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Wildlife of Metropolitan Hamura Kusabana Hills Natural Park

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

At about 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) in length, the Japanese pygmy woodpecker is the smallest woodpecker in Japan. It inhabits the forest as well as the park. The bird's back is dark brown with many white dots. The male has red feathers around the side of its nape. Its call has a buzzing sound. In winter, it eats insects that make a hole in the tree trunk to survive, in spring and summer it eats berries and many insects found on leaves.

Japanese pygmy woodpecker

Varied Tit

The varied tit is about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in length. It has a short tail, a gray upper back, gray wings, and a chestnut-brown belly. The crown is black and whitish brown. Its habitat is broad-leaved forests. In particular, it prefers evergreen broad-leaved forest groves, and the chicks eat insects, larvae, and nuts. It looks very pretty when pecking at a Japanese snowbell. As a caged bird, it can perform tricks called tsurubehiki or mikujihiki, In tsurubehiki the varied tit pulls up a model well-bucket, containing a piece of food, on a string, and holds the string with its foot while eating the food. In omikujihiki, a complicated trick, the bird takes an offering to a shrine and returns with a lucky charm. Its call is short and nasal.

Varied Tit

Oriental Turtledove

This bird is commonly called a wild pigeon. The turtledove is about 33 centimeters (12.9 inches) in length. The body is a red grape color, the back has a pattern like scales, and it also has blue, black, and white striped patches on the sides of its neck. It builds its nests in trees in streets so you can often see them in urban areas. The eggs in the nest are visible when viewed from the ground below, but the eggs are kept properly warm. It has a cooing call.

Oriental Turtle Dove

Firefly

In 1955 to 1965, myriads of fireflies filled the trees around the banks of the Tamagawa Reservoir. Now, with the progress of urbanization in that area, the number of fireflies has declined every year. As a result, organizations to research and encourage the expansion of fireflies have been established: the Fussa Firefly Research Association and the Hamura City Firefly Research Association. Since then, artificially bred fireflies have been released every year. In late June every year, the emergence of fireflies is reported. Fireflies that were raised by the research groups glow brightly and produce fantastic night scenes.

Firefly

Ohga Lotus

The Ohga lotus is an ancient lotus that sprouted and blossomed from seeds that were about 2,000 years old. The seeds were excavated in the Ochiai ruins in Chiba Prefecture. The lotus was named the Ohga Lotus because Dr. Ichiro Ohga, who is a botanist and an authority on the lotus, successfully tried to germinate them, and they bloomed with large flowers. In Hamura City, they are grown by the Hamura City Future Farmers' Club in the Negarami-mae Paddy Field, also known as the Tulip Garden. Large Ohga Lotus flowers bloom from mid-July to early August. The flower begins to open its petals around 6:00 in the morning and closes them in the early afternoon. Therefore, the best time to view the lotus in August is between 6:30 to 8:00 in the morning.

Ohga Lotus

The Zelkova near Hamura Bridge

The huge zelkova tree near the Hamura Bridge separates the Hamura Bridge, which crosses over the Tamagawa Aqueduct, and the major highway, Okutama Kaido. The zelkova grew in the rich spring water from the base of the cliff. The branches form a ball shape, the girth of the trunk is 5.5 meters (18 feet), and the tree is about 24 meters (78.7 feet) in height. The tree is estimated to be between 400 and 600 years old. In 1965, it was designated a natural monument by the Tokyo metropolitan government as one of the greatest zelkovas in Tokyo. The tree is about a 10-minute walk from Hamura Station on the JR Ome Line.

The Zelkova near Hamura Bridge

Loose-Flowered Hornbeam

The loose-flowered hornbeam is a deciduous tall tree in the genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae with a height of approximately 15 meters (49.2 feet). It is distributed throughout southern Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu, as well as the Korean peninsula, and many loose-flowered hornbeams are found in the mixed forests of the Kanto region. Its flowers bloom from March to May. When it is sprouting buds in spring, it is a remarkable sight in the mixed forest as the tree produces red catkins hanging from its branches before producing its leaves. In summer, the seed bunches dangle beneath the green leaves, and in autumn, leaves will turn red and will fall in winter. You can enjoy the loose-flowered hornbeam through the seasons. The tree naturally makes an attractive shape by itself, so it is often used for adding color to a garden.

Loose-Flowered Hornbeam

A Rare Plant, Aster kantoensis

Aster kantoensis, which grew in clusters on the bed of the Tama River between 1955 and 1965, is a perennial of the genus Aster that is native only to the riverbed of the Tama River. Although it was found midstream in the river and the gravel lands of the flood plain, which occasionally flooded when the water was rising, the environment was lost due to water supply development in recent years. For this reason, Aster kantoensis was designated as an endangered species. Activities are being undertaken to preserve this species. The flowering season is October through November, and the flower heads are 3 to 4 centimeters (1.2 to 1.6 inches) in diameter, and open in a tufted or conical shape.

Aster kantoensis

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