Goodbye Hokkaido

On the morning of March 4, we left Rausu and headed back to Kushiro. The weather was perfect and the sunrise was brilliant. We watched the sun coming up behind Kunashir Island from our room. I spent some time walking around the port taking photos of some gulls since there was no duck due to the high concentration of drift ice.

Sunrise from Rausu Port

We could finally see Kunashir Island on the east.

Some eagles against the morning sun

Large-billed Crow looking prettier under the morning light

First-year Slaty-backed Gull

White-tailed Eagle and Red Fox

With Mt. Rausu in the background

Male Common Mergansers

We had a great time driving along the coast from Rausu to Kiritappu where we spent few hours scanning the sea. The scenery was literally breathtaking. In a small village along the way, we found a White-tailed Eagle and a Red Fox sitting next to each other against the background of Mt. Rausu. It was such a grand moment to end the trip.

This Red Fox was strolling on the roadside at Kiritappu.

But quickly ran away as we rolled down our window.

Not so tame still

Deciding what to do next

And this is what it did!

It later walked further and turned back to watch us.

Brilliant view at Kiritappu

At the tip of the peninsula where we watched a Sea Otter!

Yann scanning for sea birds

Some more scenery shot

We made a brief stopped near Lake Akkeshi,
where I finally got a chance to photograph Black Scoter at close range.

Still, it was extremely difficult to get a good shot.

At least I could get the eye but only when it moved further outward.

At Kiritappu, even thought all the birds stayed extremely far away in the sea we managed to add quite a good number of species into our list including Slavonian Grebe, Least Auklet, Long-tailed Duck, Pigeon Guillemot and we even found a Sea Otter! It was a real surprise for most of us. We said goodbye to Yann here before moving further to Kushiro where we returned the car and took the train back to Sapporo and spent 2 more nights having some non-birding fun before saying goodbye to Hokkaido. Overall it was such a memorable and successful trip for me. Thanks a lot to Yann who helped us with the information and guided to many interesting places. Even though I'm going to leave Japan for sure this year, I'm really looking forward to come back to this lovely island again some day.

Washi no Yado

On the night of March 3, we booked for visit to Washi no Yado to see and photograph the well known Blakiston's Fish-Owl that frequents a small feeding area in front of the guesthouse. The owner suggested that we go there a bit early around 6pm since the she didn't put out fish for the owls for a couple of days due to the storm, so they might come quite early. Around 6:15, we were there parking in front of the guesthouse next to the small stream where the fish was put out. About 30 minutes later, the first owl arrived perching just in front of our car. It was so close that I lost my breath. It perched on the small branch for a while before landing on the bank to take the fish. Then an unfortunate event occurred, a group of old Japanese men suddenly rushed out from the guesthouse and walked around preparing their cameras making the bird fly away into the valley. We were extremely pissed. I had to wait for hours for the bird to finally show up again.

Blakiston's Fish-Owl

Coming down to take the fish

Unfortunately there was this Red Fox that always came around to steal the fish.

Red Fox

Red Fox

Red Fox

Blakiston's Fish-Owl fluffing its feathers to scare the fox

Blakiston's Fish-Owl

Blakiston's Fish-Owl

Looking at another individual perching above the guesthouse before flying away

And even when the bird finally came back, I still couldn't get many decent shots of it since there was also a Red Fox which came to snatch the fish put out for the owls. When the fox was present, the owl wouldn't come down to the stream. We waited for the owl to come down to take the fish frustratingly. Some Japanese guys started to get out of the car and chase the fox, but it would come back again in less than a minute. Finally the owl flew away. I spotted another owl perching on the pole above the guesthouse and hoped that this one would come down to take the fish, but it turned out that it also decided to fly over and disappear into the valley. We then gave up around 9:30PM and went back to the hotel.

Shepherd Dogs

We departed from Tsurui Village right after lunch and headed north to Lake Kussharo where we spent a night. Along the way, one of us spotted a farm where many cows were kept inside a fence with several dogs sitting nearby. It took us a while to realise that those were not dogs, but actually Red Foxes! We had to make a U-turn and headed back to that little roadside farm to see them. There were in total 3 of them sitting around the fence. They slowly walked away as we got out of the car and tried to approach them. It was my first experience taking photos of foxes and the completely white background of snow really made it special.

One of the 3 Red Foxes we found at the farm

Started to feel a little uncomfortable.

Then finally ran away.

Their footprints were all over the place.

My last view of the fox

Along the way to Lake Kussharo

Our first view of the Lake Kussharo

Our guesthouse, Gasthof Papilio

We arrived at our little guesthouse, Gasthof Papilio, almost late in the evening. The place was truly fairytale-like and I fell in love with it since the very first moment we entered the small road leading into the place. It stood there nestled among the wood under the warm evening light with lots of tiny birds flying around all over and even some deer. I almost felt like we were all entering into paradise. The welcoming owner was a kind elderly couple and the dinner was great. We celebrated one of the trip member's birthday with red wine as the snow began to fall at night. It would definitely be an ideal place to spend a Christmas holiday,  I believe.