The King of the Yanbaru forest – Holst’s frog

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Admin11

The Holst’s frog ( Babina holsti ) is a rare species found in northern Okinawa. It is currently listed endangered on the IUCN red list. It is designated as a natural monument by the Okinawa Prefecture. This large amphibian is decreasing in numbers due to habitat loss.

Scientific name: Babina holsti (Boulenger, 1892)
Distribution: Northern Okinawa-Japan
Habitat: Forest streams
Diet: Insects, worms, snails and small reptiles
Average Size: 100mm -125mm

The King- Holst’s frog

The Holst’s frog is the largest frog found on Okinawa. It hides in holes, crevices and small caves in the day.

Searching for food

This is a size comparison photograph taken with the iPhone 6s. This is a good size frog but they do get larger than this.

Comparison – Iphone6s

The juveniles have a dark brown patch on the top section of the body. They blend in very well with their habitat.

Juvenile Holst’s frog

They are sometimes found searching for food on the back roads of Northern Okinawa.

Juvenile Holst’s frog – Yanbaru

Be careful and pay close attention to crossing wildlife!

Crossing wildlife

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Venomous snakes of Okinawa-Japan

Posted on April 3, 2016 by Admin11

Okinawa has three species of pit vipers and one coral snake. These venomous snakes are commonly found in the jungle. They are sometimes found in neighborhoods and local parks at nighttime during the summer season. Majority of the snake bites that I am familiar with happened on neighborhood night walks or harvesting sugar cane. I have seen pit vipers on public roads at night, on sidewalks, crawling on fences, on rock walls, in drainage ditches and inside vending machines.

Drink machine – Photo by Leia Heider

The Okinawan Habu is the largest and most venomous pit viper found on Okinawa.

Scientific name: Protothrops flavoviridis
Common name: Okinawan or golden habu
Habitat: Rock walls, caves, tree lines, parks, farming fields and near fresh water
Diet: Mice, rats, shrews, bats, and birds
Average size: 100-200cm

Okinawan Habu (Trimeresurus flavoviridis)

Fangs of the Okinawan Habu

Okinawan habu -Northern Okinawa

Okinawan Habu on a fence -WAM perspective

Okinawan Habu- MYN field studio technique

The silver habu is scarce on Okinawa. I have only found one live specimen. I didn’t realize what I found until I viewed the images on the computer,

Silver habu

Silver habu- eyes of silver

Albino Habus are worshiped in Okinawa.

Albino Habu snake

Okinawa is famous for its Habu Sake. They say it helps with sexual dysfunction in men.

Habu sake – Trimeresurus flavoviridis

The Taiwanese Habu was introduced to Okinawa in the 1970’s. They were imported for exhibitions and medical purposes. Somehow a few escaped and have populated the Island. I have seen over a dozen on my night hikes near Ryukyu Mura in Onna village.

Scientific name: Protothrops mucrosquamatus
Common name: Taiwanese habu or Brown spotted pit viper
Habitat: Rock walls, trees, and caves
Diet: Frogs, bats, mice, and birds
Average size: 80-150cm

Taiwanes habu- Onna village. Ready to strike!

Taiwanese habu- patiently waiting for a frog

Taiwanese habu -Onna village, Okinawa

Taiwanese habu- neighborhood at night

The Princess habu is the most common venomous snake on Okinawa. It is the smallest of the pit vipers found here.

Scientific name: Ovophis okinavensis
Common name: Princess habu or Hime habu
Habitat: Rivers, ponds, creeks and runoff ditches.
Diet: Mainly frogs
Average size: 40-80cm

Princess habu -Yanbaru forest

Large Princes habu- Yanbaru

Golden Hime habu

Princess habu -MYN technique

Princess Habu- Stella 2000

Princess habu – Northern Okinawa

The Okinawan coral snake is extremely rare. I have only seen two specimens

- Scientific name: Sinomicrurus japonicus boettgeri

- Common name: Okinawan coral snake

- Habitat: Forest areas in northern Okinawa

- Diet: blind snakes and small lizards

Average size: 30-60cm

Ways to avoid injury!

Avoid catching or handling venomous snakes
Wear exposure protection, such as snake boots when exploring the forest at night.
Bring a flashlight on night walks in the neighborhood

Mission

To document and preserve the wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

The Ryukyu Robin, Endemic birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Admin11

The Ryukyu Robin (Larvivora komadori namiyei) is a subspecies endemic to northern Okinawa. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN red list of threatened species. Its main threats are habitat loss and the introduction of invasive species.

Scientific name: Larvivora komadori namiyei (Stejneger, 1887)
Distribution: Northern Okinawa
Habitat: Dense leaf littered forests
Diet: Earthworms, spiders, insects and fruit
Average Size: 140mm

The Ryukyu robin in its natural habitat. The male has the distinctive black throat and face.

Male Ryukyu Robin, Yanbaru forest © Shawn Miller

The female Ryukyu robin perching on a guide rope at Hiji falls, Okinawa.

Female Ryukyu robin (Larvivora komadori) © Shawn Miller

A male Ryukyu robin searching for insects on the ground.

Male Ryukyu robin © Shawn Miller

Ryukyu robin © Shawn Miller

Ryukyu Robin -Yanbaru forest © Shawn Miller

Time for a nap on a fern tree.

Ryukyu robin resting © Shawn Miller

Luscinia komadori komadori is a subspecies found on Amami Island. The flank is white and black.

Luscinia komadori komadori, Amami Island © Shawn Miller

These small birds are often seen early in the morning feeding on insects on the road. Watch your speed and pay particular attention between dusk and dawn.

Watch your speed! © Shawn Miller

A male Ryukyu robin that was killed by a speeding motor vehicle on Route 2 in northern Okinawa.

Okinawa Roadkill – January 17th, 2016 © Shawn Miller

Let’s protect the beautiful wildlife of Okinawa, Japan.

Have a great day!

Nature Therapy – Photo Exhibition by Shawn Miller

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Admin11

The Exhibition will be held at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) January 14th through February 29th. The free photo exhibition is open from 9:00 to 17:00 every day. The exhibition will feature forty inspiring images of underwater animals, crabs with beach trash homes and the endangered species of Okinawa. Photography By Shawn Miller. The wonderful people at OIST were kind enough to make this exhibition take place and produce beautiful advertisement posters.

Nature Therapy Poster 2016 – Shawn Miller

Some of my favorite images are featured below. I photographed the gallery with a fish eye lens to give it a unique perspective.

Blueberry hermit crab – Meet your neighbours project

Surgeon fish on the move – Motion

Crabs with trash homes – Meet your neighbours project

Kuroiwas ground gecko -Endangered

A Blenny playing Peek a Boo

Typhoon swirl – The art of motion

Ryukyu black breasted leaf turtle -endangered

Boxer crab – Marine life of Okinawa

Okinawa rail- endemic to northern Okinawa

Video by Gary Hughes. FrontPageOkinawa – Hughes Media Technologies

http://

More information about Shawn Miller and Nature Therapy – http://www.japanupdate.com/2016/01/oist-hosts-nature-photo-exhibition/

Testing the Venus Laowa 60mm F2.8 macro lens underwater

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Admin11

Dive Team Miller Underwater set-up with Canon 70d Laowa 60mmn f2.8 macro lens- Ikelite housing with 8inch dome port, 1 ikelite 160 strobe , 1 ikelite 200 strobe, 1 sola 600 and 1 gobe 700 focus light.

The Venus Laowa 60mm macro lens is a technical lens with great optics. The specialized lens is manual focus and manual aperture selection. I had to use my wide angle dome port since this was the only port I had the lens would fit into. I preset the lens to a 1:2 ratio and used an aperture setting of F8. I went with the aperture setting of F8 since it was an overcast day and I wanted to see my subject through the viewfinder in the low light. I used two modeling lights to add artificial light, which allowed me to see through the viewfinder at a depth of 100 feet. The focusing distance was already preset on the surface, so all I had to do was to move the camera until I saw the subject was in focus and take the shot. It was very difficult to use with subjects that were moving. This was my first dive using this lens underwater and have more testing to do. Here are some of my images using the Venus Laowa 60mm macro lens underwater at Maeda point, Okinawa-Japan.

Tomato anemonefish -Laowa 60mm macro F8

Cushion starfish underside abstract – Laowa 60mm macro F8

Clark’s Anemonefish – Laowa 60mm macro F8

Coral abstract – Laowa 60mm macro F8

Canthigaster coronata -Laowa 60mm macr0 F8

Bubble coral -Laowa 60mm macro F8

Coral abstract – Laowa 60mm macro F8

Test dive two, I set the aperture to F11 with a focus distance between 1:1-1:2. It was challenging working with all moving subjects. The dome port was to close for comfort for moving subjects such as fish. Stay tuned for more images later this week!

Coral abstracts -Laowa 60mm macro F11

Sea anemone -Laowa 60mm macro F11

Coral -Laowa 60mm macro F11

Cushion star -Laowa 60mm macro F11

Coral abstract -Laowa 60mm macro F11

July 8th 2017, I took the Loawa 60mm out for another spin. This time I did not use underwater strobes. I set the Aperture on F5.6, shutter speed 1/200-1/640 sec and ISO settings 400-2500. I used the Light&Motion Sola 3800 and Sola 1200 to provide beautiful fill light.

Underwater setup – Laowa 60mm

Mushroom coral -Sola 1200 red

Octo coral- Laowa 60mm

Bubble tip anemone – Laowa 60mm

Stag horn coral – Laowa 60mm

July 9th 2017, I did some more testing using two Ikelite strobes and the Light&Motion Sola 3800 modeling light. I set the sync speed at 1/250sec, Aperature at F8 and Iso 100.

Finding Nemo Okinawa

Brittle star on coral -Okinawa

Scythe triggerfish -Laowa 60mm macro

If you plan to purchase any Venus optics please click on the Affiliate link below * http://www.venuslens.net/ref/40/?campaign=OkinawaNaturePhotography

Have a great day!

Capturing fluorescence – Fluorescence enhancement photography by Shawn Miller

Featured

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Admin11

All photographers experience a time when their work becomes redundant and lose vision. The Light & Motion Sola Nightsea has opened up a new style of photography for me. Recently I have been blending the Light&Motion Nightsea blue light with ambient light underwater and getting beautiful vibrant results.

Some of my Fluorescence enhancement coral images were featured in The Blue Planet 11 publication. It’s always nice to see years of hard work finally pay off.

Underwater fluorescence – Shawn Miller featured Blue planet 11

Here are some basic lighting examples using different techniques.

Fluorescence techniques © Shawn Miller

Here are some of my favorite images using this fluorescence enhancement technique. All Images I used Light&Motion Sola lights to achieve these beautiful vibrant results.

Fluorescence enhancement © Shawn Miller

Underwater fluorescence © Shawn Miller

Fluorescence photography © Shawn Miller

Nightsea and Sola 600 blended- fluorescence© Shawn Miller

My fluorescence camera rig for underwater

Shawn Miller fluorescence setup © Shawn Miller

Friends and supporters – Save 20% off your first Light & Motion purchase https://prz.io/648x6bGC1

Know your nature with Shawn Miller

Light and Motion macro field setup – Constant lighting by Shawn Miller

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Admin11

Light and Motion lights produce constant lighting with studio quality output. This light configuration is convenient while shooting macro photography at night. The camera, tray, arms and lights are combined into one lightweight unit. The light output can be easily adjusted with a touch of a switch. Having the lights on loc-line arms allow simple light angle adjustments.

The custom Light and Motion macro field setup consists of

Sola Tray kit with extention tray and arms
Third custom loc-line arm mounted
GoBe 700 wide light
Sola 600 light
Sola 1200 light
Canon 70D with 60 mm macro lens and strap

Light and Motion macro field setup by Shawn M Miller.

I was fortunate to have beautiful weather both nights testing the constant lighting setup in northern Okinawa. Six of the animals below are endangered species listed as threatened on the IUCN red list. All of these night dwellers are decreasing in numbers due to deforestation.

Kuroiwa’s ground gecko -Red list

Namie’s frog (Limnonectes namiyei) – Red list

Okinawa tree frog (Rhacphhorus viridis)

Ryukyu Tip-nosed frog -Red list

Anderson’s crocodile newt- Red list

Kuroiwa’s ground gecko -Red list

Ryukyu brown frog -Red list

Holst’s frog ( Rana holsteri ) – Red list

Ryukyu Kajika frog

If you would like to learn more about these lights, check out the site!

http://www.lightandmotion.com/the-perfect-light

Have a great day!

Fluoro fingerprinting by Shawn Miller

Posted on February 21, 2015 by Admin11

On February 16th 2015, I went out reef walking at night during low tide. I brought my Light and Motion Nightsea blue light in search of marine life fluorescence. I stumbled upon an interesting find in the world of science. I call it Fluoro fingerprinting.

I flipped over a rock, a small sea cucumber fell off and began to fluoresce under blue light. I found another sea cucumber and photographed it using the blue light and yellow excitation filter but it did not fluoresce.

Holothuria (Platyperona) difficilis under blue light

I gently touched it with my finger and it fluoresced bright green, leaving the print of my finger on the surface of the sea cucumber.

Fluoro fingerprinting. Okinawa-Japan

I checked my finger and noticed it fluoresced light green under blue light.

Fluoro fingerprinting

I was excited about this find and posted it Flickr for some Identification help and explanation. Curt Fieldler emailed the photograph to Dr. Alexander Kerr from the University Of Guam Marine lab and he was kind enough to assist.

Dr. Kerr stated that the species is known to have green pigment that I have seen in other Sea cucumbers. As far as the fingerprint, It seems to indicate that touching the surface of the Sea cucumber exposes the underlying carotenoid, perhaps by mobilizing the the melanin pigments. So I think you have made an interesting find.

The next step was to photograph Holothuria (Platyperona) difficilis in a studio aquarium using the Meet your neighbours isolation technique. I wanted to show the animal stretched out displaying the tube feet and feathery feeding tentacles.

Holothuria (Platyperona) difficilis -MYN

The last step was to photograph Holothuria (Platyperona) difficilis in its natural environment during the daytime.

Holothuria (Platyperona) difficilis in natural environment

Learn more about capturing fluorescence https://www.nightsea.com/

Learn more about the lights used https://www.lightandmotion.com/

Learn more about Meet your Neighbours Project https://meetyourneighbours.net/

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support, Shawn M Miller.

#MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Namie’s frog (limnonectes namiyei) – Amphibians of Okinawa

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Admin11

The Namie’s frog ( Limnonectes namiyei ) is an endangered species found only in northern Okinawa. It is currently listed threatened on the IUCN red list of endangered species. This amphibian is decreasing in numbers due to deforestation and the use of pesticides.

Scientific name: Limnonectes namiyei
Distribution: Northern Okinawa-Japan
Habitat: Forest streams
Diet: Insects
Average Size: 70mm -115mm

Namie’s frog -Yanbaru forest

Namie’s frog- Photographed using the Stella 2000

Namies frog- Stella 2000

Massive legs allow them and capture prey with lightning speed.

Namie’s frog ( limnonectes namiyei )

Webbed feet allow them to quickly escape predators in the water.

Namie’s frog – Top view

Wide angle perspective – showing the environment it lives in.

Namie’s frog – Wide angle macro

Be careful and pay close attention to crossing wildlife.

Road dweller- Namie’s frog with leeches

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Endangered – The Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) Okinawa, Japan

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Admin11

The Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) is a common winter visitor in southern Okinawa. The spoonbill is currently endangered and has an estimated population of less than 3000. It’s biggest treats are habitat loss, pollution and pesticides. The Black-faced spoonbill is currently listed critically endangered on the IUCN red list of threatened species.

Scientific name: (Platalea minor)
Distribution: Okinawa, Korea, China, Taiwan and Japan
Habitat: Mud flats, mangroves and wetlands
Diet: Fish
Average Size: 73.5 cm

The Black-faced spoonbill in flight

The Black-faced spoonbill is a magnificent animal.

The beautiful Black-faced spoonbill

The Black-faced spoonbills work as a team when hunting for fish.

The Black-faced spoonbill-community hunting

Out of all the birds at the mudflats, the spoonbills are the most consistent hunters. They rest most of the day, but when its time to fish they always catch one fairly quickly.

The Black-faced spoonbill-hunting

The Spoonbills in flight

Black-faced Spoonbill in flight

Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor)

The Spoonbill landing – The art of conveying Motion !

Th Black-faced spoonbill -landing

Let’s Protect the beauty of Okinawa!

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Okinawa Nature Photography

沖縄自然写真 By Shawn Miller

The King of the Yanbaru forest – Holst’s frog

Venomous snakes of Okinawa-Japan

The Ryukyu Robin, Endemic birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Nature Therapy – Photo Exhibition by Shawn Miller

Testing the Venus Laowa 60mm F2.8 macro lens underwater

Capturing fluorescence – Fluorescence enhancement photography by Shawn Miller

Featured

Light and Motion macro field setup – Constant lighting by Shawn Miller

Fluoro fingerprinting by Shawn Miller

Namie’s frog (limnonectes namiyei) – Amphibians of Okinawa

Endangered – The Black-faced spoonbill (Platalea minor) Okinawa, Japan