杉山山頂 Summit of Mt. Sugiyama
Happy New Year
I often ride along Sugiyama Forest Road, but I have never been to the summit of Mt. Sugiyama. I've been to nearby Mt. Akaiwa and Mt. Uno-ga-dake, but never to the highest peak, Mt Sugiyama. Today was my first time to go there. Since there are no leaves on the trees in winter, I thought I'd be able to see Amanohashidate. I wanted to get that photo. This mountain is always buried under deep snow in winter, but due to this year's abnormal weather, there is still basically no snow. This is my big chance. I also saw a bird I'd never seen before.
There was something in the forest near me making a tapping like sound. I stopped and remained motionless for a bit. I didn't know if it was an animal on the ground or what, but then I saw a bird in the trees. Maybe it's that. I wanted to take a photo of it, but it wouldn't stay still. At last I got a photo, but I didn't think I had a good shot of the bird. I got a nice surprise when I got home and checked my photos. I got it! What is it!? I've never seen this bird before. I was able to look it up quickly. It's a 'Japanese pygmy woodpecker'. Wow, that was lucky. Now I have seen 2 kinds of woodpeckers. I saw a 'Japanese green woodpecker' last May
This is the mystery tree from the other day. In the same place there are 3 trees. The other day I put up a photo of this seedpod with photos of leaves.But on closer inspection today, I realized that the seedpod was on a branch with no leaves. Since I still hadn't solved my mystery of what this tree was, I decided to operate on the seedpod. It was really hard. I think it's a wisteria seed. Mystery solved (I think).