I always wondered about the naming of some areas of Tokyo, having noted the names of train stations in those spots. For example, Ikebukuro, a major business area of Tokyo (one of its many “downtowns”) seems to translate as “Pond Bag.” Ochanomizu is “Tea Water.” And Mejiro is “White Eye.”

Well, I actually discovered the origin of Mejiro recently when I took up birding: Mejiro is a bird, the Japanese White-Eye, and it is aptly named. A picture is worth a thousand words:

Click on the image to get a full-sized version (1100×700 pixels, 136 KB).

When I visited the park nearby my place today, there were quite a few of the little things flying around the trees. The Mejiro love the blossoming trees, and seemed to be eating the nectar from the flowers:

The blossoms also make for nice decoration around the birds in the photos. The Mejiro were also surprisingly tame; you could walk right up to a tree the buggers are in and be standing just a few meters away, and they would just as happily bounce about from branch to branch. I had my usual focusing trouble with my camera because the Mejiro were always in the midst of a host of twigs, blossoms and branches, but because they were relatively stable in location and not skittish about human company, I was able to get some nice shots of the birds.

I also spotted some Long-Tailed and Great Tits, as well as a Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, but none stayed still long enough to get any pictures worth sharing.

I also was able to record some Nightingale song just outside my apartment building. The audio clip (332 KB, WAV format) is an amalgam of seven different calls I recorded over about ten minute’s time.

And before I go, one more Mejiro photo.