Lake Kussharo

We had few minutes after checking into the guesthouse before the sun set. I hurried out to take photos of birds around the feeders. There were a pair of Eurasian Jays, lots of Marsh Tits and Eurasian Nuthatches and few Japanese Tits. Then I spotted a woodpecker came flying in. It was a male Great Spotted Woodpecker. I played hide and seek with it for a while before it got too dark to take photos. That night, we had a great dinner with red wine while watching the snowfall.

Male Great Spotted Woodpecker

Lovely pattern and colours

I really like its black, white and red plumage.

Eurasian Nuthatch under the late evening light

Eurasian Nuthatch enjoying the feeder

Marsh Tit-ball!

I was completely trapped by this table inside the kitchen.

Just part of our dinner

The next morning, I decided to go to the lake to photograph the swans. Yann suggested me to go early before the swans arrive so that we can take photos of them while flying in. I arrived at the lake around 7:30AM and there were only few swans there. This lake is special because it has some hot water coming in from the hot springs nearby making parts of the lake ice-free. The swans started to arrive just a little after that and we had a nice time taking photos of them even though they were just too close. It's pretty hard to believe that these are actually wild birds.

Early morning at Lake Kussharo

Hot springs make parts of the lake ice-free.

Whooper Swans started arriving.

My 300mm lens was almost useless.

One of our trip members, Dr. Mong, with the swans.

I actually like the juveniles a lot. They looked kind of funny.

I noticed that the amount of yellow on the bill can be quite varied. Look at the one on the left.

The last shot before I went back to the guesthouse.