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posted: February 28th, 2015 |
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This page begins and ends with February 1st, 2015. Our only outing during the entire month of February was a trip on our bicycles to the Nogawa Park Natural Area to check out the progress of spring flowers. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin February 1st |
As the header says, we went, via bicycle, to the Nogawa Park Natural Area on February 1st. In first position in this row is a bird - this is a Bull-headed Shrike (Mozu in Japanese) - a year-round resident of Tokyo. The second shot is one of the first signs of spring for us - a Shibateranthis pinnatifida - Setsubun-sou in Japanese. We were a bit surprised to find them at such a state of blooming, we were expecting to see a few, but not as many as we saw. The third shot is a Symplocarpus foetidus - Zazen-sou in Japanese - A Type of Skunk Cabbage. We were also surprised to find this so pretty already.
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 Feb01_05_Nogawa Pk_BirdRC |
 Feb1st_21_NogawaPark_ ShibateranthisPinnatifidaRC |
 Feb01_08_NogawaPk_ Symplocarpus_foetidusRC |
The first shot in this row gives you a better idea of the extent of the Shibateranthis pinnatifida - Setsubun-sou in Japanese - which was already in bloom. The second shot is another bird - this is a Dusky Thrush (Tsugimi in Japanese). They migrate here from Siberia and will be gone back home by May. (Thanks to Norm F. for both of these bird names.) The third shot shows an Adonis sp. in bloom. There are only 3 or 4 Adonis plants here.
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 Feb1st_26_NogawaPark_ ShibateranthisPinnatifidaRC |
 Feb01_09_Nogawa Pk_BirdRC |
 Feb01_14_Nogawa Pk_AdonisRC |
All three shots in this row show Shibateranthis pinnatifida - Setsubun-sou in Japanese. The outlined area in the first shot shows the portion that was cropped out to create the second image.
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 Feb01_18_NogawaPk_ Shibateranthis_pinnatifidaRC |
 Feb01_18Part_NogawaPk _Shibateranthis_pinnatifidaRC |
 Feb1st_27_NogawaPark_ ShibateranthisPinnatifidaRC |
In first position is the final shot of Shibateranthis pinnatifida - Setsubun-sou in Japanese. The second and third images show the blossoms of Chimonanthus praecox - Roubai in Japanese. By the end of the month this species has already dropped most of its flowers.
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 Feb1st_57_NogawaPark_ ShibateranthisPinnatifidaRC |
 Feb1st_38_Nogawa Park_RoubaiRC |
 Feb1st_39_Nogawa Park_RoubaiRC |
In first position in this row is a photo of the main "field" in the Natural Area of Nogawa Park. Note the light coating of snow. This was the most we have had on the ground during this 2014 - 2015 winter season. The second and third shots show a seedhead of the Cymbidium goeringii Orchid - Shun-ran (Spring Orchid) in Japanese. It seems that seedheads of this species are quite rare. Whatever insect pollinates this species must be in short supply when it is blooming. If you recall, we have this species growing in our porch garden and over the years, despite the fact that the plants can have 45 - 60 flowers each spring, we have only had two seedheads on our porch. The most recent photo of our porch plant is HERE.
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 Feb1st_68_Nogawa Park_FieldRC |
 Feb01_52_NogawaPk_ Cymbidium_goeringiiRC |
 Feb01_56_NogawaPk_ Cymbidium_goeringiiRC |
Both photos in this row show a Sapindus mukurossi (Indian Soapberry) Tree & Seedpods. According to Wikipedia "The seed pods contain saponins which are a natural surfactant. They have been used for washing for thousands of years by native peoples in Asia as well as Native Americans. Soapnuts are being considered and used for commercial use in cosmetics and detergents as well as many other products." We have collected these seedpods and played around with them. They are certainly sticky, and after you play around with them and then go to wash your hands, the sticky residue on your hands lathers nicely and removes itself simply by rubbing your hands together.
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 Feb01_62_NogawaPk_ Sapindus_mukurossiRC |
 Feb01_63_NogawaPk_ Sapindus_mukurossiRC |
Here is the final photo from our one and only outing during February. This photo shows the seedhead of the "Yuba-Yuri" (Old Women's Lily) in Japanese.
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 Feb1st_61_NogawaPark _LilySeedheadRC |
| End February 1st, End February 2015's Photos, Begin Miscellaneous Links |
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.
