Slow days?

Nobody in my circle of RSS feeds posted anything today. Therefore, I thought I'd do the small group of readers a favor and type a quick something.

Today at Takae we had a visit from a group that is researching the famed, though highly reclusive, yanbaru kuina. I have never seen one or heard one, but that changed today. Partly. As part of their research, they were really cool and included all of the students and teachers (there's a little less than 30 of us all) in the mission. Split into five groups, we took up locations around the school and readied for the broadcast. What broadcast? The call of a yanbaru kuina, of course.

The shrill clacking of the bird filled the air around the school. The group I was in, Team A, was perched on top of the school, enabling us to get a remarkable view of the surrounding Arakawa River valley, the mountains of Yanbaru to the north and west, and the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, we didn't hear any response to the broadcast (but we did get an earful of the roughly 12-15 dogs kept in one of the neighbor's back yards). Two other teams did hear the bird, which is good news. The human development of Okinawa and the invasive presence of the American military in the north are reducing the natural habitat of the kuina, pushing it further and further north, reducing its numbers. Unnatural predators (mongoose introduced to hunt habu, an illegally introduced breed of poisonous Taiwanese snakes; and cats and dogs running loose from their yards) are also putting a dent in the fragile numbers of the bird.

Hmm, this has turned into some sort of post about conservation. Going to lay off that, since I don't have the energy to get into it or do the research.

Sanshin tonight, then more Japanese. Of course.