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……………….
Shiretoko was not very birdy this trip: we saw a few common species such as Brown Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Black and Grey-headed Woodpecker, Japanese Green Pigeon, Eurasian Jay, White-tailed Eagle and Long-tailed Rosefinch.
On the way east we passed numerous Japanese Cranes feeding in the farmland. Harsh light is never good for white birds and these were feeding on a huge pile of manure to boot.
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.
Although my recent trip to east Hokkaido was pretty quiet birdwise I did get excellent views of Brown Bear. A mother and her 2 cubs were feeding right next to the road.
These photos were taken from the car. The bears caused a small traffic jam and a couple of park officials armed with bear spray were nervously looking on and telling people to stay in their cars.
After a few minutes the bears walked down the road a bit and disappeared back into the forest.
Brown Bears also occur in the Hakodate area (I’ve seen them a couple of times and often see tracks/scat) but sadly are often shot if they come near towns or villages.
*EDITED TO ADD* Apparently this is becoming a common occurence in Shiretoko and the officials are getting a bit worried about people getting too close and the bears becoming too accustomized to people/cars which may present problems in the future. This exact same sighting (and several others) was featured on a local news program showing the potential dangers of such encounters . The broadcast went on to show subsequent incidents with even larger traffic jams and people getting out of cars very close to bears.
In hindsight maybe we should have just driven past and not joined the line of cars. I don’t really know what should be done, I mean it’s pretty exciting to see a bear so close and a massive part of the attraction of Shiretoko is the fact there are bears there. Perhaps they should enforce a strict no stopping rule on parts of the road where bears are known to feed?
We had a quick trip to east Hokkaido. Not the best time of year for birding there it must be said but we still saw a few interesting species.
Pacific Swift were abundant everywhere, the above photo was taken at Kiritappu. At Rausu the weather was awful but we did manage White-tailed Eagle and offshore Rhinoceros Auklet and Sooty Shearwater. Across the mountains in Utoro the weather was much better and here we could see Hazel Grouse, more White-tailed Eagles, Peregrine, Goshawk and the usual common resident species of this part of the world.
Notsuke was quiet: lone Terek Sandpiper, Marsh Sandpiper and Grey-tailed Tattler and more White-tailed Eagles. The latter were also at Lake Furen as well as White-throated Needletail and Japanese Crane.
Nosappu had Rhinoceros Auklet offshore as well as Harlequin Duck, Sooty Shearwater, Black Scoter and a Great Knot heading south. Kiritappu had more of the same…………..
A Hazel Grouse in Shiretoko last week. This is a species that is fairly common in Hokkaido but one that had eluded me in all my time here. We were lucky as 2 walked across the road in front of our car…………