Kyoto Botanical Garden

Kyoto Botanical Garden is situated on the east bank of the Kamo river, north of Kyoto city. We visited this large garden on 25 June morning by train, alighting at the Kitayama station and entering the garden from the north gate.

The garden is big and well-maintained. It appears to have many small theme parks showcasing different variety of flowers and plants. Apart from the many colourful blooming Hydrangeas and Sunflowers, we could find many interesting flowers as well. 

The arrangement of the flower looks like an insect. What is this ?

 A large cluster of pink flowers not only drew my attention they attracted many bees too.  

The Cabbage White butterfly (Pieris rapae)  was quite common and it was always a challenge to take a good shot as it usually does not stay still for long.

We spent almost half-a-day roaming around and trying to see as much as we could. At one corner, I found many lotus flowers - showing off their brilliant colours in the sun.

I was fortunate to meet the Small Copper (lycaena phlaeas) again, my third encounter.   

It changed perch a few times and kept chasing until it got used to my presence and offered me more shots.

It showed off its beautiful upersides. 

We traipsed for a while before heading back to the north gate again. Feeding rather tamely on a yellow daisy flower, this Potanthus skipper  blended very well with the flower - I almost missed it.

There were quite a few robberflies zipping around from perch to perch. I noticed one of them grabbing its prey firmly with its front legs.  

It was a memorable and enjoyable trip for me. Once again, thanks KY our "local guide" who planned the itinerary and made all the transport arrangement. May be I should visit Kyoto in a different season.  

Some Flora and Fauna Shots In Kyoto Part 2

Continue from my last blog post.

We headed to the eastern part of Kyoto on 19 June and Ginkakuji (銀閣寺) was our first Zen temple we visited. The garden design and the landscape architecture of many temples in Kyoto are very artistic and unique.

After an early lunch we headed south strolling along the Philosopher's Path towards the Nanzen-ji (南禅寺). The 30-minute or more slow walk on the paved path lined with shrubs and flowers on both sides of a canal provided us with some surprises.

Once again I met a rather pristine Small Copper feeding on some wild flowers.

There was another small lycaenid  feeding on the same type of  flowers nearby - is this Maculinea arionides or a Zizeeria species ?

Thanks to KY who spotted this damselfly who rested in a shade.

This bird was rather tame and oblivious to my presence. It allowed to take some shots when approached closer to its perch.

We visited the Kinkaku-ji Temple (金閣寺) and Sanjūsangendō (三十三間堂) on 20 June. There is a beautiful pond at the Kinkaku-ji Temple.

Apart from the attraction of  being one of  the UNESCO world heritage sites in southern Kyoto, the Toji Temple (東寺) is host to a large and popular flea market on the 21st of each month. You can find all sorts of things on sale here.

On 22 June morning, about an hour train ride from Kyoto brought us to Nara - an capital city of ancient Japan. We visited more temples at Nara such as the Toshodaiji (唐招提寺) and Toda-ji (東大寺). At Toda-ji, I saw some attractive pink flowers in the garden.

A lycaenid also loved the flowers but I am not sure if this is the Celastrina argiolus. 

Sika deer were everywhere roaming the ground freely in the temple and the nearby Nara park. Tame and unafraid of our presence, these deer mingled around with tourists and created some excitement for photographs.

On 23 June, we visited the bamboo forests in Arashiyama, at the western outskirt of Kyoto.

We wandered the surrounding area and encountered a brown skipper enjoying itself on the nectar.

Around noon, while we were walking on the main street, KY spotted a Potanthus skipper resting on a leaf outside a shop.

This was another perch.

In my next blog post, I will feature more flora and fauna shots take at the Kyoto Botanical Garden.

Some Flora and Fauna Shots In Kyoto Part 1

My wife and I went on a free-and-easy tour to Kyoto with KY and his family from 16 June to 24 June. We arrived at Kansai Airport, Osaka on an SIA flight around 9:30 pm and followed by a JR Haruka express train to Kyoto. It was close to midnight when we arrived smoothly at our hotel Citadines at Gojo - thanks to KY's meticulous planning and who was also our competent tour guide throughout the whole trip.

An early morning walk on the streets and small lanes behind our hotel made me feel that the pace of life in Kyoto was on a leisure mode and that the city dwellers really like flowers very much - we could see colourful blooms along the streets and in front of their houses.

My first fauna shot was this large bee taken at a small children playground - apparently it was still sleeping !

Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) is situated at the foot of the Mt. Inari - our first visit on the morning of 17 June.  KY is our tour guide as he has visited Kyoto last winter.  While we were on our way to a subway station, we noticed this big heron foraging in the Kamo River (鴨川). 

Walking up the winding path lined with hundreds of orange-red wooden torii columns standing tall on our sides, we felt like cutting through a "tunnel" through the Mt. Inari. Ascending the slope gradually, I spotted a few creatures. There were quite a number of spiders like this.

Two small spiders on a same web. 

This is definitely a moth resting at the base of a torii column.

At a plateau, we saw a bird perching at a distance from us.

Of course there were many attractive wild Hydrangea flowers which attracted bees and the tourists to photograph them.

Finally, I spotted a Potanthus skipper far and above me. After checking this site, I guess this may be the Potanthus flavum.

On our way down from the hill, we saw a lycaenid fluttering around us. When it perched on a leaf, we managed to take some shots. I think this is Everes argiades.

Here is another shot from a different perch under the noon sun.

I also found a butterfly pupa near the exit gate - it looks like a Mycalesis species.

On 18 June, we went to the Kiyomizu-dera temple (清水寺) and Yasaka Shrine (八坂神社) which are just a few bus-stops away from our hotel at the foot of  Mt. Higashiyama.

As we walked around the hill, we saw a Sailor-type butterfly perching in front of us. I think this may be the  Neptis pryeri

  Its uppersides.

I remember there are many sloping roads in the vicinity the temple. We encountered one fast-flying Papilio feeding in front of us at the roadside. Yes, it is The Papilio xuthus which seems to be very common in Kyoto. 

This small and shy lycaenid in fact was feeding on these roadside daisy flowers also. It looks like the Zizeeria maha (?).

We had our lunch beside a stream and I was seated near a window. Interestingly this tame bird was hunting for its food patiently just outside the window on the stream.

After lunch we took a quick look at another temple Kennin-ji and wandered around its surrounding streets such as the Hanami Lane; the Gion and finally we ended up at a public garden Maruyama Park beside the Yasaka Shrine. Here we saw a large heron posing graciously on a stone.

There were a few blue dragonflies darting and perching beside a pond.

At around 3 pm, we were on our way out of the park. We bumped into a very attractive lycaenid - the Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas). More information on this little beauty can be found here.

The last shot of the day was another small lycaenid at the same place as the Small Copper. This could be another Zizeeria maha - I am not sure really.