The second day

DeeDee came out of the cage on her own. Smart kid!

Our Girl Grey

On the way back from a conference held in Chiba, I picked up a 2-yr old female African Grey. This photo was taken on the morning after her arrival in our house. As apparent from the appearance, she is a recovering feather-plucker. I had a choice between an untame but normal female and this one. I couldn't make up my mind for a while but finally decided to acquire the one in worse shape.
She began plucking feathers when she was about to board the airplane, which made me worry a great deal that she might not stop plucking after I took her home.
To my surprise, she hasn't plucked feathers since she settled in our house. She sometimes showed the urge of plucking when stressed. Everytime she began pulling her feather, I told her that there is nothing to be afraid of and tickled or patted her head. She's become calmer and less jumpy.

We named her DeeDee.

Nature Trail Day (6)

Each child with his/her masterpiece was photographed. A volunteer photographer kindly takes the photos of the participating children and their ornaments and gives them the prints free of charge, which we are really grateful for. The children were all so proud of their works.

Nature Trail Day (5)

Grown-ups as well as children enjoyed making ornaments.

Nature Trail Day (4)

On the way back to classroom, they collected acorns, berries, twigs, and leaves, with which to make nice ornaments.

Nature Trail Day (3)

When they found the right plant, they picked one leaf, scotch-taped it in their "Research Notebook," and copied the name of the plant from the posted photo.

Nature Trail Day (2)

This year's task was to find the 12 species of plants indicated in laminated photos, which were posted along the route. It isn't as easy as you think to find all 12 plants. Everyone was trying very hard.

Nature Trail Day for Children (1)

Every year, we hold the Nature Trail Day in mid-September. This was the 9th year. The local community, an elementary school and our college have collaborated to give children the opportunity to experience and learn about the natural habitats around us. Althougn the event is designed for grade school and kidergarten children, anyone interested can sign in and participate. This year, we had more than 70 participants including 38 children. That's why we needed so many mosquito coils. There were still quite a lot of moiquitoes and other small biting insects in the woods.