Many visiting photographers think that the best birding in Japan can only be found on a Hokkaido Photo Tour, and, honestly, I understand how people still building their experience behind the viewfinder could believe this. More than 600 bird species have been recorded in Japan to date. The majority are migratory, more than 60%. Approximately 60 species are endemic or sub-regional endemic. Hokkaido wildlife is internationally recognized for its abundance and diversity, so you can enjoy birding and experience encounters with Blakiston’s Fish Owls, Glaucous Gulls, Whooper Swans, White-tailed Eagles, and the living dinosaur raptor the Steller’s Sea Eagle. One feathered friend that I always pay a visit to while on a Hokkaido Photo Tour is the Red-Crowned Crane, Hokkaido’s Snow Ballerina.
In fact, while I was leading a private Hokkaido Photo Tour in 2016, I got a call from a colleague while I was just 30 minutes away from his location. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My first reaction was that it was a joke, but the opportunity to capture such a rare birding photo op meant joke or not, I had to see for myself and bring my clients along as well for a potential once in a lifetime photography experience. I had never seen one in the wild, only via internet articles or newspaper clippings. My group and I spent several magical hours photographing the Oriental Stork, and I thought to myself, “I wish these storks will keep growing so more people can enjoy them,” a sentiment echoed by a senior municipal official from Kazo in the Saitama Prefecture.