December 21, 2017 Hello everyone. It has been awhile since my last entry here. A combination of the weather and preparing for Christmas year-end parties. About three weeks ago, I got up at around 4 am in order to arrive at the top of Kusenbu Mt. in the predawn hours to take some pictures of the sunrise. From my home, it is about a 45 minute drive to the top of Kusenbu. I packed up my camera gear, a folding chair, and a warm blanket, (-1 degrees C up there) into the car and headed off.
When I got to the foot of the mountain, as is my habit, I placed my camera in the my lap and turned it on. I sometimes come upon animals that are mostly crepuscular, (active in the twilight hours) and I wanted to be ready. As I rounded a curve about halfway up the mountain, a hare was caught in the beams of the headlights. I was able to get a few shots off before it ran into the trees. A few curves later, I was lucky enough to see a weasel that posed for a few seconds before bounding off into the darkness. Just long enough to get the shot below. Due to the inadequate light, and being taken through the windshield, they are a bit fuzzy, but I thought I would post them anyway. I added a few photos of a weasel at a river near my home hunting a few years back.
Please click on images for a larger view.
Images from the top of Kusenbu Mt. One image shows the Radar array on top Mt. Sefuri silhouetted by the moon. It is about 7 kilometers away as the crow flies. Both the Japan self-defense force, and the United States operate radar for tracking missiles and aircraft. They also monitor the radio transmissions of North Korea from here.