Hokkaido part 6

Unfortunately the planned nature cruises were cancelled due to bad weather, mostly bad visibility. We tried to make up for it by driving along the coast. On the first day we had seen Orca's from the shore. Several seabirds as well, like guillemots, but too far out for my camera. On the 3rd day, we encountered some sea otters close to the shore. T-san carried me on his back, so I could watch them as well!

Western Sea Otter. チシマラッコ

Cuteness overload

Hooray!!!

The gulls flying by were all Slaty-backed, オオセグロカモメ

Gathering nesting materials from the rocky shore. Do the large white Umbellifers make soft lining?

Dive in and go for it!

The Ezo-shika Deer, エゾシカ seemed to be everywhere. Very pretty animals, with clear spotted backs. We saw groups of males and groups of females, separated. I guess that's their life style

Ezo Daylily, エゾカンゾウ?

Finally a White-tailed Eagle, オジロワシ again

Hokkaido part 5

My Hokkaido posts are going back and forth. This is day 3. My leg hurts, hurts, hurts despite the large amount of paracetamol. I cannot stand with the plaster cast. How can I possibly continue? 

One night we stayed at a wonderful inn. I could have spent a week there! The view from the dining room included a small veranda with feeding stations for squirrels and chipmunks. Birds came and went. Through the window, I managed to take a few shots

Hokkaido Squirrel, エゾリス

Eurasian Nuthatch, ゴジュウカラ

Hokkaido subspecies of the Eurasian Jay, ミヤマカケス

Siberian Chipmunk, シマリス

We heard about new-born Ural Owls in the vicinity and found this couple near the road. Lucky!

エゾフクロウ

Siebold's Primrose, サクラソウ

Hokkaido part 4

So many foxes! Every day around 8 or 10 crossed our path. The highlight was a cub, or kit as the young ones are called, that watched is intensely from the middle of a gravel road, while waiting for a parent with food. It might just have left the den. I read they are born deaf and blind. Maybe we were the first humans it saw!

Red Fox, エゾキツネ

Mama has arrived with lunch. (Merganser chick)

Of the many (Leaf) Warblers I heard, and the others saw, one stopped in front of my lens.

I think Sakhalin, Leaf Warbler, エゾムシクイ

Several White-tailed Eagles, オジロワシ were seen along the coast, especially around Rausu

All taken from the back of T's car, whose windows would not roll down all the way....

Hokkaido part 3

Day one again. Me on 2 legs. I don't know what I expected, but not the absence of butterflies. I did not see one! Was it too cold? We found a cicada that didn't move, or couldn't? The temperature was way below 20C. Flowers, yes! Many and different from Kyushu. These below, what are they? In yellow and red, near the boardwalk of the Po River.

 Japanese Oxtongue? コウゾリナ?

Orange Hawkweed? コウリンタンポポ?

On to that board walk:

Long-tailed Rosefinch, ベニマシコ

Siberian Rubythroat, ノゴマ

Stonechat, ノビタキ  male

female

Common Reed Bunting, オオジュリン

All in summer feathers

Hokkaido, part 2

Early morning, the second day. During a short hike in the mountain north of Rausu I fell and rolled down a slope. 26-year-old T carried me back to the parking lot, where an ambulance took me to a small clinic. An hour later I was told that my ankle was badly fractured and I needed an operation. Since the closest possible hospital where that could be done was a 4-hour drive away, I opted out, sat out the rest of the 4-day trip in the back of T's car - my leg in plaster, hurting like hell...!

The second item on my wish list was the big Crane. I expected to see some at a distance in the fields, but what we got was a family with one chick on the side of the road! They didn't seem much perturbed by the big noisy trucks that raced back and forth, however, us stopped on the verge of the road made them a bit anxious.

Red-crowned Crane, タンチョウ

Parents showing the baby how to find food

Such long legs!

At a pond nearby, several common ducks were gathered. I was mainly interested in the families of Mergansers on the opposite bank. A bit far for my lens in any situation.

Common merganser, カワアイサ

A raptor flew by, and all hell broke loose

The Latham's Snipes, オオジシギ sure like those poles!

Despite the often-perfect circumstances, I wasn't able to take sharp photos. My fingers trembled, my arms were shaking, I could not concentrate. Such pain!

Hokkaido part 1

June 20th, 2026. The long-awaited trip to the north has begun. One of the first sightings was the big fish-eating eagle, 

White-tailed Eagle, オジロワシ

The first evening we watched 2 owls, the world's biggest fish owls:

Blakiston's Fish Owl, シマフクロウ

A pair flew in. While the male waited in a tree along the river, the female caught one fish after another.

When the female had enough, she left and made room for her mate.

 It was said they had a nest nearby.

The whole performance lasted 20 min at least. I never thought we could watch these birds this easily, in a relaxed way. We returned to our hotel fully satisfied. 

I saw just these 2 birds, but someone else noticed more. 9 In total!