ハクセキレイは東村山市の鳥に指定され、地元では子どもたちに「ハック君」として親しまれている。けれどなかなか実物にお目にかかることはない。水辺を散策していると、背中の黒い鳥が素早く飛び交う。アレッと思う間もなく姿を消すが、確かにハック君だったような気がする。たまたま遠くの石の上に止まっていたあれが、多分ハクセキレイだと思うのだけれど。

Pied wagtail is appointed as "the bird of our city," Higasimurayama, Tokyo. Children here call it "Hakku-kun" dearly. But I seldom see one in real life. While I was taking a walk along a river, I found birds of black feather on their backs flying very swiftly. They disappear in a moment. I beliaeve they were pied wagrails. I happend to see one standing on a stone in the stream for a while. It must have been the bird I longed to see.

ハクセキレイ

Pied (White) Wagtail ; Motacilla alba

ホタテ貝の呼吸？

料理しようと買ってきたホタテの稚貝を砂抜きのために水に入れたとたん、盛んに貝殻を開け閉てしてまるで呼吸しているように見えた。アサリやシジミを水に放した時にも閉じていた口を開け、身の一部を貝殻の外に出して動くものだが、こんなにはっきりと貝殻を開閉しはしない。「生きているぞ」とアピールするようで、料理する手が怯む。

貝が大きく口を開けたところを横から撮影。人に食われる直前まで精一杯生の営みを続けているのがあっぱれな気がして撮った。その後、グリルに入れて焼いたが、今度はなかなか口を開かない。さっきまであんなに貝殻を開閉して新鮮なはずなのにと訝しがってしばらく放っておいたら、最後は見事に降参した。しかし、所謂ホタテの味はしなかった。むしろ酒蒸しにすべきだったかと思っても後の祭り。この度の勝負、ホタテの稚貝の勝ち！

I took photos when shells opened widely. It was great scallops were lively until the last moment before they were to be eaten. A few minutes later, I took them into the grill and heated them but they were very tough and would not open. I was puzzled because they were so fresh. I left them for a while. Then eventually they surrendered. To my disappointment, however, they were not so tasty as I had expected. I should have boiled them with sake and garlic! Scallops won!

Breathing Scallops?

I meant to buy scallops for cooking. When I put them into water to get rid of dirt, they started opening their shells as if breathing. Certainly I've seen clams open their shells and move in water very often but these young (and very small) scallops were more active. I couldn't go on just cooking. I started watching them instead. They looked as if they are demonstrating that they are alive.

梅のつぼみとめじろたち
Buds of Japanese Plum and White-eyes

どの個体もまるまるとしている。やはり寒さから身を守るためにふくれているのだろうか。それとも成鳥じゃないのか。いやいや、やっぱり目白押しする太っちょたちなのだろう。

Bodies of the birds are all very plump. Are they fat to protect themselves from coldness? Or are they young birds? No, they are plump birds in nature living in bevies, perhaps.

滑空する輪郭-カモメのいる川岸

The outline of gliding--at the riverside where gulls gather

カモメを見かけると海を感じる。何の面白みもないごみごみした雑踏が、とたんに開けた空間へ繋がるような気がする。そうか、あらゆる川は最後は海に注ぐのだと。神田川は飯田橋、水道橋を経て御茶ノ水を通り、秋葉原を抜けて隅田川に注ぐ。もうほんの僅かで大川というここ秋葉原の西端、神田明神下と神田淡路町に挟まれたあたり、神田川にカモメが群れ飛ぶ。これより西でカモメを見ることはまずない。ここまでは海鳥の領域かと欄干にもたれてしばしカモメの滑空を眺める。

At the sight of gulls, I feel the sea. They make a crowded downtown lead to an open space. Yes, all the rivers end up in the sea. The River Kanda runs through Iidabashi, Suidoubashi, Ochanomizu and Akihabara to the River Sumida. Right before the entrance of the big river, at the western end of Akihabara, between Kanda-Myoujin-shita and Kanda-Awaji-cho, gulls gather in The Kanda River. I understand that this is the west end of gulls' territory. Quite impressed with the seabirds, I watch them from a bridge.

同じ川岸にはハトもいる。大きさから言うとさほど違わないのに、カモメとハトではだいぶ様子が違う。カモメは鋭角的な翼をいっぱいに拡げて風に乗り、大きな曲線を描いて着水（地）する。決してスローモーなわけではないのに、白い姿が水面に映えるせいかくっきり軌道を追いかけられる。しかし写真に撮ろうとすると、柔なシャッター速度ではいかんともしがたい。しゃにむに押しまくってたまたま画面に引っかかった滑空の姿を何体か切り抜いてみた。汚れきった川かと思いきや、カモメの飛ぶ水面は空を映して深い藍色だった。生き物の存在は、川の有り様まで映し出す。

There also dubs on the riverside. They are as large as gulls. But they look quite different. Gulls glide on the wind with their sharp edged wings spread widely, and they land on the water (or the land) drawing wide curves. Their movement is not slow; however, we can follow them with our eyes. Perhaps the contrast of the colors, white of the bird and the deep blue of water, allows the observation with ease. To take photographs is another story. A simple camera like mine cannot catch them. All I can do is just to catch them by accident. Gulls show the colors of the river clearly. They tell the river is a place where they can live, not too dirty. Thanks! Lives show the condition of our environment.

椋鳥（ムクドリ）starling: Sturnus cineraceus

群れと個体/ A bevy and Individuals

五線譜の上の音符のように、ムクドリは並んで歌を歌う。ツバメほど威儀を正したタキシード姿ではないが、それでもダークスーツでしかつめらしい。丸っこいからだと黄色いくちばしがご愛敬。「キュルキュルキュルル」と賑やかなコーラス。群れで生きる鳥の個体は、何を歌っているのだろう。

Like musical notation in a score, stalings stay in lines on electorical wires to sing. Not so formally dressed as swallow, they are seriously in black. They are lovely in their plump bodies and with yellow beaks. How merry their chorus is! I wonder what indivual birds are singing in a bevy.

スズメと同じくどこにでもいる鳥なのだという。たしかに、草地でも、街中でも見かける。だが、（スズメやハトほど）いつでも会えるというわけでもない。私の印象では、冬に一番人家に接近しているような気がする。洗濯物を干しにベランダに出ると、「キュルキュルキュルル」という声がきこえてくる。この日は電線と電信柱に群れが止まっていた。高いところから下界を観察しているらしい。私が無心に洗濯物を干している間は何の変化もないが、一旦カメラを向けるとリーダーがいるのか、見張りがいるのか、警戒してパーッと飛び立つ。群れごと退散されると、何だか嫌われたみたいで、がっかり。諦めてカメラをしまうと、また集まっている。群れの動きは一心同体。私も懲りずに再び撮影を試みる。

Like sparrows, starlings are said to be everywhere. Actually I've seen them on the grass and in town as well. But they are not so common as sparrows and doves, I have an impression that they are closest to human beings in winter. When I went outdoors to dry washed clothes, I heard them singing softly and merrily. It seemed they were paying attentionto all around themselves from an electorical pole and wires.. While I was occupied with my work, they stayed where they were quietly. Once I started trying to take photos of them, they flew away immediately in alart. I was disappointed to see them all gone in a bevy. When I gave up the camera, they came back to the place again. The bevy seemed to have one mind. I also challenged to take phots again .

金魚は最も身近な動物の一種だろう。夜店ですくってきて金魚鉢に放し、眺めているうち一匹死に、二匹死に、あっという間にいなくなってしまう。それでも懲りずにまた買ってくる。こんな優雅なひらひらの尾鰭を持つ金魚を飼ったことはないが、飼ってみたいという気持ちは心のどこかにある。

Goldfish is one of the most familiar animals in our daily life. We scoop them at a night stall to have them in a bowl; one by one they die so easily. We never give up to have goldfish and repeat trying. I've never had one with such a gorgeous tail. I won't deny I hae an ambition to get one like this someday.

林の中の子どもたち/ Children in Woods

直径3〜4センチ、全長10センチもあろうか、眠りを妨げられて驚いたのか本能的に危険を察知したのか、土の中に潜ろうとする。伐採されて転がった木の下は、軟らかな土らしい。幼虫はすぐに姿を隠してしまう。土は細かく深い枯葉のクッションで栄養もたっぷりなのではないかと思う。

The larvae were 3 to 4 centi meters across and almost 10 centi meters long. Disturbed while sleeping, they tried hard to hide in the earth. Under the wood cut and thrown on the ground, the earth seemed very soft with decayed leaves. It must be full of nutrition for them.

この幼虫は穴に潜ろうとしているところ。蠕動運動というのだろうか、手も足もないが巧みに力強く動く。そのたびに半透明の外皮の奥が透けて見える。来年の夏には、成虫となって土から這い出すのだろうか。それまで無事に生き延びることの出来る幼虫がどのくらいいるのものか。

This larva is trying to go into the earth. It's in peristaltic motion. Without any limbs, it moved skillfully with power. As it moved, I could see its brown body under the milk-colored skin. Next summer, it will come out of the earth as a fully matured beetle. I wonder how many of larvae would survive.

土の中の幼い命/ Young Lives in the Earth

少年たちに教えられて私も覗き込んでみると、倒木の下、土の中にミルク色の太い幼虫がいる。半透明の外皮の下には、将来の成虫を予感させる焦げ茶色の体が見える。ゆっくり力強く幼虫は動いている。

Taught by the boys, I bent and looked in. Yes, there were lavae half transparent, milk-colored, quite thick. I could see through the outer skin their powerful dark brown bodies which were predicting their future figures. The larvae were moving slowly and powerfully.

あそこにも、ここにも。少年たちは夢中だ。見つけてどうするのかと思うと、、別に採集する気はないらしい。いるのが分かればまた元通りにするんだという。いるかどうか見に来たらしい。川岸の森より、ここの方がいっぱいいると「大発見」した喜びに溢れている。

Larvae were here and there. Boys got excited. "What would you do with them?" I asked. They said, "Nothing. We'll put the wood back on them again." I understood they had no intention to bring the lavae home but they came here just to see if they were living under the earth. "Here it's much better than the woods by the river!" they were talking to each other. They were proud of their "discovery."