Some highlights
- Three boat trips to the pack ice of the Sea of Ochotsk and close encounters with Steller’s Sea Eagle and White-Tailed Sea Eagles
- Red-Crowned Cranes dancing on the snow-covered landscape
- The largest Owl in the World – Blakiston’s Fish-Owl
- Hundreds of Whooper Swans spending the winter in volcanically-heated holes in the ice
- Sika deer and foxes in a winter landscape
- Volcanic landscapes
- Dramatic winter scenery
- Traditional Japanese lodging, with hot-spring baths
- Fantastic Japanese food
- The tour guide will show you all the best spots, and give photographic advice, in a small group
- We promote conservation by economically supporting The Wild Bird Society of Japan
Visiting Japan in the winter time is a natural experience that lacks comparison. Japan provides us with a snow-covered mountain landscape that not only gives us amazing opportunities for landscape photography, but also a beautiful background when we photograph animals and birds. We will have unique encounters with Japanese Macaques, Steller’s Sea Eagle, Blakiston’s Fish-Owl, as well as the national bird of Japan, the Red-Crowned Crane. We will often get very close to the animals and be able to get spectacular pictures.
Japan also offers a fantastic cultural experience. Abundant Shinto temples show that religion is practiced all over the area. We will also visit traditional Japanese guesthouses, so-called ryokans. Our accommodation will often have traditional onsen baths, filled with water from hot springs. Japanese food is of very high standard, and we will be served traditional food during the tour.
STELLER´S SEAEAGLE ON THE PACK ICE
The harbor town of Rausu will be our base for three days. Our main objective is to get out into the pack ice to meet the Steller’s Sea Eagle. During winter, a large part of the population that nests on the Kamchatka Peninsular can be found on the pack ice of the Sea of Ochotsk. In February, the pack ice is mostly north of Rausu, and provides great opportunity to experience hundreds of eagles, both Steller’s Sea Eagle and the ”ordinary” White-Tailed Sea Eagle. We will spend three mornings exploring the pack ice by boat to photograph the eagles. As the birds are fed with fish, we will often be within a few meters from them, and they are quite unafraid.
Our afternoons will be spent doing landscape photography in and around Shiretoko National Park. We will head out on to the Notsuke Peninsular where the landscape is covered with masses of pack ice and snow, here we normally find Sika deers and Red foxes.
WORLDS LARGEST OWL
During our stay in Rausu we will also visit a place where we hope to photograph the Worlds largest Owl, Blakiston’s Fish Owl. A ”pool” is kept open in a stream, and the owl is fed with fish every evening. Seeing the Owl approach the pool and dive for fish is a magical experience.
Itinerary
Travel day (19/2)
Flight to Kushiro airport.
Day 1 (20/2) (Middag)
Arrival at Kushiro Airport. Transfer to hotel.
Day 2 (21/2) (Breakfast – Dinner)
We spend the whole day photographing Red-Crowned Cranes. For the morning session we choose the best sites according to weather. We will spend some of the day at the different feeding stations for cranes. There, you can photograph Whooper Swans, White-Tailed Sea Eagles, Sika Deer and Fox.
Day 3 (22/2) (Breakfast – Dinner)
Just like the previous day we photograph Cranes in the morning. After an early lunch we head for Lake Kussharo, stopping on the way to photograph landscapes when there is an opportunity. Depending on when we arrive at Lake Kussharo there will be a chance to photograph Whooper Swans.
Day 4 (23/2) (Breakfast – Dinner)
We spend the day by and around Lake Kussharo, photographing Whoopr Swans at different sites. If weather and road conditions permit we will go to the Bihoro Pass in the morning for some landscape photography.
Day 5 (24/2) (Breakfast – Dinner)
Depending on weather and the results of the previous day’s photography we might head for the Bihoro Pass in the morning. The rest of the morning is spent at Lake Kussharo photographing Whooper Swans. After lunch we head for Rausu. On the way, we stop at louzan, Sulphur Mountain. The area is volcanically active and there is a chance to photograph sulphur springs and other volcanically active things.
Day 6-8 (25-26/2) (Breakfast – Dinner)
The day starts with a boat trip on the Sea of Ochotsk to photograph both Steller’s Sea Eagle and ”ordinary” Sea Eagles. Afternoons will be spent photographing landscapes at Shiretoko National Park. During two of the evenings we will visit a site where we can photograph the world’s largest owl, Blakiston’s Fish-Owl.
The days begin with boat trips out into the drift ice in the Sea of Ochotsk to photograph Steller’s Sea Eagle and ”ordinary” Sea Eagles. Here, there are incredibly good conditions for photographing these birds of prey. In the afternoons we will look for photogenic birds in the surrounding ports and go to the Notsuke Penisula to look for Sika deer and foxes. On the evenings of 17 and 18 February, we visit a place where we hope to photograph the world’s largest owl, Blakiston’s fish owl. On February 19, we leave Rausu during the day and slowly make our way back towards Kushiro and our hotel.
Dag 9 (28/2) (Breakfast)
We spend the morning photographing Red-Crowned Cranes, choosing sites depending on weather. In the afternoon we fly to Tokyo Haneda airport and then home, if you haven’t chosen to join our extension tour.
More information
Johan Siggesson, born in 1977, is a freelancing nature photographer from Älvängen, north of Gothenburg, but lives on Malta.
Johan has degree in informatics, leads nature photography courses on Malta and is frequently engaged by local nature organisations for image shows and lectures. Johan also leads private workshops on Malta, mainly focusing on local chameleons and endemic freshwater crabs.
The fairly limited wildlife of Malta has inspired him to look for other destinations. Scotland has a special place in Johan’s heart, and he regularly photographs on the Shetlands and in the Scottish Highlands.
Johan has won awards in many of the major nature photography competitions in Europe and USA. His subtle imagery focuses on close subjects. In 2014 he became Nature Photographer of the Year in Scotland.
As we will have opportunities for many different types of motifs, everything from landscapes to mammals and birds, it is a good thing to bring everything from wide-angle lenses to telephoto lenses. For several of the species we want to photograph during the trip, we will be able to get very close, especially to the Whooper swans and the Red-crowned cranes but also the Steller’s Sea Eagle and ”ordinary” Sea Eagles if the conditions are favorable. This means that a wide-angle zoom lens with e.g. focal length 24-70 mm is excellent not only for landscape photography but also for animal photography.
Telezoom lens, e.g. 70-200 mm or 80-400mm, provides very good conditions for taking varying pictures of birds and mammals.
Telephoto lenses with fixed focal lengths, e.g. 300 mm or 500 mm, are very useful for bird and mammal photography. To increase the focal length if you have a shorter telephoto or a zoom, you can use a teleconverter.
As there may be heavy snowfall, it is important to have good protection for the camera equipment. The best is a rainproof camera cover. Also remember to have a cover for the camera bag or backpack.
If you have access to two camera housings, it is good to have these. Tripods will be useful on many occasions, especially in fixed situations e.g. when feeding cranes and eagles. The alternative is a stable one-legged stand. A stand of one form or another is a must.
The temperature in northern Japan in February can vary between a few plus degrees to about – 20 degrees. On the coast of Hokkaido, the wind can also intensify the cold. Proper winter clothes and winter boots are a must!
The accommodation has restrictions regarding accessibility as there is no lift in most of the accommodation. The boats used for photographing eagles are not wheelchair accessible.
We will stay in traditional Japanese guesthouses, so-called Ryokans, of simple – medium standard and in hotels of medium standard. Hotels in the Japanese countryside are often older. Elevators are not available in all hotels. At Rykoans, not all rooms have their own toilet. There is usually no shower in the rooms, but all accommodation has a so-called Onsen bath.
Share in double room, meals according to the itinerary, all entrances, all boat trips, photo lessons, local transport (four-wheel drive cars), transfer to and from Kushiro airport.
Round-trip flights Kushiro Japan, tips, insurance, cancellation protection, drinks, lunch, things of a personal nature.
Kushiro Airport. The journey begins and ends here.
The tour guide meets and leaves the group at the airports.
The registration fee is paid via invoice in connection with registration. The remaining amount is paid no later than 60 days before the tour.
Swedish citizens do not need a visa to Japan if the stay is less than 90 days. Your passport must be valid for the entire period of time you are in Japan. Passports are required at check-in for flights.
If you are a citizen of any other country than Sweden please check with your nearest Japaness Embassy.
We strongly recommend that you carefully review your travel insurance before the tour. Read the terms and conditions about what may and may not be included. It is important to check that compensation is included for travel home / ambulance transport in the event of an accident or serious illness. Often, for example, the travel cover in a regular home insurance needs to be supplemented.
Contact your doctor for advice on vaccinations.
Our tours are open to all nationalities, which means that the group can be international.
The tour guides on our trips speak Swedish and English.
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