A rare melanistic Red Fox from last week…
Apart from geese there were lots of Japanese Crane and flocks of Buff-bellied Pipit in the fields.
Raptors included distant Merlin and Hen Harrier as well as several White-tailed Eagles (the latter are probably resident in the area).
Crappy pics (due to my own poor technique, a bucking boat and fog) but I got some nice views of this very rare bird (in Japan).
There were also several Sea Otters: kind of like a cross between a Seal and a Rat.
The foxes posed on the snow a bit…
Not many birds around here: the most interesting were a few Rooks. Not a great photo.
I wanted to get some fox on snow pics…but all I managed was this one eating rotting scallop scraps.
Not a great pic but surely my last Steller’s until next winter. And it was Ol’ One-eye.
And just to show it wasn’t all geese, eagles and deer:
Late on the second day it started snowing like s**t…
The Mukawa area is well-known for its deer population. There are loads of them and for various reasons are beginning to pose a bit of a problem, a cull may be necessary to protect the trees for example. They are also a hazard for local traffic: we saw 3 of them dead on the road during our stay.
This one likes seafood…
A mellow autumnal pic from the end of our trip.
Near Obihiro is a well-known spot for Pika………………….
My wife wanted to photograph them so we went up into the mountains where it is now freezing cold. Not many birds (Jay, Black Woodpecker and Crossbill only: none close enough for photos) but this Pika posed right by the side of the road.
The bears in Shiretoko were fantastic but otherwise it wasn’t such a great trip: we had a puncture, the campsite was crap, the hotel we booked was disappointing………………
But the bears made it worth it.
We ended up staying another night in a different hotel in Shiretoko as a typhoon was closing in and we abandoned plans to go camping at Kiritappu. We ended up there anywhere but that is another story……………….
This big male (?) was the highlight of the trip to Shiretoko.
Wow, it was huge.
