Nemuro City, Hokkaido

The Nemuro and Kushiro region is located in the eastern part of Hokkaido,Japan’s Northern Island.
More than 370 species of birds have been recorded in this region.
The list of species includes a number of iconic birds such as Red-crowned Crane,Blakiston’s Fish Owl and Steller’s Sea Eagle, but the list of interesting species goes on and on: White-tailed Eagle, Whooper Swan, Harlequin Duck, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Japanese Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Red-faced Cormorant, Hazel Grouse, Latham’s Snipe, Brown Dipper, Spectacled Guillemot, Pigeon Guillemot, Ancient Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet,Tufted Puffin, Ural Owl, Shorteared Owl, Black Woodpecker, Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker, Grey-headed Woodpecker,White-backed Woodpecker, Japanese Robin, Siberian Rubythroat,Gray’s Warbler, Middendorff ‘s Grasshopper Warbler, Lanceolated Warbler, Asian Rosy Finch and so on.
There are three national parks in the region: Akan NP, Kushiro-shitsugen NP,and Shiretoko NP. In July 2005, the Shiretoko area was designated as a World Natural Heritage. They are all very well worth visiting.
Eastern Hokkaido is embraced by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific Oceanand the land is rich in rivers, lakes, bays, mountains, volcanoes, forests, and wetlands. As a result, it has a very diverse natural environment.
In addition to these features, this region has many fishing ports where you canenjoy watching hundreds of gulls, ducks and wintering sea eagles very easily.
You can also enjoy bird-watching cruises all year round and whale-watchingcruises in summer; these are operated from several of these fisging ports.
Seabird-watching cruises in the Nemuro area and eagle-watching cruises from Rausu are highlights of visits to this region. You can enjoy watching a range of guillemots, auklets, shearwaters, sea-ducks, divers, skuas,and albatrosses in the Nemuro area in summer or winter, while watching or photographing eagles on sea-ice off Rausu in February has become world famous.
Watching or photographinlg Red-crowned Cranes is another excellent experience.
In winter, you can easily enjoy this fantastic bird in the Kushiro area.
At Akan International Crane Centre, at Tancho no Sato, don’t miss the feeding show which starts at 2 o’clock every day only in winter. In addition to the courtship dancing of the cranes, watch spectacular battles between the cranes and sea eagles tempted in by food put out for the cranes. Visit the Otowa Bridge in Tsurui Village very early on winter mornings to see the cranes leaving their overnight roost-it’s a spectacular experience. You can watch the cranes resting or dancing in the mist rising from the river.
The best seasons for bird-watching in this region are the periods between late January and early March for winter birds and between mid-June and early August for summer birds. You need at least 4-5 days for watching or photographing, but if you really want to enjoy the region’s birds, staying for one week is recommendable.