Birds, fish, and a man

After my class today, and after I'd corrected the tests, I cycled down to the little river, as I usually do on Wednesdays. This is my time out, as you might have noticed. It has become a weekly habit. I had my camera with me. I was glad I did, because there was an egret in the river. It was fishing.

The egret caught one small fish just as I arrived, but I didn't have my camera out yet. It continued fishing, so I took lots of photos, hoping to get a picture of another successful catch. The problem with egret fishing is that the egret keeps very still for a long time, looking hopeful, and then moves so fast I'd have to be very lucky to press the button at the right time. I kept pressing the button, hoping to get lucky.

As it happens, the egret didn't catch any more fish while I was taking pictures. I ended up with a lot of egret pictures, though.



While I was sitting on the wall by the river taking pictures, a bunch of pigeons came to see what I was looking at. They wondered if it might be food.



A baby sparrow also flew down rather wobblily and landed right beside me. I could tell it was a baby because of the fluff still sticking out of its feathers. Also, it had no survival skills. Birds aren't supposed to land right next to people like that. I could have reached out and touched it.



I went down closer to the water and tried to take a picture of the carp, which are too big for the egret. The egret catches smaller fish. The carp were a bit hard to see at first. Rain at the weekend made the river muddy.



But then they spotted me, and came closer, into the shallow water near the edge. They pouted their fishy lips at me, and were disappointed that I didn't have any food. I forgot again, today.



After a while I got tired of waiting for the egret to catch another fish, and crossed the road to the little park to sit in the shade for a while and drink my bottle of vending machine Oolong. I wasn't the only person enjoying the park. There was a typical Amagasaki-type person there already.



Then I cycled home, keeping an eye out for road signs. I'm collecting road signs - signs written ON roads, I mean - and will post pictures when I've amassed a few good ones. So far I've nearly been run over twice.



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