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| Hakodate Birding |
Grizzly Bears, Salmon and a Dunlin in a Carpark This female was one of 2 females with cubs we saw at Shiretoko this week. The first sighting was of a female with a single cub on a distant hillside. That was exciting enough but an hour or so later this female(with 2 cubs) came strolling down the beach and then started to catch Salmon just like Bears do on TV nature documentaries.  It was pretty close (about 20 or 30 metres) and I could look down from the bridge. They ignored the fishermen and half dozen or so photographers nearby. It was right outside town too (Utoro).  Shiretoko itself was a great place. Mountains, forests, lakes, cliffs and the ocean. Some beautiful sunsets and Autumnul colours.  This is what the Bears were after.  And this is a typical view of Shiretoko.  I didn't do much birding as this was a family holiday. I did see some interesting stuff on the journey. Goshawk, Sparrowhawk and lots of Japanese Crane were the pick. At Shiretoko itself there were lots of White Tailed Eagle (but no Stellers yet), Harlequin Duck, Red Necked Grebe, lots of unidentified distant Shearwaters offshoreBrown Dipper and Merlin. At Notsuke-hanto there were lots of Whooper Swan, a few Dunlin, more Eagles and Cranes, lots of the commoner Ducks including winter stuff like Black Scoter and Goldeneye, 7 species of Gull including lots of Glaucous and my first Buff-bellied Pipits of the year. Oddest bird was this wader. A Dunlin I think (it didn't actually fly all the time I was watching it). Just running around a carpark up in the mountains at Shiretoko. A Dunlin on a picnic table next to an ashtray. It eventually disappeared behind the ladies toilets.   Digiscoping with my Nikon P4 is proving a frustrating experience-most of the pics here were taken just with the Camera and blown up.  A stop at Mukawa on the way back produced Smew and other common waterfowl, Osprey and Black Necked Grebe. I've gained about 5kg after some fairly heavy eating (those buffets at Japanese hotels are dangerous) and no exercise for a whole week. My mother accidentally ate Whale Curry (I assumed it would be beef when I saw it bubbling away in the pot). 23:37 - 27/10/2006 - post comment
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