クマゲラの面白い秘密（習性）を見つけてしまったのは今から１０年以上前でした。
山スキーを履いて、鉄砲を担いで、雪深い森の奥を歩いている時でした。
It was about ten years ago that I discovered an interesting secret (habit) of the black woodpecker.
I was walking deep in a snowy forest, wearing mountain skis and carrying a gun.
夕暮れ近くの森の中で、目の前に現れた雄鹿を仕留め、雪に足を取られながら鹿の処理と夕暮れに追われていました。静かな森のなか、1羽のクマゲラがケーンケーンと鳴きながら鹿を解体する私の周りを飛び回っていました。すぐ近くの木に止まって、じっと私の方を珍しそうに見ているのですが、鹿を解体するナイフを持つ私の手は血だらけ、そんな手でカメラを取り出すわけにもいかず、クマゲラの姿を眺めていました。
At dusk, I was in the woods when I killed a stag that appeared before me. My feet got stuck in the snow as I processed the deer and was on the move as dusk approached. In the quiet forest, a black woodpecker was flying around me, making a loud noise as I butchered the deer. It was perched on a nearby tree and staring at me curiously, but my hands were covered in blood as I held the knife I was using to butcher the deer, so I couldn't take out my camera with those hands and just watched the black woodpecker.
気温がぐっと下がり、静まり返る森の中に、クマゲラの足音さえも大きく聞こえ、爪が木に食い込み、クマゲラの息遣いさえ聞こえてきそうな世界、一頭の雄鹿とナイフ一本で格闘する私。なぜ私の周りからクマゲラが離れないのか不思議になりながら、迫る夕暮れにと悴む指先に解体を終わらせようと急いていました。
The temperature had dropped sharply, and in the silent forest, even the footsteps of the black woodpeckers could be heard loudly, their claws digging into the trees, and even their breathing could be heard. I was struggling with a stag with just a knife. I wondered why the black woodpeckers wouldn't leave me, and hurried to finish dismantling them with numb fingertips as dusk approached.
私の視線を感じながら、クマゲラが少しづつ登っていく木の先には、まんまるく開いた黒い穴。そして、周りの様子をキョロキョロと見回すと、その丸い穴にスルッと潜り込んだのでした。それが、私にとって初めてのクマゲラのねぐら入りの様子でした。
Sensing my gaze, the black woodpecker slowly climbed up the tree until it came across a round, black hole at the top. After looking around restlessly, it slipped into the round hole.That was my first time seeing a black woodpecker entering its roost.
それから10年の間に、クマゲラのねぐら、クマゲラが潜り込む穴を数箇所か見つけることができました。クマゲラがねぐらに入る時間とエゾモモンガが巣穴から出てくる時間が近いので、大抵はモモンガを夕暮れ巣穴から出てくるのを待っていると、遠くでクマゲラの声が聞こえてくる。それがヒントになり、それらしい穴を徹底的に歩き回って、深い雪に足を取られながら、歩いて歩いて、クマゲラのねぐらを見つけてきたのです。
Over the next 10 years, I was able to find several black woodpecker roosts and holes that they hide in. The time when the black woodpeckers go to their roosts and the Siberian flying squirrels come out of their burrows is close by, so I usually wait for the flying squirrels to come out of their burrows at dusk, and then I hear the black woodpeckers' cries in the distance. This gave me a hint, and I walked all over the likely holes, walking and walking, my feet getting stuck in the deep snow, until I found the black woodpeckers' roosts.
繁殖期の子育てするクマゲラを見にいくことは、私は機会もなくいきません。なので、クマゲラを高頻度に遭遇するのはなかなか難しいことでしたが、この冬のクマゲラのねぐらを見つける方法？見つけることができてからは、クマゲラの習性をうまく利用して、クマゲラを観察、写真に納めることが高精度で再現できるようになりました。自然界に隠されているヒントとは、本当に面白く不思議なことだらけです。
I never miss the chance to see black woodpeckers raising their young during the breeding season. So, it was quite difficult to encounter black woodpeckers frequently, but how to find their roosts this winter? After I found them, I was able to make good use of their habits and observe and photograph them with high accuracy. The hints hidden in the natural world are really interesting and mysterious.
エゾクロテンやクマタカなどの、天敵に襲われないでくれることを願いつつ、北の凍てつく寒さのなかクマゲラの声が針葉樹林に響き渡る。そんな光景をいつまでも見ていたいものです。静かに待つ、森の中の時間がとても幸せに感じます。誰にも内緒で、一緒に行きましょう。冬がいい。
Hoping that they won't be attacked by predators such as the Sable or Mountain Hawk-Eagle, the cries of the black woodpecker echo through the coniferous forests in the freezing cold of the north. I want to watch this scene forever. I feel very happy spending time quietly waiting in the forest.Let's go together without telling anyone.
次もキツツキシリーズ、で書こうかな、、、？
Maybe I should write another woodpecker series next...?
