July 28 - The family of the Brown Hawk Owl

which is 40-minute drive away from our home.

Yesterday, I took this picture of Aobazuku or Brown hawk owl in a shrine which is 40-minute drive away from our home.  I know that this is a parent bird, but I don't know if it is the father or the mother.  This bird was with its spouse and three chicks just came out from their nest two days ago.   Local people told us that every spring, the migratory owls come to the tree which is more than 400-year-old.  They lay their chicks in the nest and stay for one or two months on that tree.   Then, they would fly to another place a few days after their chicks come out.

Please make corrections below.  Thank you!


We hope that all the family members will have safe trips and come back in that tree in the next spring.  This bird is registered as one of the endangered species in our area. 

This looks like one tree.  But two trees.
Left side is Aphannanthe aspera and right one is Zelkova serrata.

The other parent bird

 

The three chicks

We waited for about one hour to seek if there is any chance to capture their faces, but unfortunately they didn't move so much.  Owls are night birds, they sleep in daytime. 

* * * * * * * * * *

I am studying the vocabulary book titled "1100 words you need to know", and I found some sentences are difficult to grasp what they are meant.  Please help me to understand  the yellow highlighted part.   Thank you!

"HOW NOT TO GET YOUR WAY"

It is difficult to change someone's opinion by badgering him.  The child who begs his mother to "get off his back" when she implores him for some assistance with the household drudgery, may very well plead interminably for some special privilege when he wants something for himself.  How paradoxical that neither is able to perceive that no one likes being nagged.

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My understanding with some examples:
Sometimes mothers want their kids to help washing dishes, cleaning bath tubs, etc.  They keep on asking "Please help me your hand for five minutes or so."   Their Kids, then, respond by saying, "I am too busy finishing homeworks, the deadline is tomorrow.  I am in a hurry.  Please stop asking me, Mom."   Do not ask them repeatedly, it doesn't work.  Kids don't understand mom's situation very well.  On the otherhand, kids may ask their mothers for buying some toys, and they keep on crying in the malls.  Kids don't know it doesn't work.  Mothers are not very interested in their toys.  Both of them don't understand that nagging is not a good idea. 
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(I checked some unfamiliar words with online dictionaries, the meanings are below. )

badgering ... to pester, nag, annoy persistently

get off his back ... (Slang) stop annoying or bothering a person

implore ... to plead urgently for aid or mercy

drudgery... unpleasant, dull, or hard workIf you say that something

may well ... If you say that something may well happen, you mean that it is likely to happen:
She may well not want to travel alone.

plead ... allege, argue; petition, solicit; entreat, appeal, implore

interminably ... unending

privilege ... to treat some people or things better than others

paradoxical ===> adj. of (paradox ...a situation that seems strange because it involves two ideas or qualities that are very different: It's a paradox that in such a rich country there can be so much poverty.

perceive ... to understand, know, become aware of

nag ...  to keep asking someone to do something, or to keep complaining to someone about their behaviour, in an annoying way

July 22 - the Kingfisher

I took these pictures when my husband and I visited Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture last June 23.

Not only my husband and I but also other Japanese people love kingfishers. 

I used my husband's camera (Canon 70D) and lens (Canon EF100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II USM) because he wanted me to take the photos.

I don't like to carry the heavy stuff, which amounts to approx. 22.04 pounds or 10 kilograms to the pond where the bird appears. 

The body of camera weighs approx.  1.66 pounds or 1.8 kilograms, lens weighs approx. 3.46 pounds or 1.4 kilograms and the tripod weigh approx. 11.02 pounds or 5kgs.

After returning home,  I was so happy that my husband really satisfied with these photos.

I thought he fell in love with the blue color of the bird.  It looks like a flying jewelry.      

Look at the beak.  He caught a fish.   

July 19

Reggie the Con Man


(The 1st Paragraph)
In the paradox of crime, there are few scoundrels who could match the exploits of Reggie Hayes, who also used the names of Reginald Haven, Ricardo Hermosa, Father Harris, and dozens of other aliases.  Reggie's police record, principally in Chicago and Baltimore, is replete with scams that he perpetrated upon gullible people.  Generally, his favorite target was a matron who should have known better. 

(vocabulary)
paradox .... a situation that seems strange because it involves two ideas or qualities that are very different

scoundrel ... a bad or dishonest man, especially someone who cheats or deceives other people

alias ... used when giving someone's real name, especially an actor's or a criminal's name, together with another name they use:   'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston, alias Rachel Green

replete ... full of something

scams ... a clever but dishonest way to get money:

perpetrate ... to do something that is morally wrong or illegal 

gullible ... too ready to believe what other people tell you, so that you are easily tricked:


(The 2nd Paragraph)
Dressed as a priest ("Father Harris"), he was most convincing, however.  His method of operation was to "find" a wallet stuffed with hundred dollar bills outside a supermarket and then implore an unsuspecting woman to share his good fortune, since there was no identification in the wallet.  But first, to establish her credibility, his victim had to put up a sum of moeny as a testimonial to her good faith.  Mrs. Emma Schultz, age 72, tearfully told the police that she had withdrawn $14,000 from her bank and placed it in a shopping bag supplied by the helpful priest.  He told her to hold onto the bag while he went next door to a lawyer's office to make the sharing of their good fortune legal. 


I cannnot understand the yellow highlight place. 

He wanted her to have his money?  or He wanted to have her money? 

Whose identification was not in the wallet?  Father Harris or the Mrs. Emma Schultz?

If he wanted to give his moeny to her, why she should have withdrawn her own money for credibility?   



(vocabulary)
convincing ...making you believe that something is true or right:

implore ... to ask for something in an emotional way [= beg]

testimonial ... a formal written statement describing someone's character and abilities

(The 3rd Paragpaph)
After a seemingly interminable wait, Mrs. Schultz discovered to her chagrin that the heartless thief had skipped out the back way, leaving her "holding the bag" - a switched bag containing shrredded newspaper - while he made his getaway with her life savings.

(vocabulary)
interminable ... very long and boring [= endless]

chagrin ... annoyance and disappointment because something has not happened the way you hoped
to her chargrin ...   Much to her chagrin, I got the job.