Rising up 870m and situated just to the west of Mount Unzen, Mount Kinugasa has a magnificent 360 degree panoramic view of the Shimabara Peninsula. To the east is the hot spring town of Unzen and then the peaks of Mt Unzen itself; to the south are the Amakusa Islands; to the west is Tachibana […]
Author: John Wright
John Wright is an Australian wildlife photographer and bird guide based in Kyushu, Japan. John became seriously engaged in nature photography while living in Japan and then Thailand. He returned to Japan in 2008 and has since concentrated on wildlife photography, especially birds. John visits Southeast Asia and Australia regularly, but usually travels within the Japanese archipelago, where he also guides visiting birders and wildlife photography enthusiasts.
The Lakes, Loch Lomond
While in the Killarney area, I had the privilege of being allowed access to a property called “the Lakes”. This property is on the outskirts of town (actually in Loch Lomond rather than Killarney) and has the distinction of having one of the few permanent naturally occurring water sources in the region. The shallow lake […]
Platypus | Ornithorhynchus anatinus
Early one morning during my Australian trip I headed out along the Condamine River to a quiet spot that I had noticed on a previous excursion. Here the river widened around a bend, forming a slow-flowing, lagoon-like stretch of water that had reeds and grasses along its edges. When I first saw this part of […]
Spotted Harrier | Circus assimilis
Three species of harrier are found in Australia, those being the Swamp Harrier, Papuan Harrier and the Spotted Harrier. The Spotted Harrier (also known as the Smoke Hawk) is in some respects a unique harrier and highlights the way species adapt to their environment by changing basic instincts so as to survive in a demanding […]
A Kind of Homecoming
I recently had to make a sudden trip home to Australia due to the passing away of my mother. Amidst the sadness of the occasion I managed to escape at times to the relative solitude of the national park which borders my family home in Killarney on the Southern Downs of Queensland, or for walks […]
Brown Booby | Sula leucogaster
Kyushu island of Japan marks the regular northernmost limit for the wide-ranging Brown Booby in the western Pacific, however their numbers vary from month to month and in the right circumstances can even be encountered off the main Honshu island. In the Ariake Sea they can often be found on the ferry route between Shimabara […]
Narcissus Flycatcher | Ficedula narcissina
One of the most sought-after species for visiting birders to the East Asia region is the brilliantly coloured Narcissus Flycatcher. Their range is quite narrow, and they are probably one of the harder species to see while breeding (most often they are more closely observed on migration to and from Southeast Asia). Fortunately at the […]
Japanese Paradise Flycatcher Nesting
After Koga, my friend and I went to the Dazaifu area to look for Brown Boobok and Japanese Paradise Flycatcher. Although it was too early for the owls, we could get the rare chance to see a pair of Japanese Paradise Flycatchers building a nest with cedar bark, moss and spider webs! It was extremely […]