JAPAN: WINTER WILDLIFE SPECTACULAR – Cranes, Eagles, Swans & Snow Monkeys

Photographic Highlights

• The incomparable ‘Snow Monkeys’ (Japanese Macaques) of Nagano
• Awesomely beautiful Red-crowned (or Japanese) Cranes on Hokkaido, often dancing and displaying in the snow
• Up close and personal experiences with huge Steller's Sea-Eagles and their smaller relative, the White-tailed Eagle on ice and elsewhere
• Wonderful opportunities to photograph the world's largest owl, Blakiston's Fish Owl, and a good chance for Ural Owl
• Whooper Swans amongst the snow, ice and geothermal steam of a beautiful lake
• Photogenic Red Foxes, likely including one or more that are extraordinarily fearless and approach very closely
• Handsome Sika Deer, often with snowy mountain or other attractive backdrops
• Cheeky, delightful Sables (a kind of marten) just outside one of our accommodations, alongside close-up jays, woodpeckers, nuthatches and tits
• Beautiful ducks, including Harlequin Duck, at fairly close range
• The huge concentrations of beautiful White-naped Cranes and Hooded Cranes at Arasaki
• A strange creature that belongs in fairy tales, the Japanese Serow, comes to life in the forests of the Japanese Alps
• The famous Otawa Bridge crane roost at dawn where we will hope for some early morning mist or, better still, a rare hoar frost
• The beautiful snowy winter landscape of Hokkaido is like travelling through a work of art
• The exquisite and delicious Japanese cuisine is an experience in itself and is almost too beautifully presented to spoil by eating it
• Have fun immersing yourself in the delightful Japanese culture by visiting an onsen (thermal bath) and wearing traditional dress to evening meal
• Speed from the world’s largest metropolitan area of Tokyo to the snowy Japanese Alps on a shinkansen (bullet train)

PRICE INFORMATION

Wild Images Inclusions: Our tour prices include surface transportation, accommodations, meals and entrance fees.

Our tour prices also include these flights: Tokyo-Kagoshima-Tokyo and Tokyo-Kushiro-Tokyo.

Tipping is not customary in Japan.

Deposit: 20% of the total tour price. Our office will let you know what deposit amount is due, in order to confirm your booking, following receipt of your online booking form.

TO BOOK THIS TOUR: Click here (you will need the tour dates)

If you are travelling alone, the single supplement will not apply if you are willing to share a room and there is a room-mate of the same sex available.This tour is priced in Japanese Yen. Amounts shown in other currencies are indicative.

Air Travel To & From The Tour: Our in-house IATA ticket agency will be pleased to arrange your air travel on request, or you may arrange this yourself if you prefer.

JAPAN: WINTER WILDLIFE SPECTACULAR PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR: DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1

Our Japan wildlife photography tour begins early this morning at the Royal Park Hotel at the International Terminal at Haneda Airport in Tokyo (where those joining the main tour will join up with those taking the optional extension).

From Tokyo, we will travel by ‘bullet train’ to the city of Nagano and then drive to Yudanaka, situated in the beautiful Japanese Alps just a 10-minute drive from the start of the Jigokudani trail, for a three nights stay. By using the train, which is much faster than travelling by road, we will be able to enjoy an afternoon session with the famous ‘Snow Monkeys’.

For those not taking the tour extension, there are international flights into Haneda arriving early this morning, in time for the tour start, or on request we can book you into the same hotel at the airport as the extension party if you are arriving the previous day.

Days 2-3

We will spend all of our time in and around the Jigokudani Yaen-Koen Wild Monkey Park. Although Jigokudani translates as Hell’s Valley (no doubt because of the geothermal activity), it is anything but. In this season the land is largely snow-covered, and against a dramatic backdrop we will have great fun photographing the magical ‘Snow Monkeys’. Made famous by numerous television documentaries and magazine articles, the Japanese Macaques (commonly referred to as ‘Snow Monkeys’) here are both bold and entertaining! With their thick winter coats covered in snow and ice, they squabble and chase each other over the rocky, snow-covered hillsides, perhaps pausing to climb up and play on an unattended tripod before dipping into their natural, thermally-heated ‘hot tub’ for a steamy soak! Up to a hundred or more macaques visit this incredibly scenic site and the whole experience of being amongst these charismatic primates is quite exhilarating!

The monkeys are so used to people that they allow a very close approach indeed. At any one time, only a small percentage are using the hot spring pool. Most are feeding, cuddling up for warmth, enjoying mutual grooming, looking after their babies (or carrying them on their backs), playing (especially the youngsters), warming themselves on the hot water pipes that go to the spas downstream or, occasionally, fighting or mating.

Needless to say, this is one of Japan’s truly great wildlife photography spectacles and we can expect to take far too many images before settling down to photograph the more memorable and interesting ‘snow monkey’ behaviour.

Sometimes one or more Japanese Serow (a kind of ‘goat-antelope’) appear on the brushy slope directly above the monkeys, making for an interesting photographic subject.

Just downstream from the ‘monkey park’ is a small spa (onsen), with a belching fumarole that produces a very photogenic steam cloud in the narrow valley. Here we will take lunch and guests can, if they wish (for a reasonable charge), take a dip in the outdoor ‘ofuro’ (Japanese Bath), quite possibly with some Snow Monkeys!

Day 4

This morning we will return to Haneda airport in Tokyo and take a flight to Kushiro airport on the northern island of Hokkaido. It is just a short drive to our hotel, where we will spend three nights. If flight timings allow we will have our first encounter with the stunning Red-crowned Cranes of Hokkaido late this afternoon.

Days 5-6

Our main priority during our stay in the Kushiro region will be photographing the magnificent Red-crowned (or Japanese) Cranes, which in the winter months are concentrated in the complex of snow-covered fields and marshlands to the north of Kushiro.

We will spend much of our time at two feeding stations, one at Tsurui and one at Akan.

By mid-morning a large flock, generally of over 100 birds (sometimes 200 or more), gathers at Tsurui, where they are regularly fed. At this season the Red-crowned (or Japanese) Cranes are dancing frequently, and as one pair begins its courtship dance the infection spreads through the flock like a wave, sometimes until dozens of striking black and white birds are leaping into the air or throwing back their heads and bugling towards heaven. It is a thrilling spectacle, and as we photograph this wonder of nature we will truly appreciate why we have come all the way to this remote corner of Japan. This is definitely one of the world’s greatest wildlife photography spectacles!

There are also opportunities here for head (and feet) close-ups, birds bugling with steam coming from their bills, flight shots (against both snowy and dark woodland backgrounds), fighting and other interactions.

The Akan feeding station, which also attracts between 100-200 cranes, offers further fantastic opportunities for crane photography, but with subtle differences. The feeding of fish to the cranes ceased here after 2016, supposedly over worries about bird flu, so the interactions between cranes and Red Foxes or White-tailed Eagles that were also attracted to the fish are now history, but the grain feed still attracts Whooper Swans, which are sometimes scared off by the exasperated reserve staff, but which offer more great photographic opportunities both in flight against the sky or snowy hills, or when on the ground.

Providing we have sunny conditions (it is not nearly as good an experience if it is cloudy), we shall spend at least one early morning at a river bridge where many of the cranes roost, hoping it is cold enough to create ideal conditions for some truly memorable photography. As steam rises from the river and the soft pink early morning light illuminates the scene, the cranes slowly wake up and begin bugling, the thick hoar frost on the riverside trees adding to the romantic atmosphere. Once the temperature creeps up, the cranes leave their roost and move off to feed, allowing for some great flight shots if the sky is blue and the trees frosty.

There is usually a roosting Ural Owl somewhere in the general area, so if there is one currently accessible we will surely go and photograph this Saturnine-faced species.

Day 7

Today we will drive the short distance further north to beautiful Lake Kussharo for an overnight stay at a small and very pleasant Japanese guesthouse with western-style rooms. We will either spend the whole day at Kussharo or have much of the day there following a final morning session with the cranes, should we need to.

For wildlife photographers, the prime attraction here at this very scenic frozen lake, which is surrounded by snow-covered mountains, are the many Whooper Swans that migrate to Hokkaido, and especially Lake Kussharo, every autumn from their breeding areas in Siberia and Mongolia. Small parts of the lake are kept ice-free by geothermal activity and the swans not only have only a limited expanse of open water to swim around in, but are also fed by visitors, something that has made them very tame and approachable.

The combination of ice and snow, and sometimes falling snow, as well as steam rising from the water in the early morning, makes for some wonderful wildlife photography opportunities. The swans can be captured on the water, or on the ice, or while flying in to land, and the warm pink glow around sunrise and sunset adds to the many possibilities. Northern Pintails are also often here, adding to the photography interest.

One of the guesthouses in the area has bird feeders, so if we stay there (which is not possible every tour) we can watch White-backed, Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers visit, as well as tits, nuthatches and Hawfinches. Even Raccoon Dogs may turn up in the evening!

Day 8

After spending the morning at Lake Kussharo, we will continue our journey through eastern Hokkaido to the small port town of Rausu, situated at the base of the Shiretoku peninsula on the northeast (Sea of Okhotsk) coast, for a four nights stay. We will make a stop along the way at Mount Iozan, an active volcano where the sulphur vents and fumaroles, combined with the snowy mountain scenery, make for some spectacular images.

Days 9-11

During our time at Rausu, we will have two main photographic objectives, namely the amazing Steller’s Sea Eagles and White-tailed Eagles, and the awesome Blakiston’s Fish Owl. Most of the eagles here are winter visitors from eastern Siberia, but some of the White-tailed Eagles are Hokkaido residents. Blakiston’s Fish Owl, the world’s largest owl, is resident in the Russian Far East, adjacent China and Korea, and Japan, but the only place in its range where seeing and photographing them is a practical proposition is Hokkaido.

Although conditions vary from year to year (and indeed even from day to day) there is usually some sea-ice close to Rausu in mid-February. Weather conditions permitting, we will take a total of three or four boat trips out from the Rausu harbour, each lasting up to 2.5 hours, for what has to be one of the most amazing adventures any wildlife photographer can participate in!

Setting off while it is still almost dark (on the early morning boat trip: we will also be going out at about 0900), we will soon be accompanied by hordes of gulls as we head over to the pack-ice on a boat laden with fish treats for our avian friends. Soon some bigger shapes appear, and as the sun rises we will be surrounded by big White-tailed Eagles and veritably enormous Steller’s Sea-Eagles! Over the next couple of hours, we will be totally awestruck, watching dozens of these giant eagles diving down to pick up fish from the water, catching and eating fish on the ice, squabbling over possession, or wheeling overhead, often just a few metres away, with sea ice and/or towering snow-covered peaks as a backdrop. We will get sunrise shots, action shots, flight shots (against the sunrise or the snowy mountains of the Shiretoko Peninsula) and extreme close-ups of the eagles! It really is a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

If there is no sea ice in the area, the boats still go out, but then the eagles get fed on the harbour wall and in one of the bays instead, which is still great for ultra-close eagle photography, but not as good as when there is drift ice around.

The eagles are not the only wildlife around and we may also see some impressive Largha Seals hauled out on the ice, and rarely Orcas (Killer Whales) put in an appearance. There will also be good chances for photography of Glaucous, Glaucous-winged and Slaty-backed Gulls, and Large-billed Crows (which fly out from the mainland to steal the eagle’s food!) at close quarters. We are also likely to find some approachable ducks in the harbours or elsewhere along the coastline, including beautiful Harlequin and Long-tailed Ducks, Greater Scaups, Black Scoters, Common Goldeneyes and Common Mergansers.

On one of our evenings, we will visit a small minshuku (Japanese-style guesthouse) adjacent to a small river where the incredible Blakiston’s Fish Owl comes to fish and where we should have good opportunities to photograph this giant owl fishing at down to about 12 metres (roughly 40ft) range! The owners of the minshuku put out small fish for them at a floodlit pond, and it usually does not take too long before this huge owl puts in an appearance, gliding down to the edge of the pond, hopping into the water and grabbing fish! The male owl regularly comes to the pond, sometimes joined by the female (who may already be incubating) and the birds often make several visits during the course of the night, making for some exhilarating photography. On occasion one may have to wait until midnight or later before an owl appears.

The river is also home to Brown Dippers, which are approachable and often offer good photographic opportunities as they fish from the icy margins.

Not far away to the south is the Notsuke Peninsula, a low-lying hook of land projecting into the entrance to the Sea of Okhotsk. This is a great place to photograph Red Foxes, and we are likely to come across at least one very approachable individual that could come to within a few metres!

Another prime target at Notsuke is the handsome Sika Deer and, providing it is clear and sunny, we should get some great shots of males with impressive antlers and with the snow-covered peaks of the Shiretoku in the background. Alternatively, there might be images of deer with snowflakes! Short-eared Owl is another species we may be able to photograph in this rewarding area.

On one morning we will set off early in order to visit an eagle feeding station at Lake Furen near the easternmost tip of Hokkaido, where Steller’s Sea Eagles and White-tailed Eagles can be photographed flying in, sitting around on the frozen lake and squabbling over the feast. Black Kites can also be photographed as they swoop in early in the feeding period to snatch titbits before too many eagles turn up. The feeding station is very good for clashes between eagles over food, as the partly frozen chunks of fish are initially too large for the eagles to carry off, making for some exciting interactions. In particular, the very impressive threat displays made by dominant individual Steller’s Sea Eagles, with the birds hunching their shoulders, lowering their heads, raising their tails and walking menacingly towards their rivals with wings outstretched and bowed, are something one does not witness on the sea ice.

Note that the weather conditions on the northeast coast of Hokkaido are rather changeable in winter, with a lot of snow and bad visibility at times, so we have allowed plenty of time in the area to allow for some inclement weather and still have time to achieve our goals. A short visit here is more risky weather-wise and also reduces your chances of having accessible sea ice.

Day 12

After a final morning in the Rausu region, we will head for the Nakashibetsu area where we will spend the final night of the tour at a really lovely hotel, complete with onsen (Japanese spa bath) and an impressively beautiful Japanese dinner.

We will have another chance to photograph Blakiston’s Fish Owl here (often at less than five metres or 16 feet distance!), although the lighting is not as strong as at Rausu, and photography is done through high-quality glass, so action photos require high ISO.

Also of interest for us are the superb, sandy-coloured Sables (martens) that emerge from under the hotel’s decking and run about the area, cramming themselves into bird feeders, jumping onto trees and walls, and generally being cheeky and endearing at the same time. You can photograph them at one or two metres at times! (Most winters Sables are present here, but not every single winter.)

Other good photographic subjects can include very close Eurasian Red Squirrels, Eurasian Jays, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Brown-eared Bulbuls, Eurasian Nuthatches and Coal, Marsh, Willow and Japanese Tits. The local river is home to Crested Kingfishers and Brown Dippers and even attracts Solitary Snipe, although this unusual bird is not always present.

Day 13

After a final opportunity to admire and photograph the wildlife around our hotel, we will return to Kushiro airport, perhaps with a final visit to the cranes en route, and catch an evening flight to Tokyo (Haneda) airport, where our Japan winter wildlife photography tour comes to an end.

There are international flights out of Haneda departing later this evening or after midnight, or we can book you into a hotel near the airport if you are departing the following day.

ARASAKI CRANES EXTENSION ITINERARY

Day 1

The Japan wildlife photography tour extension begins at Tokyo (Haneda) Airport with a morning flight to Kagoshima on the southern island of Kyushu. From here we will proceed to the town of Izumi for a two nights stay. We will spend the afternoon exploring the nearby Arasaki area including the famous crane reserve.

There are international flights into Haneda arriving early this morning, in time for the tour start, or we can book you into a hotel near the airport if you are arriving the previous day.

Day 2

The fallow rice paddies around Arasaki are the site of one of the largest winter gatherings of cranes in all of Asia. Depending on the winter, up to 10,000-12,000 Hooded Cranes are to be found in the area, in addition to up to 3,500 superbly elegant White-naped Cranes, making for one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles. Indeed, the great majority of the surviving populations of these beautiful but endangered birds winter around Arasaki.

During our explorations in and around the reserve, we shall enjoy some wonderful close-up photography encounters with the cranes, especially when large numbers gather directly outside the guesthouse in which we will be staying in the very heart of the reserve, or at another feeding station not far away. Here they come to feed on the large quantities of grain put out for them by the reserve staff.

During this season there is constant activity as small groups of cranes, often still in family groups, bugle energetically or dance into the air. Others form flocks and fly off, trumpeting loudly as they circle upwards before moving away to feed in the surrounding rice fields. There are great opportunities for flight shots, including at sunrise and sunset, as well as amazing close-up photography opportunities and flock shots. The White-naped Cranes will have started to dance, so look out for this spectacular display.

We will also be on the lookout for a few Common and Sandhill Cranes that usually winter here, and we could even come across a wandering Demoiselle or Siberian Crane.

Arasaki is a good place to get great flight shots of Black Kites and some of the wintering ducks and gulls also allow a close approach. There are also opportunities to photograph the endangered Black-faced Spoonbill and passerines such as Pale and Dusky Thrushes, Daurian Redstart, Meadow Bunting and the huge-billed Japanese Grosbeak.

Day 3

After spending much of the morning photographing the cranes and other birds of Arasaki, we will return to Kagoshima airport and catch a mid-afternoon flight to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. We will stay overnight at a hotel near the airport.

Day 4

This morning we meet up with those arriving for the main tour. (This is Day 1 of the main tour.)