In mid-October , I went to Tokachidake Bogakudai, about 2 km away from Shirahige Falls in Biei Town, Hokkaido, for 4 days and was able to encounter Ezon pikas on the trekking course. The Ezon pika is a small mammal belonging to the Lagomorpha family, Pikadae.
10月中旬、北海道美瑛町の白ひげの滝から約2km離れた十勝岳望岳台に4日間通い、トレッキングコースでエゾナキウサギに出会うことができました。エゾナキウサギはウサギ目ナキウサギ科に属する小型哺乳類です。
They prefer low-temperature environments, so they live in scree areas in the alpine zone where there are rough rocks and wind holes, but they are rarely seen. Every day, while waiting for the Ezon pika, I was enjoying the scenery of the surrounding autumn leaves and snow-capped Mt. Asahidake, and wild birds such as the long-tailed tit and the thrush flew by and made me feel at peace. Still, the Ezon pika that I was looking for came out on the rocks several times over the four days and made cute cries, so I was very satisfied.
低温環境を好むので、岩がゴロゴロしていて風穴がある高山帯のガレ場に生息しているのですが、なかなか姿を現してくれません。毎日、エゾナキウサギを待ちながらも周囲の紅葉や冠雪した旭岳などの景色を楽しんでいると、シマエナガやツグミなどの野鳥が飛んできて、和ませてくれました。それでも、お目当てのエゾナキウサギは4日間で何回かは岩の上に出てきて、可愛らしい鳴き声も披露してくれたので大満足でした。
According to Hironori Watanabe, an animal photographer who guided us this time, the wet-eyed Ezon pika that appears at 1:14 in the video was about to fall asleep. It seems that the Ezon pika noticed this and hurriedly ran back to the hole between the rocks. It's so cute.
今回のガイドをしていただいた動物写真家の渡辺浩徳（わたなべ ひろのり）さんによると、動画の1:14に登場する目が潤んだエゾナキウサギは、もう少しで寝落ちするところだったのに、それに自ら気付いて慌てて岩の間の孔に駆け戻ったそうです。可愛らしいですね。
Also, the weather in the mountains is changeable, and when it suddenly started raining in the evening, I hurriedly gathered up my photography equipment and returned to the Tokachidake Bogakudai parking lot. When we looked back, we saw a wonderfully large double rainbow, and everyone cheered, saying, ``This is an unexpected reward!'' Furthermore, when I climbed to the rooftop terrace of the Tokachidake Bogakudai Disaster Prevention Shelter, it was truly beautiful to see the rainbow gradually disappearing against the backdrop of the mountainside, which was starting to turn red with the setting sun. I was fascinated by it for a while.
また、山の天候は変わりやすく、夕方突然雨が降り出した時には、慌てて撮影機材を纏めて十勝岳望岳台の駐車場まで戻りましたが、駐車場に辿り着いて、雨が止んだ山の方を振り返ると見事に大きな二重の虹が掛かっており、「これは思いがけないご褒美だ！」と皆で歓声を上げました。更に十勝岳望岳台防災シェルターの屋上テラスに登ってみると、夕陽で赤く染まり始めた山腹を背景にして虹が次第に消えていく様子が実に美しかったです。しばらくの間、見惚れていました。
Jun-ichi Shirokaze
城風 淳一
Photography Equipment:
SONY Alpha 1, FX30, SELP1635G, SEL200600G, SEL20TC
Video Editing Software:
Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve Studio 18
Music Production Software:
Steinberg Cubase Pro 12
Sampling Sound Library Software:
IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik 2
12 янв 2024
