Arley and I packed up our bags once again this past week, but this time we moved to a more permanent location in the suburbs of Greater Tokyo. We knew we chose the right place when we looked outside our balcony and spotted a bird we’ve been hoping to see for the past 3 months—a Japanese pygmy woodpecker!
Names: Yungipicus kizuki | コゲラ (Kogera)
Size: 13-15cm
Location: Japanese pygmy woodpeckers live year-round in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and parts of northern China and southern Siberia.
Habitat: You’ll find them in various kinds of forests, as well as parks and gardens.
Homemaking: These birds have a minimalist interior design style (like me ☺️) and don't add many nesting materials of their own. They dig their nests in dead branches of living trees, usually within 7m off the ground. I used to think that all dead branches should be pruned off trees—for both the trees’ health and aesthetic appeal. But this mindset has led to the destruction of many nests and the death of young hatchlings inside. Learning this reminded me of our need to better understand the circular systems of the natural world and how to better protect wildlife in urban spaces.
Bits & Pieces from September
Reading: Speaking of trees and how much there is to learn about the natural world, we’ve been really enjoying The Overstory by Richard Powers. It’s a beautiful novel that follows the lives of nine people as they awaken to and connect with the more-than-human world around them. Arley’s already finished and I’m about halfway through. The more I read, the more I want to run outside and get to know all the trees in our new neighborhood.
Looking: Prompted by our move, I’ve been binge-watching Never Too Small’s YouTube channel on small footprint design and living. I especially love their series called Wonderful Waste that features designers around the world who are reimagining the role of waste.
Listening: Here is Arley’s most recent guitar instrumental. Visit his YouTube channel to keep listening :)
This past week marked the one year anniversary of Drawing to See! Thank you both to folks who’ve been reading along from the beginning and those who joined more recently. We’ve been encouraged by your engagement as we’ve continued to experiment, explore, and share our musings.
As our birdwatching and drawing adventure continues until next June, I wanted to share what you can expect for the rest of this second series. With fuller schedules starting this fall, I’ll be adjusting the weekly-post rhythm slightly in order to continue this Substack sustainably. We’re hoping to complete the series with about 35 total letters, which will average out to roughly 2-3 letters for the remaining months. For paying subscribers, you can still expect a monthly wallpaper and chat threads. We’re excited to continue sharing what we see and learn!
For this post, we consulted Cornell Lab and a Japanese research article.
For paying subscribers, here is the wallpaper of the month—the Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker!