The lonely hermit crab adapting with a lug-nut cover by Shawn Miller

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Admin11

This week I went out camping with some friends on Miyagi Island. While searching for fire wood I stumbled upon a blueberry hermit crab (Coenobita purpureus) adapting with a metal lug-nut cover. I have previously found many hermit crabs adapting with other man-made items such as pet bottle caps, glass bottles, light bulb ends, laundry detergent caps and various scoops. I was pretty excited about this and had to show off the interesting find to my friends.

The blueberry hermit crab is temporarily making due with the available lug-nut cover. It will eventually switch to a shell when it finds an appropriate size. If you would like to learn more about this adaptive behavior please check out my post on “Crabs with Beach trash homes”

* All Coenobita species on Okinawa are recognized as a living natural monument of Japan.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I also photographed the hermit crab on white for the Meet Your Neighbours Project. The technique eliminates distracting elements out of the background and shows the true beauty of the animal. The images are used for conservation awareness and educational purposes.

Later I offered lug nut a Turbo seashell and within five minutes he switched over to his new home.

Okinawa hermit crab

We were fortunate to have beautiful weather. Don’t forget to get out for some Nature Therapy! We all need a break from our busy lifestyles.

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 below.

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.

Blue Streaks of Light by Shawn Miller

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Admin11

The Common Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) is one of the most beautiful birds of the Ryukyu Islands. They are a common species found near freshwater sources. I have observed these tiny birds four hours at a time. I know a few local nature photographers that have dedicated their lives to documenting the behavior of this beautiful bird.

Scientific name: Alcedo atthis
Common Name: Common Kingfisher
Distribution: Worldwide
Habitat: Forests near rivers and ponds
Diet: Fish and prawn
Average Size: 16cm

The Common Kingfisher spends most of the day patiently waiting on tree branches above the water.

They watch from above and pick out the perfect sized fish.

They dive bomb with very little warning. Below is the sequence of the catch.

After the feast, the Kingfisher preens itself.

Look close and you can see the process of the Kingfisher casting a pellet. They can’t digest the exoskeleton of prawn and fish scales. They regurgitate the waste in a pellet form.

I challenge you to get outdoors for some Nature Therapy.

People often ask me what is the purpose of conservation photography? Having the ability to affect some form of positive change in the environment and make a global difference with the photographs. Hopefully, the images will inspire people to care more about nature and make a positive difference in the environment.

If you would like to use any of my photographs, please contact me directly. Have a great day!

Searching for the Ryukyu Ghost Crab by Shawn Miller

Posted on September 19, 2018 by Admin11

Ghost crabs are one of the fastest terrestrial crabs on the planet. They live in burrows underneath the sand on the coastline. They are found scavenging for food early in the morning and late in the evening to avoid predators. These sand crabs can change colors to adapt to their environment. In Okinawa, we have two species of Ghost crabs, the Horn-eyed crab (Ocypode ceratophthalmus) and the Smooth-eyed ghost crab (Ocypode cordimanus).

Horn-eyed ghost crab at Maede flats

Ghost crabs have three ways to avoid predators.

Stay close to their burrow and retreat into it quickly.
Escape into the surf zone and burrow underneath the wet sand.
Stay still and slowly dig into the beach sand

Ghost crab burrow

Elusive ghost crab

These crabs have the ability to fold their eyes into grooves for protection.

Ghost crab - Fill flash and back-lighting Stella 200

Ghost crab & Stella 2000

This large ghost crab tried to intimidate me with its large claws and scary shadow.

The sand dwelling hunter

These crabs were photographed on white for the Meet Your Neighbours Biodiversity Project. The project is dedicated to connecting people worldwide with the wildlife in their communities. All images are used for conservation awareness and educational purposes.

MYN Biodiversity Project Japan.

Juvenile – Ocypode sp

The Juveniles can be extremely colorful depending on their surrounding environment. I have been finding more and more trash washed on the shoreline. Could the crabs possibly be adapting to the colors of the sounding marine debris washed ashore?

the Smooth-eyed ghost crab ( Ocypode cordimanus)

All ghost crabs are scavengers, mainly feeding on seaweed, fruit, seeds, other crabs, turtle hatchlings, and insects.

feeding on beetles

Feeding on a hermit crab

Feeding on a shrew

These crabs are beautiful creatures and hopefully, you will get the opportunity to see one in the wild.

Pink ghost crab

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

The Blue Rock Thrush – Birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Admin11

The Blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) is one of the most fascinating and abundant birds of The Ryukyu Islands. They are a common species found in urban areas. I have observed these birds eating food from peoples hands.

Scientific name: (Monticola solitarius)
Common Name: Blue Rock Thrush
Distribution: Ryukyu Islands
Habitat: Forests, Parks, and local neighbors
Diet: Butterflies, moths, spiders, caterpillars, and fruit
Average Size: 25cm

The female is all brown with a striped pattern. The male is dark blue with an orange breast and belly.

Female rock thrush © Shawn Miller

Male Rock Thrush © Shawn Miller

Breeding season occurs April through July. When the Hatchling emerge the parents are on high alert and become noisy and aggressive defending their young.

Moma on Duty © Shawn Miller

Daddy on duty © Shawn Miller

This young hatchling left the nest prematurely. It survived four full days roaming the neighborhood wisely on the ground.

Hatchling searching for shelter © Shawn Miller

Somewhere on its journey, it picked up some fishing line.

Hatchling and fishing line © Shawn Miller

These birds are curious and intelligent birds. A wide-angle macro perspective of the male blue rock thrush with its wings spread.

Blue rock-thrush with wings spread © Shawn Miller

Look close and you can see the nicitating membrane, its used to protect and moisten the eye.

Blue rock-thrush drying off © Shawn Miller

We pulled up to a fight scene. A rock thrush and a praying mantis fighting in the middle of the road. The rock-thrush flew away and the praying mantis stood its ground. Photographed using my iPhone.

Fighting pose - Preying mantis, IPhone 6s

Fighting pose © Shawn Miller

Know your Nature with Shawn Miller.

Testing The Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D Lens Underwater

Posted on May 4, 2018 by Admin11

Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D Lens for Canon EF

Underwater Housing © Shawn Miller

The Laowa D-Dreamer 12mm lens is a technical lens with great optics. The specialized lens is manual focus and manual aperture selection. I decided to see what it could do underwater.

The lens was used in combination with a Canon 70d DSLR, mounted in an Ikelite housing with an eight-inch dome port. For all the underwater shots, I preset the aperture to f11 before I locked it in the underwater housing. I tested it under ambient light, with the use of modeling lights and underwater strobes. I only had time to test it four times underwater due to bad weather and family obligations. It was challenging for sure. By the fourth dive, I started getting the hang of using this manual lens underwater.

1st issue – Reflection when shooting into the sunlight. (see the bottom right corner)

Venus 12mm underwater reflection © Shawn Miller

I made an anti-reflection lens ring cover to reduce reflection and eliminate the letters and numbers in my image.

Anti-reflection lens cover © Shawn Miller

Anti-reflection lens cover attached to the lens. (Nice and simple)

Anti reflection lens cover Anti-reflection lens cover

Anti-reflection lens covering © Shawn Miller

2nd issue – Locking on focus. Many of my images were soft due to user error and malfunctions. The focus ring kept slipping off. I adapted with some orange nonstick stretch tape to prevent it from slipping again.

Underwater setup by Shawn Miller © Shawn Miller

If you plan to use this lens underwater I would recommend a camera body that has focus peaking. I tested it without the function and had some difficulty underwater. Below are some of my favorite photographs using the Laowa D-Dreamer 12mm lens underwater. Okinawa, Japan

Light & Motion Sola 3800 © Shawn Miller

Saddleback anemonefish, Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Longfin snake eel © Shawn Miller

Teira batfish, Maeda point © Shawn Miller

Bleached coral and prism © Shawn Miller

Underwater sunburst © Shawn Miller

To be expected the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens was a lot easier to use on land. Below are some of my documentation photographs of the marine debris washed ashore on local beaches.

I hope these photographs will inspire people to care more about nature and make difference in the environment

Tidal flats of Kaichu-Doro by Shawn Miller

Tidal flats of Kaichu-Doro © Shawn Miller

Ever wonder where your balloons end up © Shawn Miller

Teniya cove, Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Marine debris, Nagahama bay © Shawn Miller

Uninhibited island beach scene © Shawn Miller

We are polluting our oceans with single-use items at an unstoppable rate. Let’s work together to make a positive impact!

Nature Mirai -Mangroves © Shawn Miller

https://www.venuslens.net/ref/40/?campaign=OkinawaNaturePhotography

Have a great day – Shawn Miller

Searching For The Strawberry Conch in Okinawa By Shawn Miller

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Admin11

The Strawberry conch (Strombus luhuanus) is a popular food source found on the Island of Okinawa. Locals know as uchinanchu (sea people) search for this marine snail during extreme low tides. The sweet tasting meat of the conch shell is sought after during the summer months.

The beautiful people of Okinawa © Shawn Miller

After harvesting and consuming the conch meat, the shells are giving back to the ocean in large piles. This will provide shelter for marine-based hermit crabs and eventually stabilize the sediment.

Thousands of conch shells © Shawn Miller

Marine hermit crab

Land hermit crabs are often found next to these onshore shell piles, scavenging on conch meat remains.

Hermit crabs of the Ryukyu Islands The beautiful people of Okinawa © Shawn Miller

The beautiful conch shells are commonly confused with the hazardous cone shells. The main difference is that conch shells have a stromboid notch. A small side slit or indentation which allows the animal to see while moving. The conch shells movement is much different as well, they travel using a jumping style movement instead of a steady crawling motion.

Ryukyu shell art © Shawn Miller

The animal has strange eyes located at the end of long eye stalks. The eyes color is usually a vibrant green, yellow and orange combination.

Strawberry conch shell © Shawn Miller

Take a close look at this strawberry conch below. What do you see? I see two extra eyes poking out of the stromboid notch. The marine snail naturally has two eyes, not four.

Four-eyed Strawberry conch © Shawn Miller

What is the cause of this? Could this deformity be caused by nutritional deficiencies, a genetic disorder or pollution?

Four-eyed Strawberry conch © Shawn Miller

Photographed on white for the meet your neighbours project

Four-eyed Strawberry conch © Shawn Miller

The strawberry conch © Shawn Miller

Regardless of the cause, I hope these images will inspire people to care more about nature and make a positive impact in the environment. We all depend on the ocean in some form. Let’s work together to make a difference.

Protect what we love © Shawn Miller

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

– If you would like to use any of my photographs for a publication or website please contact me directly. Do not use any of my images without permission! Shawn Miller

Shark and Rays – Art Show & Fundraiser, Okinawa

Posted on March 5, 2018 by Admin11

Shark and Rays – The Art Show & Fundraiser was a great success.

Shark and Rays -Art show at OBC Okinawa

Purpose: To educate others about these amazing creatures and the major threats they are facing and to donate some of the profit from art pieces to conservation organizations. (The Shark guardian, Manta trust and Maldives whale shark research program)

There was work form sixteen local artists as well as a live band (Cj and friends)
– A big thanks to Julia Janicki, Hazel Roome and Rodel Santo Domingo for setting up this event.

Local artists making an difference at OBC

Local artists making a difference at OBC

We really appreciate everyone that showed up to support this event, Thank you. In case you missed the event, below are a few photographs.

Shark and Ray – Art show fundraiser @ OBC

Ray and shark conservation wall

The Shark conservation wall @ OBC

Local artist from Okinawa making a difference

Stingray surfboard and prints @ OBC

The education wall – Sharks and Rays

Shark and Ray – Postcards and magnets

Please stay tuned for the next conservation fundraiser. Have a great day!

Cherry blossoms of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on February 2, 2018 by Admin11

The Cherry blossoms are generally in full bloom mid-January through February. Mt Yaedake and Nakijin castle are the most popular viewing locations for the Cherry blossoms. Some of the most beautiful trees can also be found in residential areas and public parks.

Every year I try to create an original photograph of the Cherry Blossoms. Something that has not been done before. Below are some of my favorite photographs using specialized blue lights during the night.

People often ask me what kind of camera setup do I use to create these images.

Fluorescence photography setup -Shawn Miller

Lightpainting with the Sola nightsea.

I did some light painting comparisons using UV 385nm instead of 450nm. I used my sons Nike shoe as a background. The shoelaces fluoresced bright orange and the heal fluorescence bright green. I wanted to create something unique.

It can be challenging to photograph the animals that feed on the blossoms. I have photographed fruit bats, birds and insect feeding on the sweet-smelling blossoms.

The Japanese White-eye (Mejiro) is the most popular animal to photograph in the trees.

The tree with grow fresh green leaves and produce sweet-smelling cherries. The animals feed on the fruit and help out with seed dispersal.

Cherry tree fruit

The Okinawa rail is a flightless bird endemic to northern Okinawa. It is currently listed as an endangered species. This was my first time documenting this behavior.

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

The Hallowell’s tree frog – Okinawa

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Admin11

The Hallowell’s tree frog ( Hyla hallowellii ) is found on Okinawa, Amami and Tokunoshima Island.

Scientific name: Hyla hallowellii
Common name: Hallowell’s tree frog
Distribution: Ryukyu Islands
Habitat: Forests, grassy areas and farm fields near water.
Diet: Insects
Average size: 30mm-40mm
Color: Bright green with a white belly

The Hallowell’s tree frog is fairly common but not often seen. The beautiful frog lives high above the ground in trees making it difficult to find and photograph.

The Hallowell’s tree frog

They are easy to locate during mating season. The male produces a fairly high pitch squeak sound over and over.

The Hallowell’s tree frog -vocal sac

The Hallowell’s tree frog -mating call

The Hallowell’s tree frog

Let’s protect the wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands.

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

Tag Archives: Conversationalist and naturalist Shawn Miller

The lonely hermit crab adapting with a lug-nut cover by Shawn Miller

Blue Streaks of Light by Shawn Miller

Searching for the Ryukyu Ghost Crab by Shawn Miller

The Blue Rock Thrush – Birds of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Testing The Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D Lens Underwater

Searching For The Strawberry Conch in Okinawa By Shawn Miller

Shark and Rays – Art Show & Fundraiser, Okinawa

Cherry blossoms of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

The Hallowell’s tree frog – Okinawa