仙台 えいごの教室

 

  After New years¹ there’s one big event for me: Big Bird Day! On BBD, I try to see as many species² of birds as I can – in one day. This is a day I look forward to all year and it’s great fun.

 

　The most important thing is the course (I need luck, too). The course needs to include woodlands, rivers, fields and ocean. It’s not easy in one day.

 

　This year I decided to start at Kabukuri-numa (out near Furukawa). I headed out at about 4:30 a.m. and did the first drive of the day in the dark (that way, the long drive doesn’t waste any precious³ daylight). The usually snowy and icy Furukawa was mostly snow-free⁴, so the drive was a piece of cake⁵.

 

  Arriving at 6:15ish, I was there for sunrise and the really spectacular sight of the ducks, geese and swans flying up to start their day. 

   

*You can see that breathtaking moment on YouTube by entering "Kabukuri-numa, Tori no Tobitachi".

  The weather was cold but really beautiful! I did pretty well at Kabukuri-numa, and saw a White-tailed Eagle(!) and lapwings along with lot’s of smaller birds. I DIDN’T see a couple of birds that I’d hoped to see: the snow goose and the Canada goose.

*A lapwing on the top and a Canadian Geese at the bottom. These are from my bird photo collection.

 

This was flying over me, but I can’t count it on my list… ( It’s a hot-air balloon⁶! )

 

After this I set off⁷ for the rest of my course: Nobiru, Shiogama, Gamou, the Engei Center (Onuma) and then the river in front of my house. In the end, I didn’t have a great number. 63 birds – more than 10 less than last year. But it was a really fun day and I was exhausted.

 

　I needed more ocean birds to get a higher number – so I’ll plan a better course and try again next year!