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This is Page 3 of 3 - the best of April 2008!
posted: April 30th, 2008
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This page continues with April 17th at ICU and Nogawa Park, jumps to the 19th at Fujino, in Saitama Prefecture and then to the 20th - a climb of Takamizu 3 Mountains. It ends with an April 26th climb of Mt. Sougaku and Mt. Gozen, in the Okutama Area. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin April 17th
  On April 17th Kazuya had a day off, so we went to Nogawa Park. We found the first Gentiana zollingeri of the season. These first 2 shots are of the same plant. The 3rd shot is an Ebine Orchid.
Apr17_ICU_Gentiana_zollingeri10RC.jpg
Apr17_ICU_Gentiana
_zollingeri10RC
Apr17_ICU_Gentiana_zollingeri21RC.jpg
Apr17_ICU_Gentiana
_zollingeri21RC
Apr17_NogawaPk_Ebine_Orchid02RC.jpg
Apr17_NogawaPk_
Ebine_Orchid02RC

  Here is a shot of incredible purple Ajuga nipponensis, a perfectly formed flower of Lithospermum zollingeri, which is quite rare to see - these flowers are generally attacked by insects very quickly. The 3rd shot is a beautiful patch of fern.
Apr17_NogawaPk_Ajuga_nipponensis01RC.jpg
Apr17_NogawaPk_Ajuga_
nipponensis01RC
Apr17_NogawaPk_Lithospermum_zollingeri03RC.jpg
Apr17_NogawaPk_Lithospermum
_zollingeri03RC
Apr17_NogawaPk_Fern01RC.jpg
Apr17_NogawaPk_
Fern01RC
End April 17th, Begin April 19th
  On April 19th Kazuya and I went out to Fujino (picture titles spelled incorrectly), in Kanagawa Prefecture, to a hot spring. On the hike back to the Station from the hot spring Kazuya spotted this pheasant in a field and we snuck up on it and got these shots. Notice that in the first picture you can see the hen too. Kazuya told me this is a Korean Pheasant, not the native Japanese Pheasant.
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasants12RC.jpg
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasants12RC
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasant14RC.jpg
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasant14RC
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasant20RC.jpg
Apr19_FunjiNo_Pheasant20RC

  Here is a picturesque old abandoned bridge and a weirdly colored shot. This is what it looked like - with some trees leafing out and some not yet leafing out, but it's a strange color combination - kind of silver and light green!
Apr19_FunjiNo_OldBridge03RC.jpg
Apr19_FunjiNo_OldBridge03RC
19Apr_Funjino_SpringColors05RC.jpg
19Apr_Funjino_SpringColors05RC
End April 19th, Begin April 20th
  On April 20th we went out to Mitake and hiked the Takamizu-san 3 mountain trail. We crossed over the tops of Sougaku Mtn. (756 m = 2,480 ft), Iwatakeishi Mtn. (793 m = 2,602 ft) and Takamizu Mtn. (759 m = 2,490 ft). These 2 shots are both Viola rossii - you can identify it by the tightly rolled up leaves.
Apr20_Takamizu3Mtns_Viola_rossi20RC.jpg
Apr20_Takamizu3Mtns_
Viola_rossi20RC
Apr20_Takamizu3Mtns_Viola_rossi22RC.jpg
Apr20_Takamizu3Mtns_
Viola_rossi22RC

  Here are 2 scenery shots. The first is from the summit of Iwatakeishi Yama and the 2nd shot is the town of Iksubata taken from the summit of Takamizu San.
Apr20_Iwatakeishi_Yama_Scenery02RC.jpg
Apr20_Iwatakeishi_
Yama_Scenery02RC
Apr20_Takamizu_San_Ikusabata02RC.jpg
Apr20_Takamizu_San_
Ikusabata02RC
End April 20th, Begin April 26th
  On April 26 we went out and climbed Mt. Sougaku (1,341 m = 4,400 ft) and Mt. Gozen (1,405 m = 4,610 ft) in the Okutama Lake Area. It was cloudy and rainy. The first photo here shows a Trout Lily covered with rain drops. The 2nd shot shows a vague view of Okutama Lake from Mt. Sasuzawa. The 3rd shot is another new Violet we found for the first time - a cross between Viola rossii and Viola bissetii. We've now found several new violets (first time for us - not new species) this season.
Apr26_Sougaku_Erythronium_japonicum03RC.jpg
Apr26_Sougaku_
Erythronium_japonicum03RC
Apr26_OkutamaLake_from_Mt_Sasuzawa02RC.jpg
Apr26_OkutamaLake_from
_Mt_Sasuzawa02RC
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen_Viola_rossi_x_Viola_bisseti03RC.jpg
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen_Viola_
rossi_x_Viola_bisseti03RC

  Here is another shot of the cross between Viola rossii and Viola bissetii followed by a scenery shot and then another Trout Lily Shot.
Apr26_Sougaku_Viola_rossi_x_Viola_bisseti03RC.jpg
Apr26_Sougaku_Viola_rossi_
x_Viola_bisseti03RC
Apr26_Sougaku_Scenery02RC.jpg
Apr26_Sougaku_
Scenery02RC
Apr26_Sougaku_Erythronium_japonicum05RC.jpg
Apr26_Sougaku_Erythronium_
japonicum05RC

  Here are 2 shots of a rain drop covered Pseudostellaria palibiniana and then another raindrop covered Trout Lily.
Apr26_Gozen_Pseudostellaria_palibiniana01RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_Pseudostellaria
_palibiniana01RC
Apr26_Gozen_Pseudostellaria_palibiniana02RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_Pseudostellaria
_palibiniana02RC
Apr26_Gozen_Erythronium_japonicum02RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_Erythronium_
japonicum02RC

  Here is another new violet for us - Viola shikokiana. We found lots of the plants but very few in bloom, it was still too early for them to be in full bloom. The final shot is a Trillium smallii in bloom.
Apr26_Gozen_Viola_shikokiana07RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_Viola_
shikokiana07RC
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen_Viola_shikokiana07RC.jpg
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen_
Viola_shikokiana07RC
Apr26_Gozen_Trillium_smallii02RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_Trillium_
smallii02RC

  Here are 2 scenery shots taken on the way down. Seeing as it was raining and the rain was a surprise (not called for in the forecast) we were unprepared and therefore wet and cold by the time we got to a bus stop on the highway! It was a very tiring day.
Apr26_Gozen_DownTrailScene01RC.jpg
Apr26_Gozen_DownTrail
Scene01RC
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen_Sakai_Bashi03RC.jpg
Apr26_MtSougakuGozen
_Sakai_Bashi03RC
End April 26th, End Page 3, End April 2008's Photos
  This is a link to a separate web page showing some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV.
    November 11, 2007 DVD Collection,
Movie of Home Theater System
& Sharp Aquos TV Pictures
(new window)

By the way - Kazuya is still maintaining his blog, which exhibits different photos than shown here (mostly - I have used some of his though). It looks very nice and you can find it HERE. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.)

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