WAITA MOUNTAIN in Oita prefecture

August 12, 2017    This Obon holiday, I drove to Waita Mt. in Oita prefecture. It is what we call a “bald mountain” in English. This means there are no trees on top, so the view is fantastic. I wanted to photograph the night sky, and try to capture some meteors (shooting stars) in the photo. Unfortunately, the weather turned cloudy and foggy as I was climbing up Waita Mt.  so I had to give up photographing the night sky. Fortunately, the view from halfway up was very beautiful, especially as the sun was setting. As I was coming down, I entered a stand of pine trees and cedars. I was here that I found four different species of birds foraging together. One of them was an Eurasian nuthatch, (gojuukara in Japanese). My first time to see this species!

Trailhead to Waita san

               Trailhead, (start of trail) to Waitasan.

 

View from trail Waita Mt.

                         View of sunset from the trail.

 

Hagenoyu Hotsprings, base of Waita San

       Hagenoyu, and Yutsubo Hotsprings at the base of Waita Mt.

 

woodpecker grove, Waita san evening light

        Grove of red pine trees. Woodpecker heaven.

 

varied tit, yamagara

                  A varied tit or yamagara in Japanese.

 

Japanese pygmy woodpecker, kogera, waita san

 A Japanese pygmy woodpecker or kogera in Japanese.

 

Japanese green woodpecker, aogera

    A Japanese green woodpecker or aogera in Japanese

 

nuthatch waitasan

      A Eurasian nuthatch or gojuugara in Japanese. This is the only species of bird that I know of that can walk down a tree headfirst. (See photo below)

 

nuthatch, head down

 

sepia tree Waita san

   I will come back some day Waitasan, to see your bald      head and photograph the stars.  Thank you!

https://www.google.com/maps/search/waita+mountain,+oita+prefecture/@33.1401184,131.1467437,14z/data=!3m1!4b1?hl=en

 

 

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