WHITE EGRETS ON LAKE BIWA

I've seen much more wildlife in Japan than I ever did in New Zealand. Probably that's because I usually traveled by car in NZ. So I saw a lot of farm animals, but rabbits and possums (both pests) were the only wild animals I saw. There are lots of interesting birds in New Zealand, but they're hard to observe from a car. Apparently we have herons and white egrets, but I never saw one.


So I was happy to find how abundant they are in Japan. You can see big water birds everywhere, probably because growing rice provides them with lots of feeding grounds. White egrets in the emerald green rice fields of summer is one of my favorite images of Japan. On my ride around Lake Biwa I saw many white egrets on the lake shore. I hope you enjoy these photos!

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I heard about it happening to other people. I can't say I wasn't warned. It just happened so fast! I bought a ham roll from Sizuya Bakery in Sanjo Keihan Station, and I was eating it on my way to a shopping excursion in Teramachi Arcade. I stopped in the middle of Sanjo Bridge to inspect the water volume in the river. It's rainy season in Japan right now, and the Kamo River was roaring along in it's bed. I was down to my last bite of the ham roll when something whirred past my ear and struck my hand, the the roll was gone. I stood there staring stupidly at my empty hand, wondering "what just happened?!" Then I saw the flash of brown as a kite (bird) passed swiftly across the edge of my vision. I realized that I was a victim of one of the infamous Kamogawa Kite Gang.




Of course the moral of the story is that you shouldn't eat on the run. It's so uncool anyway. I seldom see Japanese people doing it. But I'm nowhere near being a reformed character. In fact, I might do the exact same thing tomorrow, on purpose, because if I'm expecting an attack maybe I'll actually see it happen this time. And I'd like to see it happen. Those Kamogawa Kites are amazing!

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