Ecology Park in Aoba no Mori Koen

As we live just a couple of minutes' walk away from this park, we often pop in to see what's going on. We found out a part of the park is called the Ecology Park, which is managed well for wildlife.

There are paths in the Ecology Park and a hide, which is the most comfortable hide we've ever been in!

The plants planted in the park are the species you can see in the Boso Hanto Peninsula and almost all of their names are labelled:)

From the hide, which is facing the Funada-ike (Lake Funada), quite a few Teals (Kogamoコガモ) are wintering and one of them came to us to say hello:)

Azure-winged Magpies (Onagaオナガ) came down to the lake to have a good bath. They are smaller than the black-and-white Magpies and their dark helmet-like heads and long tails are unmistakable!

You can hear the heavy traffic just outside the lake but it's so peaceful inside the hide.

 A Varied Tit (Yamagaraヤマガラ) seemed to have had a bath and was all fluffed up!

He was preening and singing at the same time!

Varied Tits are only found in this part of the world. In the Kanto area they come down to the lowland from the higher woodlands in winter and can be seen in parks even in the centre of Tokyo.

A pair of Great Tits (Shiju-karaシジュウカラ) were foraging in the tree. The Great Tits found in Japan are actually a different species from the Great Tits in the UK: Eastern Great Tit, so we learnt. The plumage is a bit paler and their song is slightly different.
We keep noticing that the Great Tits here often come down very low in trees or even peck on the ground while they are foraging so we can have a better look!


We've spotted Swallows flying over our house in the last few days. Summer is just around the corner! Hopefully, we will be able to find their nests somewhere close by.