Little Tern,コアジサシ

IUCN：Least Concern

It breeds in the mid-latitudes of the Eurasian continent and overwinters along the coast from Africa to Australia. It is also distributed on the Caribbean coast and the Hawaiian Islands.In Japan, it comes to the south of Honshu as a summer bird and breeds, but the number is decreasing as the number of breeding grounds decreases. Predation by crows is also a factor in the population decline.(Cited from Wikipedia) 　

                                      a courtship feeding

                                       a banded bird

Website Information about bird banding of little tern from Environment ministry, and Yamashina Institute For ornithology. Please jump to left side rink " Yamashina  Institute For Ornithology"

Japanese Paradise Flycatcher、サンコウチョウ

 I was scouting out for any summer migrating birds in the park in the countryside.

At that time, I heard the call of the Japanese Paradise Flycatcher for a moment.

Then I kept looking all around for the bird and found him moving on the perches twig.

As the moving from twig to twig was so fast, I lost him.

So I got only two shots.

Blue-and-White Flycatcher,オオルリ

The blue-and-white flycatcher (Cyanoptila cyanomelana) is a migratory songbird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species is also known as the Japanese flycatcher. It breeds in Japan, Korea, and in parts of north eastern China and the Russian Far East. It winters in South East Asia, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sumatra, and Borneo. This species has been recorded as a vagrant from the Sinharaja Rainforest in Sri Lanka in 2014.（Cited from Wikipedia）

This bird is said to be in top three beautiful songbirds in Japan.

 

Ochre-rumped bunting,コジュリン

 The Japanese reed bunting or ochre-rumped bunting (Emberiza yessoensis) is a bird in the family Emberizidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863.It is found in Manchuria, Korea, and Japan. Its natural habitats are temperate grassland and swamps. (Cited from Wikipedia)                 　　　　　　　　　　 

Ochre-rumped bunting is listed as a vulnerable species by the Ministry of the Environment Government of Japan, and will be appeared about when wheat ear emergence in this area.

Tango no sekku (May 5): the Boy’s Festival,端午の節句

  Tango no sekku is one of in the ten Main Annual Festivals in Japan.

This festival is the Boy’s Festival for expressing the hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong.　Warrior figures are set up in the house during this festival, iris leaves are placed under the eaves to fend off evil, and huge carp-like streamers are fastened to poles. Special rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves are eaten on this day. However, in recent decades, fish-like streamers installations have disappeared almost anywhere in the countryside despite which have plenty of spaces.