The main task for day 4 is to move base to Rausu which is on the north-east side of Hokkaido. We start off with some more swan-shooting though. Before breakfast we walked down to the lake to try to catch the swans when they come flying in but it was a very fogy morning and the swans didn’t actually show up. We suspect they waited for the fog to subside before coming closer to shore. After breakfast we packed all our stuff in the cars and had a few more hours with the swans before it was time to leave Lake Kussharo and relocate to Rausu. In Rausu it is mostly Stellar’s sea eagles we are after.
Once we arrived to Rausu we checked in to our new hotel and then we made our way to try to photograph the largest owl in the world – Blakiston’s fish owl. This is a very different type of photography than what we have done so far this trip. This is photography from a type of hide. The lady that owns the place has been feeding the owls since she was a small girl and has secured many generations of this owl. The species is endangered so this lady has done a huge conservation effort on her very own.
We stayed in the cold for 5 hours until 22:00 but unfortunately the owl never came. We had to leave to get some sleep for an early morning the day after. Some of us decided to go back in the evening the day after.
Tomorrow eagles!!!