Shrike
Shrike

On a cherry tree along the MANO-RIVER, Shiga, March 25, 1997.

In the mouth of the MANO-RIVER, cherry trees are at either side. The trees is so nice to catch fish in the river or insects in the dry riverbed, that a lot of shrikes are always on the branches of the trees. To see these shrikes is one of my objects to visit the river every week. It is very loverly that the bird finds something interesting and bends his (or her) tail.
Some days ago (May 1997), walking along the MANO-RIVER, I came across a shrike taking a butterfly in his mouth. He stopped on the electric wire. Just when a woman with a child passed under him, he lost the butterfly. The butterfly flew away. It was a wounderful butterfly the science name of which is Parantica sita. Although I through the shrike had his attention caught by the woman with a child and consequently he lost the butterfly, "Outdoor handbook 2 BUTTERFLIES" by Kazuo Hujioka and Atsuo Ooya, YAMATOKEIKOKU-SHA, 1977, says that the butterfly's male has a bad smell put from the belly side and tears your dream. When collected, the butterfly is so die-hard that it won't die however you push the breast . Pleased with the big butterfly, the shrike maybe had his dream broken by the bad smell, and released the butterfly.
Now (June), in the MANO-RIVER, we can see round and cute fledglings.

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