Kingfisher

This is actually not a picture from Iya.  It is from right in middle of a large city of Matsuyama, the biggest city in all of the Shikoku island.  It was the first time I saw a kingfisher alive, but as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it.   When I first say it, it took away all of my attention in its beauty as it flew through the corner of my field of vision.  My eyes chased after it, and it was just perched nearby and not moving, as if to pose for my camera.

In Japanese, this "common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)" is called Kawasemi, which is sometimes written as 翡翠, meaning jade.  Its beauty was definitely that of a jewel, but I must say it was even more beautiful than a jade stone.  It would make me extremely happy if I could just watch it fly once more, glowing in the sunlight.  If they are around in Matsuyama, they must be in Iya as well.... but then again apparently they do not do so well in the cold.

Just a brief biological note.  Its iridescent color does not come from the pigments, but from the structures of the feathers.  The feather reflects and deflects the light in such ways that we see its color as such.  That also means the color of its feather changes depending on the angle you look at it.  I must say one of the charms of this bird is in the way it displays multitudes of colors as it flies through the air.