From January into February, Hokkaido is buried in snow. That is when wildlife photographers from all over the world head to northern Japan. Off Rausu, Steller’s sea eagles perch on the ice floes as soon as the drift ice reaches the coast. Red-crowned cranes gather near Kushiro, and on Lake Kussharo whooper swans crowd into the one spot where hot spring water keeps the lake from freezing.
To photograph any of it, you have to be ready for temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius and below, icy roads and very short winter days.
Short Days and a Narrow Window of Good Light
In January the sun comes up around 6:40 a.m. At some crane sites it stays behind the hills until about 7:20 a.m. And by 3:30 p.m. the last light is gone.
That leaves a short window to work in. From about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the light turns harsh. Even so, many winter days are sunny, and of course there are exceptions.
Minus Ten Degrees Almost Counts as Mild
The cold, on the other hand, is one thing you can count on. At minus 10 degrees Celsius (14°F), a day out in the snow feels fairly mild. At minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4°F), the moisture in your breath can freeze onto the battery grip or the camera’s screen.
So good gloves are essential. Even then, you cannot keep the cold away from your hands. Free up a finger for the shutter or back-button focus, and the cold gets to you fast.
Icy Roads Cost Time
If you travel around Hokkaido on your own, add extra time for the drives. On organized photo tours, experienced guides build the winter conditions into the schedule from the start.
Smaller towns and stretches of coast can be completely taken over by winter. In Nemuro, the ice on the roads can be around 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) thick.
The same goes for the area around Akan National Park. Warm onsen water runs through the sewers and thaws the ice above the manhole covers. In places that leaves deep holes in an otherwise solid sheet of ice.
The Animals Adjust to the Cold as Well
The cold does not only affect the photographers. The animals change their daily routine too.
In a hard frost, the red-crowned cranes sometimes set off for their feeding grounds later in the morning. At frozen Lake Furen, Steller’s sea eagles, white-tailed eagles and black-eared kites wait in the trees for the bycatch of the ice fishermen.
At Kotan Onsen, hot spring water flows into Lake Kussharo and keeps part of the surface free of ice. Whooper swans gather there and use the warm, ice-free water when temperatures drop.
Long Lenses Are Part of the Picture
You can tell from the gear alone that many visitors come to Hokkaido for wildlife photography. On the boats off Rausu and at the crane sites, plenty of photographers are working with focal lengths between 400 and 800 millimeters.
The Japanese red-crowned crane and Steller’s sea eagle are among the most popular subjects. Steller’s sea eagle is only found on Hokkaido in winter, and that makes it one of the big draws for wildlife photographers.
There is plenty more to shoot: white-tailed eagles, whooper swans, sika deer, Ezo red foxes and the Ezo owl (Strix uralensis japonica), a Hokkaido subspecies of the Ural owl. Another highlight is Blakiston’s fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni), which you can find near Rausu.
Still Shooting After Sunset
If several days in below-zero temperatures are still not enough for you, go looking for the Ezo momonga. These small flying squirrels only leave their winter quarters once night falls.
So a day of shooting on Hokkaido does not have to end with the last daylight. Cranes in the early morning, eagles on the ice, flying squirrels after dark: in winter the island offers an unusually wide range of wildlife in a small area.
That mix of winter landscape, demanding conditions and a high density of interesting species is what makes Hokkaido a special place for wildlife photographers.
