Wildlife Photography across the Water: Japan Travelogue-Days 3+4

Sunday 13 February 2011

Japan Travelogue-Days 3+4

Yesterday Pete and myself left Tokyo and headed for Hokkaido, At the airport we were informed that due to snowy conditions we may not land where we wanted-i.e Kushiro but may be diverted to another airport 3 hours drive away or even worse we may end up coming back, Luckily we managed to land safely in Kushiro, Grab the car and head for our accommodation, By the time we arrived it was too late to go out so a couple of beers and hit the sack as we would be up at 4 am the next day,
Today we packed the car and cleaned the snow off of the windscreen and headed for a well know bridge where the Japanese Cranes roost, On the way we viewed some fox near the roadside that looked really beautiful in their winter coats, We did see a few cranes in fields and small streams and after an age finding the bridge we arrived and found a place to put our tripods in between a hoard of Japanese photographers, Conditions were nor great light wise but it was good to see them in a natural environment, We had a fly by from a White tailed eagle, We also saw a whopper swan and a few nice duck species, After we left the bridge site we went to one of the 3 main areas where seed is scattered in fields for the cranes to feed on, The cranes were down to the last 20 birds until the Japanese stepped in and started a conservation programme, Today there are over 600 of the tall beautiful birds, A real pleasure to watch as they fly in and dance for their partners, The young ones were having a ball tossing leaves and snow in the air,We had steady snow most of the day and the conditions were perfect-overcast but bright, I ended the day with around 1000 images after getting rid of the rubbish, Back tomorrow for more cranes although we will also go to one of the other feeding sites were there is a good chance of fox,deer and white tailed eagles as well as the cranes

The above images taken with the Nikon D7000 which was faultless all day, Taking nearly 24 gigs of images in very cold conditions

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.