Snapped a couple of quick frames on the way into the city today ...
Man , I feel like a fish out of water in the city ! .... can hardly wait to get back to Canada and start chasing Whitetails !
This the the only wild bird I could get a picture of .... yep , they guard statues here as well !
I did see 4 cock bird Pheasants in field and a white IBIS ... I took a mental note of the area and will try to get back there on the weekend ...
It's 5:05 am Monday Sept 17th .... been awake since 3:30 am ... my sleep patterns are a little out of wack since landing on Saturday ... getting ready to go to work ....
Page break ... fast forward to Saturday Sept 22nd ...
Been working out of Toyota City all week = long hot days ... Got weekend off so I headed outside of town today ...
My 175-300mm lens is pooched ( got damaged during travel = wont focus or extend ? ) so all I've got with me is my 50-200 ...
Different country but similar activities = the local small field operation farmers are hard at the harvest of rice and grain ... ( much smaller scale then what we are use to at home ) .
They gather and tie sheaths , and spread compost by hand ...
On past trips I've been able to get some pictures of Pheasants , so I searched all over for a Pheasant photo op ... but even though I've seen them in fields driving by , I haven't been able to get the lens on one yet ...
Lots of White Cranes / White Ibis in the fields ....
Walked by one field that they were stripping with a small row cutter ..
Other fields have been stacked by hand ...
Checking out the field edges , which is usually where I have seen Pheasants in the past , but none today ...
Lots of " Yellow Legs " birds .... they look like small pigeons , blend in pretty well until they fly and display a flash of white underside wing , tail and side plumage ...
I watched these guys gulping down what looked to be large grasshoppers at a distance .... and could see small black forms jumping in the field as the birds walked thru ....
But all I could find was 100's of these little guys .... I didn't think birds ate toads ... maybe a Japanese bird snack !!
Started heading towards town ... some fields getting groomed ...
At one point I spotted a Praying Mantis on a vine ... but when I went to focus on him he flew away ...
Looked up in time to see him settle on a bush ...
Watched him preening for awhile ... looked like he was getting ready to settle into an ambush spot ...
Right after this frame he jumped forward and landed on my arm ... next thing I know he's walking around my neck line ....
I brushed him off and he headed down the trail ...
Closer to town , I came apon another guy taking pictures of flowers near a drainage ditch .... he didn't speak any English ( Imagine that ! ... and his lens was bigger than mine
, so I didn't stay to chat ! ) 
Not sure what kind of flowers they are ... but cooling looking none the less ...
Farther down the ditch I came to a small one lane bridge ... some decent size carp in that spot ! .... " Mental Note " = pick up a fishing pole !!
Crossed the big bridge heading back into town and noticed some people fishing along the river ....
Worked my way thru a maze of bamboo ...
And got a couple of cool shots along the river ...
Where the water opened up there was action as well ....
I'm guessing I'm not the only one that has though of making a bamboo pole ! ...
A cool looking spider under the bridge and I flag a taxi down for a ride back to the hotel ....
" Good Luck " to all that head out to the Waterfowl opener on Sept 25th , and the Whitetail opener on October 1st .... I'll still be trying to get a decent Pheasant shot here !
