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.
Bears weren’t the only mammals around last week………………..
Some more mushy bear photos from last week………………..
Some more Brown Bear pics from last week, probably way over-sharpened……………..
I need a full-frame camera that can handle high ISOs I think. Now just have to think how I can afford it…………….
We spent a a few days in east Hokkaido last week……………….
In Shiretoko, we saw several Brown Bears fishing in the rivers. I only seemed to see them in shady places in the early morning or late afternoon when the light was not so good. The 7DM2 is an old camera now and was never good at high ISOs.
I took off the 500 f4 and borrowed my wife’s ancient 70-200 f2.8 lens for the Brown Bear yesterday.
It was about 20 meters away from the car. It appeared very calm and eventually disappeared into the forest.
A very close encounter with Brown Bear from yesterday.
500mm f4 makes a good portrait lens in these circumstances!
I don’t want to say too much about this individual because if local officials know where it is they can get a little overzealous and the poor bear might get shot.
The Fox cubs were still around and still cute but it’s gotten pretty warm the last couple of days and there were lots of mosquitoes around (you can see one on the nose of one of the cubs above): I think that may be the last time in Onuma for me for a while.
The fox family was still around yesterday. That was probably the last time I’ll see them……….
Admit it: they’re cute.
