The
Japanese crane, or red crowned crane, is among the rarest in the world, with
about 2700 in the wild. Eastern Hokkaido
is where most of them are found. These cranes are seen as a symbol of luck,
longevity, and fidelity.
Saturday
morning we went out early to a bridge, where the tancho are known to roost
overnight. Ted was in photographer’s heaven with ten cameras and fifty lenses
and tripods and monopods (a slight exaggeration). He had the yellow box plus
four camera bags and the tripod and monopod.
He wasn’t
the only one. It was kind of interesting to see the different accessories the
other photographers had, like little hammocks under the tripods and camouflage lens
covers.
The
mist was rising from the river as the birds seem to be waking up.
We
spent several hours watching them. It was interesting to see how all the birds
were in pairs or pairs with last year’s baby. The heads of the young ones are
kind of brownish, instead of the black/white/red of the adults. Some fished for food and eventually most of
them flew away.
We
bought lunch at a Seco-Mart and drove to the Tsurui Ito Tancho Sanctuary. After eating lunch in the car, Ted spent the
next four hours out in the cold taking about 8,000 photos (no exaggeration). I
had a great view from where we were parked, so I watched the show and working
on basting some hexagons. The cranes danced around right in front of us!
It was
really an amazing day!
5 comments:
It looks magical and I fully understand that all the photographers were in heaven. Many photos like these end up in calendars and nature photo books. What will Ted do with all of his images?
Absolutely stunning pics!
So beautiful. I feel like I was there. I am in awe of Ted. Thank you for sharing!
Wow, in those last few pictures it really does look like they're dancing. It was like looking at a play. Are there traditional plays in Japan featuring dancing cranes? I know they do in Korea.
wonderful pictures... how fantastic to see this...
Hugz
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