Fox and voles

But from time to time, it did turn around! After this quiet stare which lasted for several seconds, the fox trotted away from us and caught and gulped a vole.

Fox and voles

The fox was so absorbed with hunting it did not care about our presence, probably listening to the sound of voles running among grasses.

Fox and voles

Everytime I encounter a Fox, it is almost invariably hunting. During our survey, we came across this young Northern Fox (Velpus velpus). We observed the fox for about 5 minutes, during which it made 3 hunting attempts with 2 successful catches. As you can see, the tail of the vole is protruding from the mouth of the fox.　

Tobetsu Nature Restoration Area

I visit this area regularly, almost once a week, to survey birds and other animals. The photo is of the rivermouth of the Tobetsu, flowing into the Ishikari River. Extensive shortcuts were made to the rivers of Hokkaido, which resulted in the river water to flow rapidly downstream like rain water gushing straight through a gutter. This resulted in the degradation of the

biodiversity of both the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

To restore what had been lost in the "efficiency-centered era," parts of the rivershores (still a very small area), were dug to give them semi-natural undulations. This operation worked quite well and now we have river mudflats where various shorebirds utilize as a feeding/resting ground and fishes found only in mud- or silt-dominant riverbeds are coming back.

The landscape has improved as well.