道東４日目 / Eastern Hokkaido Day 4

2022年12月6日 Travel, Nature observation, Birds, Landscape photography

Teshikaga (弟子屈) to Kushiro (釧路)

In no time at all, it was the last day of our trip to East Hokkaido. Today, I headed from Teshikaga to Kushiro Airport via Tsurui Village.

I arrived at my destination, Otowa Bridge, before 6:00 am. There was only one other birder before me, but people started showing up one after another, and by the end there were about a dozen or so people. Perhaps it was because it was a weekday, but many of them looked like regular local birders. The temperature was minus 12 degrees Celsius. Since there was no wind, it was not so severe as long as we were well-equipped (see Day 1 for details on equipment).

The Otowa Bridge is a well-known roosting site for red-crowned cranes. The location of the bridge makes it undeniable that the pictures will be the same no matter who takes them, but if this is your first time taking pictures of red-crowned cranes, you can’t miss it.

音羽橋からの夜明けの風景 Dawn view from Otowa Bridge — View from the bridge. There is a red-crowned crane roost in the back, and about 100 cranes can be seen gathered there. The view faces east, so morning shots are basically backlit.

夜明けの雪裡川とタンチョウのねぐら Setsuri River and red-crowned cranes roosting at dawn — Before sunrise. The roost is quite far away; with the D500 + 500mm you can barely see the whole scene.

ねぐらから飛び立った2羽のタンチョウ Two red-crowned cranes fly away from their roost — Two birds flew out early, while it was still dark.

夜明け前に飛翔するタンチョウ A red-crowned crane in pre-dawn flight — I was in the middle of shooting with a 1.4x teleconverter (700mm f/8) and was in a hurry to see if I could keep up.

朝焼けを背景に飛ぶタンチョウのクローズアップ Close-up of a red-crowned crane flying against the backdrop of the morning glow — I got it right.

飛翔するタンチョウ A red-crowned crane in flight — Too close. If you look closely, you can see that some people have switched cameras for close-up.

朝日に照らされる欄干の上に成長した氷の結晶のクローズアップ Close-up of ice crystals growing on the parapet lit by the morning sun — Ice crystals on the parapet are growing into shapes I have never seen before.

音羽橋を通るキタキツネ Fox passing by Otowa Bridge — A fox also passes through the bridge.

餌を咥えたタンチョウの幼鳥 A juvenile red-crowned crane with food in its mouth — A family left their roost and walked over to us to look for food. A young bird is holding a crayfish-like creature in its mouth.

朝日が差すタンチョウのねぐら A red-crowned crane roost in the morning sun — 7:13 am. The sun is finally shining on the roost.

餌を幼鳥の元に運ぶタンチョウ A red-crowned crane carrying food to its young — The parent bird walks in to get food.

幼鳥に餌を渡すタンチョウの親鳥 Parent cranes passing food to a young bird — Give it to the young bird. It was taking it on its own, but it still seems to be being taken care of.

朝日が差す雪裡川の風景 Scenery of the Setsuri River in the morning sun — A family is foraging in the foreground.

霜の降りた木々が朝日で黄色く染まる Frosty trees turn yellow in the morning sun.

青空をバックに飛翔する三羽のタンチョウ Three red-crowned cranes in flight against a blue sky — One of the few forward light shots. 24-70mm was too far away, so maybe a 70-200mm would be about right for a full size sub-camera (I don’t have one).

一斉にねぐらを飛び立ちこちらへ向かってくるタンチョウたち The red-crowned cranes fly away from their roosts at once and come toward us. — As it becomes brighter, they begin to move one after another toward the feeding grounds.

川で採餌するタンチョウの親子 A red-crowned crane and its offspring foraging in the river — Continued parent and child.

川に立ち朝日を浴びるタンチョウ A red-crowned crane standing on the river and exposed to the morning sun

大きく翼を広げて着水する直前の2羽のオオハクチョウ Two whooper swans just before they spread their wings wide and land on the water. — Whooper Swans flew in. A humorous expression on its face.

タンチョウの親子 A red-crowned crane and its offspring — Parents and a child seem to be starting to move on.

一斉に翼を広げて飛び立つタンチョウの親子 A red-crowned crane parent and child spreading their wings in unison and taking off. — Parent and child spread their wings at the same time. No, the child is one step slower.

霜で真っ白になった小道と林 Paths and woods turned white with frost — It is fantastically stained white with only frost, not snow.

I had actually planned to go to the Red-crowned Crane sanctuary after the Otowa Bridge, but since I was able to see enough here, I decided to change my plans and head for Kushiro. This was because I had not yet seen Shima-enaga (subspecies of Long-tailed Tit).

Long-tailed Tits live in small flocks and move from place to place, so it is sometimes difficult to find even ordinary ones. Shima-enagas are thought to be similar to the common ones. I had assumed that I would see them somewhere within four days, but in the end I never saw them.

There is a large nature park called Harutori Park in Kushiro City. I decided to bet on this Park, thinking that small birds like the Shima-enagas would be easier to find in a city park than in the countryside, where they are more restricted. I had only about an hour to spare after returning the rental car at Kushiro Airport and going through other formalities. Would I be able to find the Shima-enaga?

シジュウカラ Japanese Tit — Japanese Tit. Not you.

カケス Eurasian Jay — Eurasian Jay. It’s okay…

So time ran out. Local ladies were walking around and saying, “I heard there is a Shima-enaga” or “I have never seen a Shima-enaga before,” so I guess there are some and they are popular. I would like to come back to look for them again sometime.

End

道東 ４日目 / Eastern Hokkaido Day 4

Teshikaga (弟子屈) to Kushiro (釧路)

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道東４日目 / Eastern Hokkaido Day 4