MEMBER’S NIGHT – Kwinana Rockingham Mandurah Branch, 20 May 2024

Desiree Heald was the speaker for our May meeting. She shared photos of flora, fauna, and geological features taken during a long trip to Japan earlier this year. Her trip took her to many locations across Japan during the northern hemisphere winter and early spring. The following narrative briefly summarises the many sightings she shared with the audience.

She started the trip in Tokyo, where she saw pigeons, crows, ducks, and pink and white plum blossom. At Osaka, she saw early Cherry Blossoms and visited the aquarium, where she saw a Whale Shark, some giant crabs and Garden Eels. At Nara, she photographed the Sika (Northern Spotted) Deer, for which the area is well known. On the island of Kyushu, she photographed the hot springs and a geyser at Beppu; at Izumi (also on Kyushu), she saw flocks of Hooded Cranes and White-naped Cranes. Izumi sees around 15,000 cranes fly in from Siberia to spend the winter months feeding in rice fields. Desiree explained that population numbers for cranes plummeted before conservation efforts were put in place to save these iconic birds. These efforts have resulted in much larger numbers of cranes visiting each year. An observation centre has been established to facilitate viewing of the feeding cranes.

She then showed some photographs of Sakarujima, a volcanic island off the coast of Kagoshima. This area hosts a Dinosaur Park. From this area, there were also photos of a Powdered Oak Blue Butterfly and a colourful small bird, the Daurian Red Start(right).

Photo: Laitch Creative Commons

Her trip then took her back to the main island of Honshu, where she visited the caves at Akyoshido, showing some photos of the impressive underground features. She also saw fossils in the limestone from this area. Photos of a Grey Heron at Naoshima, some Crane Flies and Pond Striders rounded off the presentation.

The audience thanked Desiree for her presentation. It must have been a great trip.

Colin Prickett