1 March 2014

East Hokkaido 2014 #1


A White Tailed Eagle at Akan a few days ago.................

We just got back from a weeklong trip to east Hokkaido and back. I was with 3 non birders so it was a birding trip as such...............but I managed to get some in of course.





We started off in central Hokkaido in a log hotel in the mountains. I got up early in the morning to be greeted with the sight and sound of 00's of Redpoll and Crossbill. The were high up in the trees and didn't come down much though................


There were also several types of woodpecker around including White Backed...............


And we could watch the Jays playing in the snow outside the window as we ate breakfast. Shame the window was so dirty....................


Other stuff included White tailed Eagle, Hwfinch and Dusky Thrush.

The next day we headed up to Akan and got there in time to watch feeding time. There were 7 or 8 White Tailed and 2 Stellers Sea Eagles (which were not so close).........................




It was a bit dark, indeed it was the last time on the trip we saw any clouds. It was just about light enough for some action shots........................








Sometimes they were too close....................................


It was a Saturday afternoon and there were loads of photographers, many armed with huge lenses. I didn't bother with the 500 and stuck with the 100-400....................








I tried to get some shots of them fighting but they weren't so good.................



Also around were Siskin and Whooper swan and of course the Cranes..................which I'll post about next........................

8 comments:

  1. Magnificent pictures, Stu. It's a relief to me you didn't need the big 500. The 100-400 serves you brilliantly. Is it more nimble than the 500 for action?

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    1. Hi Russell,the 100-400 is much lighter of course but the IQ isn't as good. Here the issue was that the birds were too close to use the 500........................

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  2. Thanks for the insight. Must be great to see both the cranes and eagles up that close. The 100-400 image quality looks good to me.

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    1. Hi again Russell, yes it is a old workhorse but good.

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  3. wonderful series. The 4th from the bottom is my favorite.

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  4. You obviously had a great time, especially at Akan. I found my 300 was just about right there a lot of the time. Some lovely shots which bring back happy memories of my visit there.

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    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for the comment. I reckon a 300 f2.8 would have been perfect..................

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