Beware of Kites!
I went to the beach just north of Enoshima today and noticed this weird sign…
“Beware of Hawks”? WTF?
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I scratched my head for a second about the “Hawks” and realized that the warning sign was referring the crow-like scavengers, the kazillions of Kites.
Enoshima is infested with tobi nest in large groups that defecate huge piles of stinky fishy poop. I don’t think that it is weird at all that Kites are called “an abomination” in the Bible, Leviticus, 11.14.
Other Japanese beaches have the more solitary Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also colloquially known in English as a seahawk or fish hawk. 
However, no bird in this country can boss around Japan’s national bird, the pushy, mutant Crow. (3yen link)
Weirdo Japanese language factoid: The Japanese Kanji for tobi/kite is 鳶 but most people just write the word in Katakana トビ . Oddly Japanese more commonly pronounce it tonbi トンビ .
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September 8th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
I wish those hawks would take out some of the crows.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
I imagine though that “Beware of Kites” would have us looking into the sky for large colorful floaty things attached by strings to children! :D (and, you’re welcome)
September 9th, 2009 at 9:55 am
This is again how I realise that Toyohashi is really a craphole nearly ready to fall out of Japan in the sea…
We don’t even have crows… (I swear… in 3 years dere I saw no more thant 3 times the mutant black birds…)
Meanwhile… Nagoya was… Hitchkockian…
September 9th, 2009 at 11:13 am
What is a bigger issue at the beach are the tittie hawks.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I, suddenly, love hawks <3
September 11th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
I wanna see the hawks at that beach.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Just buy a Big Mac at Endoshima beach and hold it in the air for 60 seconds. You’ll see more tobi/kites/hawks than you want.
(As far as the titty-hawks go, I was using my former co-worker’s condo on that beach once or twice a week before I re-broke my leg in June.)
September 12th, 2009 at 11:35 am
Here’s a photo of another fishing hawk.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Beware of beach bimbos!