JAPANESE CRANES BUCKET LIST 📸 TSURUI ITO TANCHO SANCTUARY 冬の湿原号 HOKKAIDO 鶴居村 by Adeyto

This year again I had the chance to visit the Hokkaido's infamous Japanese White Cranes sanctuary and Tsurui Village. in Winter the food supply for the cranes is limited and so the protection associations have a couple of places where they feed the birds twice a day with corn and other seeds and that's why the birds gather here in the cold winter from January to March. After they overcome this difficult period the cranes will spread out in entire Hokkaido and it will be difficult to find them. So it is the best opportunity to see the birds so near and thousands of photographers from all over the world come here to complete this bucket list check.
This year there was even a very rare type of Crane visiting the area.
photographers are lined up for hours and hours waiting for the birds to fly in because that is the most beautiful angle for photography.
You need a huge zoom lens to get breathtaking pictures, hopefully I will buy one in future.
The cranes are very cute walking around and jumping kicking each other while waiting for the food to be delivered.
In the nearby rest houses and restaurants you can buy mini souvenirs and foods related to the beautiful Hokkaido scenery.
another huge attraction is the steam locomotive SL Fuyu-no-Shitsugen train that runs in the same area in the exactly same period like the cranes, January to March. The crane only runs in weekends from Friday to Sunday and the tickets get sold out in advance. however to take pictures of the train with a cranes you don't need any ticket just come over to kushiro area and dress warm.
We are staying at the newly opened Guesthouse Cottaro, having the entire cottage for ourselves right in front of the famous Kayanuma Station, where the SL train stops as well as cranes are expecting food and it's a good opportunity to take amazing pictures by just walking a few meters from your lodging.
Mariko tried this for the first time and she managed to get some amazing shots of the white cranes overlapping the black steam locomotive! And you can too! Visit Kushiro National Park Marshlands!