Live Blog: Bōsō Peninsula 2023 / 2024 #2
Discovering the Wild Side of the Bōsō Peninsula
Welcome to the second part of my live blog! As I mentioned in my previous entry, after a relaxing start in Tokyo, we are now on the Bōsō Peninsula. After a few days of exploring the area, we had some pleasant surprises. If you haven't read it yet, you can catch up on the first two weeks here: Live Blog: Winter Tokyo & Bōsō Peninsula 2023 / 2024 #1
Our last leg of the journey will take us to Hokkaido, a winter paradise. There, cranes, deer, flying squirrels, sea eagles, and many other animals await us.
December 23, 2023 - Sunset at Ichinomiya River
23.12.2023 - Sonnenuntergang am Ichinomiya River
Grey heron at sunset, everything turned golden yellow.
Since we had been exploring the area in the mornings over the past few days, this time we decided to head out at sunset. We chose to set up along the Ichinomiya River, which runs parallel to Kujūkuri Beach (九十九里浜, Kujūkuri-hama) for a short distance before emptying into the Pacific Ocean.
It was a beautiful scene, with the setting sun casting a golden hue over the landscape and water. Waterfowl gathered on the river to rest. During our walk along the riverbank, we encountered some familiar birds: the grey heron, the black-capped bulbul, and the brown shrike, with the grey heron being the least shy, allowing us to approach within about 10 meters. I managed to take some nice photos, though I couldn't capture the pheasant I was hoping for. Maybe I'll have better luck in the coming days.
An osprey with a double catch, dropping one of the fish. The photos are heavily cropped, about 150%, then enlarged and combined into a single image.
I spotted an osprey through the camera at a distance, diving into the water, catching its prey, and then losing it in mid-air. I photograph such situations, even when they are far away, to confirm my observations. I noticed that the osprey had lost its prey because it had caught two fish at once. I wish I had been closer to capture better photos, but you can't have everything.
To wrap up the day, we were treated to a distant view of Mount Fuji, Japan's iconic volcano. It's impressive that this giant is visible from such a distance on a clear day. We were about 150 km away. A local pointed out Mount Fuji to us, otherwise, we would have missed it.
Mount Fuji, 150 km away in a straight line, viewed from the east coast of the Bōsō Peninsula.
Back at our apartment, I took another photo of the moon. Even after what feels like five million shots of the moon, it's always interesting to capture it anew.
The moon over Chiba on the Bōsō Peninsula in Japan.
My equipment for the evening was the Sony A1 + TC 1.4 + Sony 400 mm f2.8.
Here are some shots I took during the sunset at Ichinomiya River. Enjoy!
The next small adventure in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, can be found in my blog post:
Live Blog: Bōsō Peninsula - Driftwood Beach 2023 / 2024 #3