Wild Watch
My Birding Paradise: Hokkaido I
Nov 30, 2017
I have been writing about the wildlife of Hokkaido since the early 1980s and Hokkaido is now widely known as one of the top winter birding and wildlife photography locations on Earth. It is rapidly claiming its place as a renowned year-round destination.
Hokkaido is home to a number of eye-catching...
Wild Watch Goes to Africa II Rwanda
Oct 31, 2017
As I set off on my first hike towards the Virunga National Park boundary in Rwanda, the alarming words rattling about in my head were these: “Its the hardest thing I have ever done.”
I have lost count of the number of times I had been told by previous visitors how tough the hike would b...
Wild Watch Goes to Africa I Zambia
Sep 30, 2017
From Alaska to Africa by way of Japan! I know I am fortunate, but sometimes even a strong self-inflicted pinch isn’t enough to wake to the reality.
My years tend to follow a somewhat predictable, if rather busy, pattern as I return again and again to the same destinations introducing na...
Wild Watch Goes to Alaska II
Aug 31, 2017
Alaska! The name alone conjures images of wilderness and “last frontier”, of dramatic landscapes, and fog-shrouded islands. So far though, those adjectives could equally as well describe Hokkaido, the island I call home.
Continuing south through the Bering Sea from the Diomede Islands in the&...
Wild Watch Goes to Alaska I
Jul 31, 2017
Alaska! The name alone conjures images of wilderness and “last frontier”, of dramatic landscapes, and fog-shrouded islands. So far though, those adjectives could equally as well describe Hokkaido, the island I call home.
Hokkaido is Japan’s wild frontier, settled relatively late, and with a d...
Kumagera: Japan's Largest Woodpecker
Jun 30, 2017
As mammals we live from before birth to death accompanied by a ceaseless steady rythym. The rhythmic beating of our hearts – though much to my doctor's consternation in my case that rhythm is not so regular. Unlike us mammals, plants operate, flourish, and proliferate without that steady and continuous beating. Fo...
Grey Heron, Master of Japan’s Wetlands
May 30, 2017
Time appears to flow differently for herons; perhaps it even flows around them, leaving them unscathed, as they stand poised and motionless above their reflections. Standing motionless is something to which their minds and muscles are finely attuned. Theirs is a waiting game and they are exceptionally good at it. After what seems an ...
Japan’s Mythical Beasts and Where to Find Them
Apr 20, 2017
From water shrews to whiskered bats and tree-climbing long-haired rats, and from sea otters and stoats to bears, macaques and boars, Japan has a wonderful mammalian bestiary. Amphibians and reptiles abound too, from diminutive tree frogs to giant salamanders – enough to keep any mammal watcher or herpetologist busy from Okinawa...
Chasing Mysterious Giants in the Mountains of Honshu
Mar 31, 2017
The heavily overcast sky delivered first a light rain then a wet snow that thickened, whitened and eventually coated trees and grass alike. Mercifully the road did not turn any more treacherous than indicated by its many winding curves, despite the falling snow. The weather was a surprise for the end of March in Hyogo Prefecture, as ...
Mandarin: the Hooded Love Bird of the East
Feb 28, 2017
Almost like phantoms, or moving shadows, silent shapes jump into the air, take wing and flee along a densely wooded river valley and are soon out of sight upstream. The Mandarin is a shy shade-loving bird, but catch a clear glimpse of one though and its colours shout – Oshidori.
Secretive an...