Hokkaido Birding Photography Tours - Shiretoko Peninsula & The Steller’s Sea Eagle

A Hokkaido Birding Photo Tour expedition can be hosted from many different regions on Japan’s north island, but our most veteran Japan Dreamscapes (JDS) workshop leader leads a yearly birding photo tour in Shiretoko National Park.  Yet before focusing on our feathered friends that inhabit the park, the park itself has so many photographic appeals, that it by itself constitutes an amazing Hokkaido Photo Tour.  

The Shiretoko National Park has been described as one of the most beautiful and unspoiled natural parks all over the world and has many wildlife inhabitants other than birds that call it home.  Caution must be exercised while exploring the peninsula because brown bears, deer, and foxes are all exploring the peninsula for hunting.  The roads span the entire peninsula, but your JDS Hokkaido Photography Workshop Leader will take you off the beaten path to destinations that he is very familiar with due to more than two decades of experience traveling and photographing Japan. 

Your leader’s Hokkaido Photo Tour experience also leads clients off the beaten path into the Sea of Okhotsk where the birding part of the tour comes into focus.  Participants cast off on a chartered ship for an up-close and personal encounter with the magnificent Steller’s Sea Eagle on pack-ice, the Stellar’s Sea Eagle’s natural feeding winter habitat.

The Steller's Sea Eagle is one of the largest and most fierce diurnal birds on Earth. These Eagles are huge, on average the heaviest raptor on our planet, weighing up to 10 kg (22 pounds). They are also tall measuring up to 94cm (3 ft), with a huge wingspan of up to 250 cm (8.2ft). Their plumage is blackish brown black all over except on the shoulders, rump, tail thighs and forehead which are white. Their big bill is Yellow and wickedly hooked, with raw force they quickly slice through the flesh of their prey and devour it. The eagles are masters at fishing, and it’s incredible to watch as they swoop down and catch fish in their talons.  Your JDS Photo Workshop Leader will make sure that you are ready to capture all the action.

They prefer a diet of trout, salmon or other fish but will eat sea lion or land species when fishing is slow. The Steller's Sea Eagle is protected by law and is designated as a National Treasure in Japan, and is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List of Endangered species. Around 5000 remain in the wild, and over 2000 visit Japan every winter. JDS’s lead photo workshop leader has photographed these Stellar's Sea Eagles, White Tailed Eagles with the Nikon D850 and Sigma’s 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Sport with Sigma’s 1.4x teleconverter giving a focal range 168-420mm. The ship's captain will pilot us into the pack ice with the rising sun to our backs!