A Great Egret on the river near my apartment this afternoon.
It was my first walk up the river for a few weeks and I had a bit of a shock................
There were still some trees left close to where I live but upstream they have cut down every single tree. They have been cutting and removing trees for several years now. But this is different. Every single tree has been systematically chopped down, it looks like they're working their way downstream. These are trees that breeding birds nested in and they also offered shelter for migrants. Of course it may be that the trees had grown too much and the roots were damaging the concrete embankments, I will try and write to City Hall to find out the reason. If they were only cut down to use up this year's tax budget then it will be very depressing indeed. The river will be a barren place this spring, just another ugly concrete stream in urban Japan.
Add to this the new shinkansen (bullet train) line up to Sapporo will cut right through the middle of the wintering grounds of the eagles in Yakumo (construction of the tunnel has begun and it is very close to one of the main eagle viewing points).............................and this is one of my anti-Japanese government/civil servant/construction industry days. Not only will the new shinkansen further bankrupt the country, it will also spoil my winter birding plans in the future. Bastards.
The egret eventually perched on someones's roof.
I could use ISO 100 on these next 2 shots.................
If an egret could laugh this would be what it would look like................
Other stuff around included Dusky Thrush, Hawfinch, Daurian Redstart, Varied Tit and Wren..........................
that Egret is spouting off at the stupidity of man in their environment! Great shots but sad story
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret, it is very very minor compared to serious habitat destruction around the world but still annoying.
DeleteSorry to hear about the trees Stu, but I'm afraid this kind of thing will keep on happening until there is no environment left to make money from and ruin in the process :-( Great pics again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Derek. It's not only Japan of course. The woods near your old house (Churchwood?) have shrunk dramatically and my dad was talking about a plan to build a road over Longton Marsh!
DeleteGee what a tragedy. It's this kind of piecemeal destruction - little bits here and there - that contribute to a huge net loss.As you point out it is not confined to Japan.
ReplyDeleteHi David, it's not exactly like chopping down swathes of the Amazon but still.........................
DeleteThat's so depressing in an area where trees must take years to grow to a worthwhile size!
ReplyDeleteLots of Hokkaido is still covered in forest...................but not near my apartment...................and yes they must have been pretty old trees (probably dating back to when the river was first concreted, they grew up under the embankments I guess).
DeletePity about the trees; - I often feel a sense of loss when I come across a place where they have been felled.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment John. The tree felling just seems so pointless.................
DeleteThey've been systematically felling every tree along every river in the Kyoto area since about last spring. The work's almost complete now.
ReplyDeleteHi Neil. What exactly is it that Japanese City halls have against trees? And grass? Seems like they dream of one day living in a concrete only Japan.
DeleteNot only did they cut down the trees they also didn't even bother picking up all the trash left by fly-tippers which has accumulated over the years.