Emergence

The title word is so close to the word "emergency" that it scares me. Aftermath of disaster still affects the soul.
In the rainy season we have the emergence of Lady Bugs, the manifestation of kiwi fruit from kiwi flower. June drop is happening with the persimmons, as the tree sheds the burden of excess fruit. Little green heads with court jester caps litter the pavement. I examine the tree with a scolding eye. "Don't drop them all!" I say this every year. Plums have ripened, some are falling, some are becoming brine pickles in earthenware jugs.
We missed the fledgling sparrow debut in the garden this year. I heard the nestlings peeping in the trees, and then I heard nothing. The crows in the tree on the farm out back have made their presence clear. Their own nestlings take precedence.

The spots develop later.

The hiyodori pair had a narrow escape a week ago during evening song hour. After a noisy skirmish in the magnolias, the hiyodori male led the crow a merry chase back to the crow's own nest, whooping in derision. The hiyodori female has emerged as a full-fledged member of the garden. She is not shy like many of the females, and she enjoys her daily bath in the fish urn. They built a nest somewhere near, but the female is too active right now to be brooding. Perhaps they are waiting until the crows leave the area.

Emerging

Drying the wings.

Clusters of kiwi fruit

Oxitate striatipes male. The most common spring spider.

Litany of Spring

Dendrocopus kizuki female

                                 

Japanese skink

kiwi blossoms

Nephila maculata

Lady bug pupae

Lady bug larva attaching itself to leaf

After a several week hiatus where "all the sedge is withered and no birds sing", the airborn radiation levels decreased, and many of the birds either returned or became active again. Earthworms are multiplying at last. I was wondering what the fallout of radioactive cesium would do to them, but so far the creatures who aid in breaking down dead leaves, etc, seem to be making a rebound. And so we have the bamboo partridges visiting and looking quite satisfied with the fare.
Aphids are more plentiful than usual, especially on the plum trees, but fortunately the lady bug larvae are also more plentiful than usual. These industrious insects can clean the aphids off a 10 cm length of twig per day.
Skinks showed up late, too, but in abundance. There are no bush warblers in the area this year, but a cuckoo is letting us know he's around. The first year hiyodori male found a mate, and he shrieks enthusiatically about every new discovery.  I got to watch him discover camelia nectar, and then magnolia petals. He practically swims through the trees in joyful exuberance, and loves to hang upside-down like a monkey, and then let go in a free-fall.
We had our spring visitation from the kogera wood pecker, perhaps later than usual, but all the more welcome.
Spider webs are fewer, flies are multiplying in hordes. No honey bees. A few bumble bees and mud wasps.
Fewer cabbage butterflies than last year, but the spangle is back, and so are the "regular" swallowtails. I saw one azure-winged swallowtail in the garden, too, a real treat. Gliders were seen at the next town over. No Painted Ladies as of yet, but the climate has been anything but tropical this year, so far.