July 14, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. Today we continue to feature the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

I am a Japanese Common Grass Yellow butterfly

I am yellow with black spots on my wings

I fly around grasslands and forests

And can be seen starting in early spring.

Location: Tokyo, Japan  

Sources: https://www.takao599museum.jp/treasures/insects/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AD%E3%83%81%E3%83%A7%E3%82%A6%E7%A7%91/3283/?lang=en

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 13, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. Today we continue to feature the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

I am known as a Little Egret

I look similar to a Snowy

As in the US my population was decimated

By people with dull hats that they wanted  to be showy.

Location: Tokyo, Japan 

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/litegr/cur/introduction

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 12, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. Today we continue to feature the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

We are known as Black-headed Gulls

Though at the moment we are non-breeding

Right now our heads are just smudged here and there

There's just a few months when our name's not misleading.

Location: Tokyo, Japan 

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/bkhgul/cur/introduction

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 11, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. Today we continue to feature the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

I am a Brown-eared Bulbul

I'm considered boisterous and loud

I am mostly grey, with darker wings, 

And my ear coverts are chestnut brown.

(Hence, the name.)

Location: Tokyo, Japan 

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/brebul1/cur/introduction

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 10, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. Today we continue to feature the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

This tree is Ginkgo Biloba

It can grow to be 100 feet tall

You will mostly find male trees in nurseries

Because female trees get stinky in the fall.

Location: Tokyo, Japan 

Sources: https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c910

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 9, 2026

Welcome to Japan Week on Dee at 8 a.m. For the next week, we will be featuring the photography of my favorite expat, Joy Handley. 

We are Azure-winged Magpies

We call anything from bugs to fruit "food"

You can find us throughout east Asia

Just look for our shiny black hood.

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Sources: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/azwmag2/cur/introduction

Photo © 2026 Joy Handley and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

July 8, 2026

I am a Hispid Cotton Rat,

My range is wide and expanding

I am mostly found in grassy areas

Where I can produce many offspring.

Location: Brevard Zoo, (NOT a captive animal, just a visitor)

Sources: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sigmodon_hispidus/

Photo and text © 2026 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.