Eurasian Wigeon

Posted on March 13, 2026 by tspuckler

While hiking along a river in Japan, I saw several of these distinctive birds. The Eurasian Wigeon is a widespread dabbling duck of Europe and Asia, recognizable by the male’s rufous head with a creamy crown and gray body, and the female’s warm brown plumage. Males have a brilliant white patch on upper wings, that is visible in flight or at rest.

They like to live in open wetlands, such as wet grasslands or marshes with some taller vegetation, slow-flowing large rivers, and shallow lakes and lagoons. They especially favor areas surrounded by woods and agricultural land.

Eurasian Wigeons are herbivores and feed on both aquatic and terrestrial plants. They eat leaves, roots, stems, grasses, grains, and seeds. They usually feed by dabbling for plant food or by grazing on land, which they do very readily.

They are active during the daylight hours, spending their time feeding, resting, or swimming, but sometimes may feed at night. They nest on the ground, near water and under cover. During the breeding season, Eurasian Wigeons prefer to nest in pairs or small groups.

This bird is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. It will join with flocks of the American Wigeon in the United States, and may also hybridize with them.

Eurasian Wigeons are noisy birds; the male has a clear whistle that sounds like pjiew pjiew, whereas the female has a low growl that sounds like rawr.

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Weeping Fern

Posted on March 6, 2026 by tspuckler

While looking at trees on my visit to Japan, I would often find other plants growing on their trunks and their larger branches. The most abundant among such epiphytes (plants that grow upon another plant) was this evergreen fern with linear 10 inch leaves.

This plant is widely distributed in Japan, as well as Korea, China, Indochina and the Philippines. It is familiar to Japanese people because it also grows on eaves (especially of thatched roof houses) and on stones in yards. The Japanese name Noki-shinobu, means “eaves fern,” and is derived from this favored artificial habitat.

The density of Weeping Ferns on a tree depends on the tree species, because the morphology and texture of tree bark is somewhat variable and may hold different amounts and types of resources.

Its leaf surface is yellow-green, but lighter on the back. The leaf texture is thick like leather, to help it survive cold weather. The sides of leaves curled backwards when dry, and then go back to their normal shape once they get enough moisture.

This plant’s sorus (spore sac that store spores) is about a tenth of an inch in diameter and placed in two lines on the upper parts of the back of the Weeping Fern’s leaves.

As an epiphyte, it grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, or from debris accumulating around it. Epiphytes differ from parasites in that they grow on other plants for physical support and do not necessarily affect their host negatively.

Weeping Fern was a neat plant to see in the many places that I travelled to on my trip.

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Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle

Posted on February 27, 2026 by tspuckler

I found this fine creature while exploring the edge of a field in Japan. It is part of a large and diverse genus of ground beetles. Belonging to a family known as Carabid Beetles, the members in this family are frequently used as indicators of biodiversity and habitat quality.

This insect is native to the Palearctic realm (including Europe, the Near East, and North Africa), Afrotropical realm, and Nearctic realm. Worldwide, roughly 1,000 species are currently recognized with the majority of known species occurring in the Oriental and Afrotropical regions.

The Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle is a hygrophilous species that is found in a wide range of habitats, including forests, grasslands, farm fields, paddy fields, and riparian areas. However, even within the same habitat type, the population density of this species varies depending on the surrounding landscape complexity and habitat management practices.

These beetles feed on a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates, like caterpillars, aphids, snails, and earthworms. However, many species also eat plant matter, with some preying on seeds and even young seedlings, making them beneficial for controlling both pests and weeds.

The Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle has been used in studies to determine if its gut microbiome can be used as an indicator of an organism’s health or the health of the population.

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Eurasian Coot

Posted on February 20, 2026 by tspuckler

While visiting Japan I saw this common inhabitant of the Old World freshwater lakes and ponds that has adapted well to living in urban environments, often being found in parks and gardens with access to water. It occurs and breeds in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa.

Eurasian Coots are medium-sized, robust waterbirds with a predominantly black plumage, which can appear dark grey in certain light. Their most striking features are their white bill and frontal shield, which contrast sharply with their dark feathers. Their feet are unique, with lobed toes that aid in swimming and walking on soft mud.

This bird is always found close to freshwater, and prefers habitats such as wetlands, lakes and ponds. It is not a shy bird. In areas where freshwater freezes, it migrates to warmer climates during Winter.

The Eurasian Coot is an omnivorous and feeds both on vegetation and small animal prey. It might also eat eggs of other birds. It can find food underwater, where it can dive to depths of 20 feet and stay submerged for 15 seconds. It also eats vegetation by grazing on land. It adapts its diet based on the availability of food sources.

It prefers bodies of water with abundant aquatic vegetation, which provides food, shelter, and nesting materials. This bird’s wide distribution can be attributed to its adaptability to various water environments and climates.

Eurasian Coots can be both solitary and social. Outside of the breeding season, they often gather in large flocks on open water. These birds can be quite territorial and aggressive during the breeding season however, engaging in dramatic displays and confrontations to defend their nesting area.

The Eurasian Coot is a resilient and adaptable bird that plays a significant role in the ecosystems of wetlands and waterways. As both a predator and prey species, it is an integral part of the food web.

It was really neat to see this bird (which looks just like the USA’s American Coot) at many of the places we visited in Japan.

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Moso Bamboo

Posted on February 13, 2026 by tspuckler

Visiting Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, Japan, was to experience a stunning natural wonder. The grove features towering bamboo stalks that create a serene and magical atmosphere as sunlight filters through the leaves.

Moso is a temperate species of giant timber bamboo native to China and Taiwan and naturalized elsewhere, including Japan, where it is widely distributed from south of Hokkaido to Kagoshima.

Noted for its incredible beauty and elegance, Moso Bamboo is a remarkable evergreen bamboo with huge, upright, very thick, gray-green canes surmounted by plumes of small, pale green leaves.

With the Latin Name of Phyllostachys edulis, the edulis part of the refers to its edible shoots. This species can reach heights of up to 92 feet.

Moso bamboo is grown in large plantations and harvested for a variety of products including timber, fencing, furniture, construction material, paper pulp, plywood, flooring, musical instruments, utensils and rayon for the textile industry.

It is the largest and perhaps the most ornamentally attractive of the temperate bamboos. Although mature specimens look like trees, Moso Bamboo is not a tree but is in fact a grass with a woody structure.

This is also the most commonly grown species of bamboo in Asia for harvest of its edible shoots, which are eaten locally as well as being canned for export. Shoots harvested for food are best collected before they break the soil surface.

Touring Arashiyama Bamboo Grove was a memorable event while vacationing in the Land of the Rising Sun.

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Eastern Asiatic Freshwater Clam

Posted on February 6, 2026 by tspuckler

While walking the streets of Fukuyama, Japan, the canals along the avenues had several different types of creatures living in them – the most conspicuous being this shelled being. Their variation in the form of the shell is considerable, with colors of dark brown, yellow-green and/or dark green.

The Eastern Asiatic Freshwater Clam can grow to almost a foot in length and attain an age of 12–14 years. It can reproduce by the end of its first year, while only an inch and a half in size. The form of the shell is relatively short and elliptical to almost rounded and very high in the central part.

This species is a habitat generalist found in heavily modified and artificial habitats and is tolerant to high siltation rates. It prefers substrates of silt and clay, turbid conditions with relatively high water temperatures and is found in either standing or slow-flowing water. It is established worldwide.

Belonging to the Unionidae Family, like all members of its family, it has an obligatory parasitic stage, in which the larva must attach on a host fish to complete its development. Host species include invasive, non-native and native fishes.

The Eastern Asiatic Freshwater Clam’s great success is distribution is attributed to the importation and commercialization of Asian Carp, its native Asian host (which is now found worldwide as well). Most likely the mussels arrived as larvae attached to the gills of these imported fish.

An additional possible direct means of dispersal is its being unintentionally marketed and sold by garden centers and aquarium shops as a species for biological control and water purification in several European countries. Invasive populations in Indonesia are considered as an important protein source and has significant economic value.

You never know what you’ll find in a ditch on the side of the road, and this mollusk made for a fun discovery.

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Grey Heron

Posted on January 30, 2026 by tspuckler

While visiting Japan, I saw several examples of this long-legged wading bird, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, as well as parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern areas migrate southward in Autumn.

A bird of wetland areas, it can be seen around lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes and on the sea coast. It feeds mostly on aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water, or by stalking its prey through the shallows. These birds seemed acclimated to humans and I often saw them in park and even urban settings.

They are very similar in appearance of Great Blue Herons, which I frequently see in my home state of Ohio. They stand at 3 feet tall, weigh 2 to 4 pounds, and have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.

These birds breed colonially in Spring, typically building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both males and females incubate the eggs for around 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when they are 7-8 weeks old.

Their main call is a loud croaking “fraaank,” but a variety of guttural and raucous noises can be heard at the breeding grounds. The male uses an advertisement call to encourage a female to join him at the nest, and both sexes use various greeting calls after a pair bond has been established.

Grey Herons are apex predators in their aquatic ecosystem. Fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and insects are caught in shallow water with the heron’s long bill. They may stand motionless in the shallows, or on a rock or sandbank beside the water, waiting for prey to come within striking distance. Alternatively, they move slowly and stealthily through the water with their body less upright than when at rest and its neck curved in an “S.”

It has able to straighten its neck and strike with its bill very quickly. Small fish are swallowed head first, and larger prey and eels are carried to the shore where they are subdued by being beaten on the ground or stabbed by the bill. They are then swallowed whole or have hunks of flesh torn off.

The oldest recorded Grey Heron lived for 23 years, but the average life expectancy in the wild is about 5 years. It was great to see this majestic bird in a variety of habitats and in a number of places that I visited in the Land of the Rising Sun.

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Japanese House Centipede

Posted on January 23, 2026 by tspuckler

While walking along the Ashida River, I noticed that the light fixtures along the towpath have panels covering underground pits. Lifting these panels exposed some neat invertebrates.

Japanese House Centipedes are insectivores that hunt and eat other arthropods, such as insects and arachnids. Their delicate legs enable them to reach surprising speeds of up to 1-1/3 feet per second.

This creature has developed automimicry in that its tail-like hind legs present the appearance of antennae. When the centipede is at rest, it is not easy to tell its front end from its back end.

Unlike most other centipedes, House Centipedes and their close relatives have well-developed faceted eyes. They are mostly nocturnal predators. Despite their developed eyes, they seem to rely mostly on their antennae when hunting.

Outdoors, they prefer to live in cool, damp places. Their respiratory systems do not provide any mechanism for shutting their spiracles (small openings on the body surface for breathing), so they need an environment that protects them from dehydration and excessive cold.

Most live outside, primarily under large rocks, piles of wood or leaves, in bark and especially in compost piles. They often emerge from hiding during the watering of gardens or flowerbeds.

Those that live indoors usually do on the ground levels of homes. While many homeowners may be unsettled by them, they pose no threat towards humans, and are beneficial as they eat pests, such as cockroaches.

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Japanese Beard Fern

Posted on January 16, 2026 by tspuckler

While visiting Kyoto, Japan, I noticed this neat plant in wooded areas. Japanese Beard Fern is a type of small fern also known as Green Penny Fern. It is native to southern and eastern Asia, from India to Japan.

It can grow directly from well-drained soil, but is also commonly found on the surface of trees and rocks. Japanese Beard Fern does not grow average-looking fern fronds, but it’s still popular as a potted plant.

This plant thrives in low light conditions and it most often found in shaded areas. High humidity is essential for its growth, so a naturally damp environment is necessary as well. I most often saw this plant in cool, shadowy habitats.

Japanese Beard Fern is an evergreen epiphyte. An epiphyte, from Ancient Greek epi-, meaning “upon,” and phutón, meaning “plant,” is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant.

Epiphytes derive their moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around them. This is a different biological adaptation than deriving water and nutrients from soil.

The sterile fronds are round to elliptic, thick and alternate. The fertile fronds are linear to spatulate and standing up. Their leaflets are only about half an inch in size.

It was neat to see this unique and interesting plant decorating trees and rocks while hiking through the woods on our trip to Japan.

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Brown-eared Bulbul

Posted on January 9, 2026 by tspuckler

While visiting Japan, I saw a number of examples of this medium-sized bird native to Eastern Asia. It is extremely common within the northern parts of its range and its noisy squeaking calls are a familiar sound in most areas of Japan.

Reaching a length of about 11 inches, Brown-eared Bulbuls are grayish-brown, with brown cheeks (the “brown ears” of their common name) and a long tail. While they prefer forested areas, they readily adapt to urban and rural environments.

These migratory birds move to the southern parts of their range in Winter, but they have taken advantage of changes in crops and farming practices in recent decades to overwinter in areas farther north.

Brown-eared Bulbuls primarily feed on insects during warmer weather, while they mainly take fruits and seeds in the Fall and Winter. In Japan, they can usually be seen in towns, parks and bird feeders. In Spring, they often eat the nectar of cherry blossoms.

Its loud cry isn’t the only trait that makes it easy to recognize in rural and suburban habitats. Along with its shrill vocalizations, this songbird has an undulating flight pattern, which makes it easy to distinguish from other species.

The Brown-eared Bulbul normally occurs in groups outside of the breeding season, which is generally April to July. Females usually lay four eggs in a sturdy, cup-shaped nest, placed in the lower branches of a tree.

It was nice to see this interesting bird just about wherever I went on my visit.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Eurasian Wigeon

Weeping Fern

Vivid Metallic Ground Beetle

Eurasian Coot

Moso Bamboo

Eastern Asiatic Freshwater Clam

Grey Heron

Japanese House Centipede

Japanese Beard Fern

Brown-eared Bulbul