February 16, 2021 One of the harbingers of spring in Japan are the blooming of the plum blossoms. If the weather is fine, the plum trees typically start blooming around the middle of January, and usually reach full bloom (mankai) from the middle of February.

Two species of birds that enjoy sipping nectar from the blossoms are the Japanese white-eye (Meijiro), and the Brown-eared bulbul (Hiyodori). Important pollinators of the plum tree, as most insect pollinators are not active yet.

These images were taken at Tenpai Lake.

The nimble Japanese white-eye often feeds upside down.

The Brown-eared bulbul also can feed inverted, but is not nearly as nimble as the White-eye, as the following video shows.