Garden

Kiyoko working on tomato plants.

A little tree frog resting on a green tomato. Not very cute.

Dew drops on a taro leaf.

Iris of Yawata Plateau

We went to Yawata Plateau to see iris flowers.  It already passed the peak time of blooming, so they were not as gorgeous as last year.  Still they were beautiful enough.

Silly girl.

Makoto and I found strange plants on a trail along a trout stream.

I learned later that they were fruits of the Silver Dragon.

Yamame

We had heavy rain yesterday. We are now in the rainy season. Last week, just befor the rainy season started, I had a chance to make a short fly-fishing trip for yamame.

Water was cool and clear. As casting a dry fly, you can forget all the troublesome and complicated things in your business. That day, fish were really active and attacked my fly one after another. I can enjoy even a bad day of fishing, but a good day of fishing is much better of course.

They were not big. But I love the beauty of this little land locked salmon. By the end of this rainy season water gets warm and yamame go into deep water. Then I would change the target from yamame to gogi (a subspecies of white spotted charr).

Sparrows, not swallows

A pair of red-rumped swallow visited our apartment every year for breeding.  But every time a crow attacked the nest and stole eggs or ate chicks.  They successfully reared young ones for the first time in 2008.  However they didn't come back last year.  Now their nest is owned by sparrows.

I suppose this is a chick that is fully grown and ready to leave the nest.