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This is Page 2 of 2 - the best of February 2013!
posted: February 28th, 2013
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This page begins with February 23rd and a trip out to Takao and a hike up the Hikage Creek road; lunch at Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama and then a hike down a new trail - the Hikage Creek Ridge trail.   Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin February 23rd
  As the header says, on Saturday, February 23rd, Kazuya and I went out to Takao and then took a bus to the Hikage Creek Bus Stop. From there we hiked down to Hikage Creek to check on the status of the Chrysosplenium album var. stamineum. As you can see in the first photo, it is budding, but it's still going to be a while before the flowers open. The 2nd shot shows you the amount of snow on the Hikage Creek Road - we did not expect this. This is the most snow we've ever seen here. The 3rd shot shows a small part of the Cedar Forest which covers this area. You can see that this year is going to be a very terrible year for people with pollen allergies. All of that orange color is Cedar Pollen Sacs and in a few weeks the pollen is going to start blowing around. Many people are already complaining about their allergies.
Feb23rdHikage003_ChrysospleniumAlbumVStamineumRC
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  Here are 3 shots of birds. The first shot is a Japanese Accentor (Prunella rubida) or Kayakuguri in Japanese - it is indigenous to Japan. The 2nd and 3rd shots are of a different bird - a Gabichou in Japanese (Garrulax canorus) (the Chinese Hwamei or Melodious Laughingthrush). I am told that it is a very popular cagebird in China due to it's beautiful song.
Feb23_12_HikageCreek_BirdRC
Feb23_12_Hikage
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  Well, well! We found the very first violets of the season today. Up near the top of the road, where the sun shines on the hillside we found these specimens of Viola grypoceras. Spring is coming!!
Feb23rdHikage020_ViolaGrypocerasRC
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  Here is a final shot of Viola grypoceras. The 2nd shot is looking from the Hikage Creek Road to I-Ccho-Daira, which we have shown you many photos of over the years. The 3rd shot was taken from the summit of Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (670 m = 2,199 ft). Today we ended up hiking down that ridge which you see extending from the left edge of the photo - the one with the small patch of hardwoods on it. We never even realized that there was a trail there; we just discovered it today. It's a nice trail. By the way, this is the same ridge which you can see on Page 1 - the 3rd photo in Row 1.
Feb23_18_HikageCreek_Viola_grypocerasRC
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  Oops! What passed by here before us? From the size of the pile it just about had to be a Black Bear. The 2nd and 3rd shots show the snow up on this ridge under the hardwoods.
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  Here are the final 2 shots from this adventure. We found several Cymbidium goeringii orchid plants on this hike and this particular plant has the buds which were expanded the most. Another indication that spring is coming. In Japanese this Orchid is called "Shun Ran" which translates as Spring Orchid.
Feb23_26_HikageCreek_Cymbidium_goeringiiRC
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Feb23_27_HikageCreek_Cymbidium_goeringiiRC
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End February 23rd, End Page 2, End February 2013's Photos
  Here are links to separate web pages - all of them will open in a new window (or new tab). The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link shows our entire DVD collection in php DVD Profiler, which is much more sophisticated than the plain vanilla DVD Profiler just above it. The 4th link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT cover-art of our entire DVD collection.

January 1, 2013 - DVD Collection & Home Theater System






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Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 1: Mt. Daisetsu (Mt. Asahidake Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 2: Mt. Chokai (Choukai) Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 3: Mt. Gassan Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 4: Mt. Hakkoda & Mt. Zao
Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 5: Mt. Kumotori Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 6: Mt. Shirane (Kusatsu) Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 7: Mt. Shibutsu Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 8: Mt. Kiso-Komagatake
Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 9: Mt. Kitadake Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 10: Mt. Mizugaki Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 11: Mt. Shiroumadake (includes Mt. Shakushidake & Mt. Yarigatake Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 12: Mt. Tate (Tateyama)
Climbing a Few of Japan's 100 Famous Mountains - Volume 13: Mt. Yatsugatake (Mt. Akadake) Outdoor Photography of Japan: Through the Seasons Outdoor Photography of Japan: Through the Seasons - Volume 1 of 3 (Winter & Spring) Outdoor Photography of Japan: Through the Seasons - Volume 2 of 3 (Summer)
Outdoor Photography of Japan: Through the Seasons - Volume 3 of 3 (Autumn) Some Violets of Eastern Japan - 2nd Edition English - Ilokano AND Ilokano - English Dictionary English - Ilokano and Ilokano - English Dictionary - With Some Notes on Ilokano Culture
A Book of Anagrams - An Ancient Word Game A Book of Anagrams - An Ancient Word Game: Volume #2 Forest Resource & Allowable Cut - Fairbanks Working Circle (Alaska) Samurai Seasons Exposed: Nipponese Outdoor Rhapsodies
Heaven and Hell in the Philippines: Journal of a Peace Corps Volunteer All Calendars Wildflowers_of_Interior_Alaska Twelvemile: Summit to Summit



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Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. As usual for February, there is not much here. Hope you found something which you considered worth looking at. Go To Page:


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