A Heron Aid.

For the first time in a few years, I went for a long bike ride to Tagajo. I wanted to check out and see if the herons were still nesting near the Kirin Beer factory, I was worried about their sanctuary post-tsunami.

Sure enough, they were still hanging around the giant power tower. There are several hundred there and though a little skittish in my presence, they did pose for a few pics.

Their nesting grounds are within a small grove of trees between a tall orange tower and the Kirin Brewery.

The heron or 鷺 (sagi) is a popular bird in ukiyo-e paintings (click for examples) and here is a kabuki dance featuring "Sagi Musume". (You may want to mute it, the narrator's voice is irritating.)



Here is a shot of the beer factory from far far away on the Sunaoshi-kawa (river). One rather frustrating occurrence, I had to walk half of the pathway running parallel to the river for it is undergoing construction. At the end of the path, I had to lift my bike over a fence.

I got up to surprisingly very little silliness. Sure I popped into Korona World to see if there were any UFO Catch games worth playing...there weren't. Instead, I bought a Fat Cute Soldier from a Gatcha-capsule.

I got "Chips Monster".

All in all, a very nice day but, phew, am I ever bushed now!