【オシドリとの会話・オオウバユリ開花】

　朝の散歩路、昨日、時間を掛けて信頼関係を作っている（？）オシドリの一家のうちの若いオスの個体、立木の上でのポージングを撮影させていただけました（笑）。ウレシイ。
　いつもはまだ睡眠中というケースが多いのですが、そのなかで元気のいい個体、羽毛の色合いからは若いオスとおぼしき個体が、それほどの警戒心を見せることなく、素直にカメラ目線を受容してくれていました。まぁそれでもわたしの存在を強く意識して、基本的には視線からの脱出を図るように水面に飛躍するほんの少しの時間だけ、「まぁ少しくらいは警戒を緩めてやる」という様子。
　「その装置、危害を加えるものではないのだよね？」とでも語りかけられているよう。わたしが向けているiPhone装置がそれほどの危険器具ではないという判断をしてくれて、水におりていくほんの10数秒間、カメラ目線に応えるように姿態をさらしてくれた。
　観察していると強い警戒心の表現としては尾羽を細かく左右に振るのがかれらの生態のように思っていますが、そういう仕草は見られなかった。これでもかなりの進歩ではないかと、自然観察経験知の少なさから勝手に悦んでおりました。イキモノとの対話の糸口のように多少は思える。
　すっかり気を良くして散歩道を歩いて行くと、今度はここのところ毎日のように変化を見せているオオウバユリに決定的大変化に遭遇。
　ついに分枝した花芽たちのなかから「開花」の瞬間を迎えた個体が散見された。
　ユリという名前の通り、細い花房の先端部分が大きく広がっていく。こういう様子はこの種独特の美の訴求として妖艶というようにも見えるし、また、可憐というようにも思える。どちらにせよ、北海道の自然が生み出す女性的な美しさの表現のように感じています。これからしばらくは印象深い美感を楽しませてもらいたいと思います。
　いまのところ、花芽はやや下の方を向いて開花している。重力を考えてやや下方に向けて花を開いてそのあとで徐々に姿勢をまっすぐに「立ち上がっていく」ようになるのです。
　開花した個体を探しながらシャッターを切っていると、ちょうどカタツムリがオマケでくっついているヤツもあった（笑）。
　ながいいのちの営みの末にようやく開花した瞬間に、不粋なカタツムリがお邪魔したようでもあり、そういう運命にたまたま遭遇した花芽の「定め」のようでもある。観察者としてはこういう偶然こそが生きることそのものだなぁとも思われる。花芽とカタツムリのふたつのいのち、マグリットの絵画の「偶然の出会い」のようでもありました。まことに北国の夏、本番。


English version⬇

Conversation with a mandarin duck and the blooming of a Siberian lily
Two unique seasonal expressions of northern summer. The brightness of life plays its own symphony in the midst of nature. The two subjects are as follows.

Morning walkway, yesterday, we spent some time building a trusting (?) relationship. I was able to photograph a young male member of a family of mandarin ducks, posing on a standing tree (lol). (Laughs.) How nice.
　Usually, most of the mandarin ducks are still sleeping, but one of the young male mandarin ducks, which looked like a young male from the color of its feathers, was not so alert and accepted the camera's gaze without hesitation. He was still very conscious of my presence, and only for a short time, when he basically leapt to the surface to escape my gaze, he seemed to say, "Well, I'll let my guard down a little bit.
　That device, it's not meant to harm you, is it?" It is as if he is saying to me, "Well, I'm going to let my guard down a little bit, aren't I? He decided that the iPhone device I was pointing at him was not that dangerous, and for a mere 10 seconds or so, as he descended into the water, he showed his body as if he were looking at me for the camera.
　I have observed them wagging their tail feathers from side to side as an expression of their strong alertness, but I did not see such a gesture. I was pleased with myself because of my limited experience in observing nature. It seems somewhat like a clue to dialogue with Ikimono.
　I walked along the path, feeling completely at ease, and encountered a decisive change in the daylily, which has been showing changes every day recently.
　Finally, among the flower buds that had branched off, there were some that had reached the moment of "blooming.
　As the name "lily" implies, the tips of the thin flower clusters spread out. This appearance can be seen as bewitching or dainty, as an appeal to the unique beauty of this species. Either way, I feel it is an expression of feminine beauty produced by the nature of Hokkaido. I hope to enjoy its impressive beauty for some time to come.
　At the moment, the flower buds are blooming facing slightly downward. Considering gravity, the flowers open slightly downward and then gradually "stand up" in a straight posture.
　As I was taking the shutter to look for blooming individuals, I found one with a snail attached to it as a bonus (laugh).
　It was as if an unscrupulous snail had interrupted the moment when the flower finally blossomed after a long life's work, or as if it was the "destiny" of a flower bud that happened to meet such a fate. As an observer, this kind of coincidence seems to be the very essence of life itself. The two lives of the flower bud and the snail are like the "chance encounter" in Magritte's painting. Summer in the north is really in full swing.