I can think of no other place I would rather be in the middle of winter, then leading a photography adventure tour in Hokkaido, Japan. Hokkaido has the Steller’s Sea Eagle, White-tailed eagle, Golden eagle, Blakiston's fish owl, black kite, whooper swans, white-tailed fox, the largest herd of sika deer on our earth, and breathtaking landscapes. Japan is the birders paradise all year round, over 600 species of birds have been recorded to date, over 60% of these species are migratory, such as the stellar sea eagle, whooper swan. Species that are endemic or sub-regional endemic include the Blackiston’s fish-owl, Red-Crowned Crane, Black kite; there are over 60 species in total in this category.
Red-Crowned Crane Akan, Japan
Japan is not as small as most have come to imagine, Japan is latitudily long at over 3000 kilometers, with 6,852 islands, and is over 70% unpopulated wilderness, perfect for the naturalist photographer. 2018 is my 21st year leading photography workshops in Japan; I really enjoy life behind the viewfinder, its great fun traveling and sharing with others what I love to photograph. During the winter months, we mainly cater to International photographers and bird watchers seeking to experience the wild frontier wildlife that Japan is famous for. During our wildlife adventure workshops and tours, we are mainly off the beaten path and can avoid mini bus tour groups. But every year in Rausu while boarding our chartered vessel taking us out to photograph the Steller's sea eagle on pack ice in the early AM, we run into fellow photographers and naturally strike up a conversation. During the conversations, they always ask ‘where are you staying in Rausu?’ Our reply, ‘we do not stay in Rausu during the winter season.' The reason we don’t stay over in Rausu during winter is because the only guaranteed wildlife photography opportunity is to go out on boats for a 4-5 hours, and that is “if” calm seas. During our winter workshops, we stay at lodgings an hours drive from Rausu in the grandeur of nature and when the weather and seas are calm, and boats can venture into pack ice safely. We drive into Rasusu board a chartered vessel navigating through pack ice to photograph the Steller’s Sea-eagles in their natural feeding habitat. After several hours of viewing the eagles, with hundreds of great shots of them clutching fish in their talons, feasting on fish and in flight. We continue down the road with a full day of landscape wildlife adventure photography. We always allow 3-4 days in the region to make sure we can catch window for calm seas and a boat. Nearby our lodgings in the winters of 2015, 2016 and 2017 I photographed a herd of over 500 Sika deer, this is a rare event timing wether and preparations are everything.
Sika Deer Hokkaido, Japan
Japan 2019 Winter Wildlife Photo Expedition Workshop. I am honored to be joining with Kevin Raber and the Luminous Landscape team, for an unforgettable journey through Japan. I do hope you can join us; this promises to be a magnificent journey through the wild frontiers of Japan.
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