus", "Kepler", and "The Newton Letter" to me as a Chrissy present. That was an interesting read. Somehow I feel that the "The Sea" will be a dark affair. At least the man can write.

If anyone would like to recommend a book I should read then feel free to leave a message with me. As most of you will know, and in case of some of you may not, I read pretty much about everything so leave the suggestions (no porn thank you, this is a family show after all...my grandmother reads this; HI GRAN!!). A. Wilson...your suggestions would be welcome too! While you are it folks, some musical recommendations would not go astray. I am totally out of the loop here (not that I was ever in it, but it's even worse here) and haven't a clue what's going on. I bought Gorrillaz' "Demon Days" last week and that is good. Now banging out Kila at full volume for the locals to get a flavour of some alternative Irish music. So, any suggestions would be welcome. By the way, homegrown talent to watch: check out John Daly if he's playing in Cork or elsewhere, he has had his new record just released by a record label in London. An amazing DJ in Cork and is well known in London for his mixing style...the man is a genius if you ask me.

On a familiar note to most of you out there, if you want a good laugh, listen to the TodayFm podcast of Ian Dempsey getting slagged by Jay over his appearance on Podge and Rodge...classic.

Ok, I'm off to scrub the toilet, shower-room, "hallway" (that's about 1 square foot), and hoover my bed platform :) Before I go, I would like you all to take this moment to lament the end of a beautiful journey of one Mr. Jer "Pee Wee" Daly, who shall be returning to grace the shores of our beloved motherland, and walk down Pana for the first time in 2 years after his sojourn around the world. Presently risking life and limb in El Salvador/Guatamala, he shall be home at the beginging of May. Hug him if you see him, although he may not respond due to the shock of being home...

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating Lotte 99% cacao polyphenol chocolate. It's good for the prostate according to Men's Health...so I just have to eat it

Carmo's Birds: Mongolian Plover; Red-necked Stint; Oriental Reed Warbler; Fan-tailed Warbler; Green Sandpiper; Whimbrel; Grey-tailed Tattler; Shelduck(!); Turnstone; Swallow

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Eva Longoria

Oh where, oh where, oh where...has the year gone.

2006-04-18T23:20:00.000+09:00

Unbelievable as it may sound, I am now entering my second year in Japan. Crazy gravy baby!! Yup, time has gone like a flash, like a fart in the wind, like... like never before. I'll be 40 before I know it, hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! Now that's a freaky thought.

So, what have I thought of my year? It's had it's ups and downs, just like anyone else has had these last 12 months. I've seen some amazing things, experienced a fascinating country with wonderful people, and I've met some strange and interesting folk on my tavels. I've worked my proverbial balls off and got paid shag all for it. My health has suffered, you can't see my eyes anymore for the bags beneath them, and I'm going greyer on top (nothing down below yet). Would I change any of it or do I regret the move?

No.

Here's to another hellishly wonderful 12 months...

ps: this was taken maybe 6 months ago when I you could see my eyes!

The week that was Hanami

2006-04-13T22:10:00.000+09:00

Another week is flying by. Four days done this week and already worked over 50 hours. That is just madness. A really big case load has hit the Bio team, and CvB and I are working on a big one. It's exciting, stressful and tiring but I am enjoying it...in a sadistic kind of way. Oh, and this is what happens to one who works too much...my, those bags under that poor bastards eyes are there for good *sigh*

Last weekend was spent under the sakura and being blazed by the oh so warm sunshine. Saturday morning was spent cleaning, shopping for food and a quick excursion to Yodobashi camera. The Leurve machine, no sign of a package deal but will check again this weekend if I am there. My friend in the camera shop I usually go to was not there so hopefully he might be there this weekend. After that trip with PJ, we headed to Osaka-jo for the Hanami party the lads has organized. It was amazing to see so many people walking around, sitting under the trees, drinking, eating and generally being merry. Many groups ranging from the elderly, young families, gaijin's like us and the gigilo's with their groupies. An open-top ferrari driving around with hot chicks sitting on the top of the car seats. Although there was hordes of people, there was no trouble, all the litter was collected and placed in the bins/skips. All very responsible which was incredible. It is something that would not happen at home. Dave came down from Tokyo so it was great to see him. Even though he is only gone a couple of weeks now, his presence is missed by many. A few of the Japanese staff members were there. It was good to see Senji and Shino, and to see Senji in a relaxed and happy mood. He's usually stressed out at work. He's a machine I think. Sometimes the guy works 20 horus a day...madness.

I had to leg it off to Shinsaibashi to meet up with a couple of people for a bite to eat, which was a pity as I would have liked to have stayed on and enjoyed the craic. The Japanese people take the sakura season as seriously as they take their work. For many, it is the first sign of spring and the coming of a new summer and warm nights. The sakura's remain in full bloom for a couple of days and then over the course of a week, they are all gone. It is a rapid, yet vainglorious event. I thorougly enjoyed it.

Sunday was spent gulling with Neil. The weather was warm, somewhat sunny and little wind. A huge change from the previous week. We were not disappointed with our visit to the new gull spot. The usual cast of 2+ adult and 1stw taimyrensis; 2 yellow-legged birds which were otherwise no different to Vega could have been either hybirds or simply Vegas with yellow legs(!); several mongolicus, one with quite bright yellow legs but most were flesh to yellowish in colour; a possible 3rd winter
heuglini but not the 2nd winter usually present; the 1st winter Kumlien's was on show again... it seems it and the Thayer's have an agreement only to show up on alternate Sundays! Kumliens' was new for me in Japan so I was thrilled. Then, as I was taking a nap (it was quite warm and I was quite tired), through the sleepy haze I was enjoying, I heard Neil shout "knot!!". I don think I have moved out of a sleepy situation like that in a long time, if you know what I'm sayin :) An adult summer Great Knot!! Bonus! A lifer for me and one of the birds I was looking forward to finding this spring in Japan. I watched for about 30 minutes before it flew off down river. Magic.

Also, one of the first gulls we trained our scopes on was an intriguing individual. We both feel that it was a California Gull and the video footage that Neil managed to get look good for this species. It would be Japan's second ever record!! A mega rare bird here. Further analysis is required...stay tuned you bird lovers!

And now, I am sitting at home, listening to Morning Ireland and wondering what the hell some of the pathetic journo's are going on about how the Easter Rising was a forerunner for the ensuing European bloodbath of WWII and also, how it underpins the uprisings that have happened globally in the latter half of the 20th century. I am particularly talking about Geoffrey Wheatcroft from the Observer and his "The Evil Legacy of the Easter Rising" article- thanks for that Dr. Hynes and Dr. T- the twat even thinks it's 80 years since the Rising;

the article here

!! Christ, I nearly spewed my All Bran (keeps you regular) all over my laptop!! Then, thankfully, Dr. G. Fitzgerald put it all right with his article "Rising and early independence brought prosperity", and I was calmed again (thank you once again Dr. Hynes). Sweet Jayzus, if it wasn't for the boys in 1916 deciding, against all the odds, to take on the might of the British Empire and win, we wouldn't have the strong and more prosperous economy than we do now. Oh how the tide turns...we should embrace the heroes of 1916 and not put them down. A proud day for all.

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating Opposition Decisions and watching Scrubs

Carmo's Birds: GREAT KNOT*; Kumlien's Gull*; Cattle Egret; Kestrel

Carmo's Bird for Byrdy: that chick in Scrubs is quite endearing

Where has the week gone.

2006-04-06T23:35:00.000+09:00

Hi all, I've just realized that it's been over a week since I posted!!! It has been pretty busy at work and last weekend was busy aswell. Another one of the boys has left the firm to go to Tokyo to another job. So that was Friday night taken care of. Another Karaoke experience and home to bed. I was very, very drunk. In fact, I was feeling the effects after a can of beer!!! AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I have to train how to drink all over again now *sigh*. Saturday was spent in a heap but I did purchase a brand new, fire-engine red, pimping(!) fold-up bike for myself. All for the bargain price of 50yoyos. Photos will be posted soon. So in my hungover state, I cycled around the area I live, aimlessly, as it was a beautiful day and I needed to clear my head.

I tootled off to the Tsutya to get the last 8 hours of 24 Season 4 and watched that for the evening. Well, not all of it. I fell asleep in the chair, which is not the most comfortable, so I went to bed. Sunday was gulling day with Neil and we turned up the following, amongst one of the heaviest downpour of rain I have ever experienced: 15-20 heuglini taimyrensis, a presumed 1st winter heuglini heuglini which has been present on each visit during the month, as well as 10+ mongolicus. We finally found a "white-winged" gull and were able to get excellent views of it, however it proved not to be the expected Kumlien's we were looking for but a different bird; clearly a 1st winter Thayer's! So possibly the bird we had originally seen on the 12th of March could have been this species afterall. We were delighted as it was a lifer for Neil. Many shouts of joy and punching of the air with fists, as only birders do, and as only birders understand why we do.

The week at work has been busy and tiring. My apartment phone rang at 5am on Monday morning!! Whoever the guilty party was, own up now ye langers!! Needless to say i couldn't get back to sleep and I slept on my desk at lunch time on Monday, as only I can do. I still haven't lost that talent, heheehheeee. Today, we had a Bio-group lunch, organized by Komatani-san under the sakura (cheery blossoms). The sakura are out in full bloom now and they should last for the next 10 days or so. It is quite beautiful really. The gaijins at work are organizing a hamani party this weekend. A hamani party is where you camp under the sakura for the night and all the following day, drinking, eating and being merry. The locals are mad for it and you can see entire families doing the same thing. All getting drunk under the trees, with babies, cats, dogs, and any other pet that they have. It's mad to see. I missed it last year as I arrived about a week too late.

And now, it's nearly Friday. I have a teleconference in the morning so I have to be in early. Colonic irrigation chemicals...nice way to start a day eh?? Ok sin e for now, that's all my tired brain can think of. I leave you some photos of today and a view of Osaka from the 37th floor of the building I work in....

Carmo's Diet: this week I have mostly been eating steamed salmon with a dash of pepper and drizzle of lemon juice.

Carmo's Birds: see above

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: you are a legend fella!! here's one for you...Vanessa Paradis

Just when I thought spring was coming...

2006-03-28T23:54:00.000+09:00

The last week or so it has become warmer and the need for a coat going to work is now obsolete. Saturday was spent walking around Shinsaibashi with PJ and PC, showing them the general area, where all the Tiffany, Gucci, Salvatore Ferrungi, Bulgari, Tag Haur, Clinique shops were. You know, just in case they wanted to splurge out a year's salary on a gaudy piece of jewelry. T-shirt and a pair of jeans were all that were required in the pleasant spring air. Saturday night was spent dining in a fantastic Malaysian restaurant to bid Tim farewell as he heads back to London to bigger and better things and a normal working week...with all the perks that go with a normal job. I will miss Tim. He is a great chap, and chap he is. I wish him well in his new position with one of the better law firms in London. Toodle pip ol' boy!!
After dinner we headed back to the 'burbs and a session of Karaoke. Not my cup of tea really but I stayed for a bit, belted out a few tunes. Sent out the love to people of the world and duly went home sober as a judge. Sunday was spent resting, cleaning my apartment, getting food and generally chilling out. I needed a bit of R&R. Actually, I went to Osaka-jo in the morning for a bit of birding. LJ, I decided to take some photos of the those "lovely thrushes", just for you...I hope you like them :) A nice selection of Eye-browed, Brown and Dusky thrush (photos in that order).

So on Tuesday it was pissing rain on and we had one of the biggest lightening storms surrounding Osaka, with lightening hitting nearby buildings. It was mad. Then on the way home that night my iPod died a sorry death. Nothing spectacular, no fanfare. It just went quietly, not a sound...that was the problem. There was absolutely nothing!! I took it into Apple Store in Shinsaibashi last night and, without a request for a warranty card, they replaced it. I now have a spanking new iPod. Nice.

Not sure what plans are afoot for Saturday, but am off birding the Yamatogawa on Sunday with Neil. We is hunting gulls...It is supposed be warm and sunny, yeah baby!! Oh, and it started snowing tonight on my way home. This world is going crazy.

Carmo's Diet: This week, I have mostly been eating broccoli and asparagus

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: the one that got away...