Visitor Center Report

I recently took a walk into the forest. Although I was not necessarily looking for Sciurus vulgaris orientis to photograph, I encountered one some distance away. It was the first one I’d seen in quite a while.
I wanted to get closer to take a close-up, but unfortunately I was not wearing snowshoes and conditions are still not right for walking on the snow without them.
The temperature has been rising recently. The thermometer outside the center today read 8°C which is the highest temperature we’ve had this winter since December.
Given the slightly wet snow in the forest, animal tracks tend to disappear. Even so, I am now beginning to see some large tracks.
If you’re planning to enter the forest, please take proper precautions, like carrying a noisemaker.
Photo: Sciurus vulgaris orientis Mar. 25

The Visitor Center Report’s March edition (No. 60) has been issued.
The cover features Vulpes vulpes schrencki.
Unfortunately, the fox on the cover is sick.
Even some of us on the Visitor Center staff wanted to use photos of a “cuter” fox. However, it must be pointed out that the cause of the fox’s sickness is, regrettably, humans.
One of the reasons we decided to feature a sick fox was to call attention to this problem. Please download the report from the Visitor Center’s website to learn more about it.
Also included in the report are information on the lives of Martes zibellina brachyura, an animal tracking quiz, and a special feature on a snowshoe course that is highly recommended by the center titled “Mt. Kurodake: The Tsukumo Stream Headwaters.”
Please have a look!
Photos: Visitor Center Report No. 60 Mar. 23

Breeding season has arrived for the Pteromys volans orii.
The past few years, we have been fortunate enough to see them during this season. Ordinarily,
Pteromys volans orii come out of their nests at sunrise and sunset. However, during the breeding season, they come out between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
At the time of this sighting, they had already left their nests at around 2:00 p.m. and seemed to be chasing each other around.
A few minutes after approaching each other, they began mating.
However, their darting around in the forest had attracted several crows that stood nearby.
Because I was watching from a short distance away, the crows did not approach the squirrels. I felt relief when the squirrels concluded their mating without incident.
Photos: Mating Pteromys volans orii Mar. 19

There’s something inside the space in this Populus suaveolens.
A walnut seems to have been placed below the hole intentionally.
I’ve often heard that Dendrocopos major prepare their meals in advance. But perhaps this is the work of Sciurus vulgaris orientis or crow.
Crows are thought to eat on the spot, so maybe the walnut was hidden there by the Sciurus vulgaris orientis.
But what lives in the hole?
Sciurus vulgaris orientis? Martes zibellina brachyura? Strix uralensis coreensis?
One of the fun things about a nature walk is discovering mysteries like this in the forest and then letting your imagination run wild as you try to explain them.
Photo: The work of Sciurus vulgaris orientis? Mar. 17

This may be a great year to see Carduelis flammea.
In some years they never even arrive in Sounkyo, but this year they are here in considerable numbers.
Yesterday I heard Carduelis flammea calling during a walk; their call sounds something like “chu-een.” When my eyes went in that direction, I saw that the birds were feeding together with what looked to be Emberiza cioides.
I looked more closely and noticed that they are much larger than the Emberiza cioides. I approached quietly and heard a call that, though infrequent, sounded like that of Turdus eunomus.
When I moved even closer, I saw that the birds were Turdus naumanni naumanni, a species that only rarely comes to Japan.
Ordinary Turdus eunomus have a black band on their breast; however, Naumann’s thrushes have a reddish brown color. The birds in the photograph have a slightly red coloring. There is considerable variation among individuals, with some having an intermediate coloring among Turdus eunomus. They are playfully referred to as “six-mat thrushes,” “four-and-a-half-mat thrushes,” etc., (referring to tatami mats) depending on their coloring. (It appears that their Japanese name tsugumi came from their initial discovery on Hachijojima Island; however, there are also claims that their first recorded sighting in Japan was in Hakodate.)
Just then, “one-on-one combat” broke out among some of the Carduelis flammea.
Or so I thought. Actually, they had begun mating.
The whole encounter was over in a moment, but it was an indicator that spring has arrived for the birds.
Photos: Turdus naumanni naumanni (left) and Carduelis flammea (right) Mar. 17