Eagles hanging out surrounded by spruce cones. L-R, adult, 2.5 year old, adult, first year bird, and the bottom, a 3 year old. Sigma 150-600 S at 360mm, Nikon D500, 1/2000s, f/6, ISO 400, manual mode, tripod.

Eagle Tour Report 2017

March 27, 2017

While we were enjoying two weeks of sunny skies and bitter cold temps, poor weather was being pushed south into the pacific northwest and California. The clear skies brought the temps down to the single digits which made for excellent eagle photography but the cold did cause problems with sea ice. On the first few days the ice almost shut down the harbor which would have made reaching our photo locations impossible but the frigid temps did supercharge the eagles drive to feed. It was amazing to see a couple of dozen eagles flying right at us all at once, almost in formation like a squadron, as soon as we pulled up to a spot like a beach or a bay.

Eagle banking image made holding camera vertically. Sigma 120-300 S at 300mm, Nikon D500, 1/2500s, f/5.6, ISO 200, handheld vertically.

The photo opportunities were awesome thanks to the cold and the clear weather and the conditions made for some memorable moments like an eagle trying to land in our boat, more than once, on different days! My co-leader Scott had had his beanie pulled off by an overly friendly eagle on the beach one morning!

Eagles meeting up in midair with talons out. Sigma 150-600 S at 170mm, Nikon D500, 1/2000s, f/8, ISO 200, handheld.

The cold weather also made outerwear choices really important if you wanted to keep shooting. I have lots of info to share on how to keep shooting safely on days like these so I plan on posting lots of information on the cold weather equipment that worked on this tour in a few days.

Early morning beach landing. Sigma 120-300 S at 170mm, Nikon D500, 1/2500s, f/5.6, ISO 400.

The combination of cold and clear skies and persistent NE wind over the two weeks created perfect photo opportunities if you were in the right place at the right time. The NE wind varied most days from 5 -10, up to 20-30 at the highest with some 40-60 mph gusts one morning that allowed the eagles to put on some amazing flying displays. On the windy days we saw lots of non-stop shooting but the photographers paid for it later with tired arms! Even I felt my left shoulder and arm getting a little tight by Friday after shooting with my 120-300 f/2.8 all week.

Stealing a perch. Sigma 150-600 S at 330mm, Nikon D500, 1/3200s, f/8, ISO 400.

This year I felt especially lucky to be able to take photographers to my favorite spots and enjoy all of our experiences shooting together. I have been the only photographer leading eagle tours to our locations continuously, each and every year, since 2005. This year there were 2 or 3 new operators scouting the area for future tours so its only a matter of time before all of the spots are going to be elbow to elbow, Bosque del Apache crane pool style crowds. My advice is to make plans to see the eagles sooner than later, as they are without anyone else around while you still can!

Eagles congregation in perfect late afternoon light. Sigma 150-600 S at 250mm 1/500s f/7.1 ISO 400 manual mode handheld

My 2018 tour dates are posted and a couple of spots are already gone so if you are interested in joining us let me know as soon as you can. I am offering a early sign-up discount as motivation. Remember each tour group is strictly limited to 5 photographers to give everyone plenty of space to shoot. This way we don't bring our own crowd everywhere we go like the big groups always do. Join us, you wont regret it for a second.

More info with dates and prices:

http://www.robertotoole.com/eagle-tour/

Any questions or comments, share them below or send me an email anytime.

Also if you are on FB be sure to friend me to stay in touch: https://www.facebook.com/robert.otoole.923

and join my facebook tour group to ask for any advice or help and to stay up to date on latest: https://www.facebook.com/groups/170108613467190/

Japanese red-crowned crane full wing spread landing. Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary Japan. Sigma 150-600 S at 240mm, Nikon D500, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 400, manual mode, tripod. — Japanese red-crowned crane full wing spread landing. Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary Japan. Sigma 150-600 S at 240mm, Nikon D500, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 400, manual mode, tripod.

Japan Winter Wildlife Tour 2017

March 08, 2017

We're back from Japan now and just about to head to Alaska next week. It was an epic trip thanks to the awesome participants and the great weather. Our tour was just about perfect thanks to falling snow at almost all of the locations, falling snow is a must-have for a successful winter trip here.

We had an especially amazing day at the crane sanctuary with light snowfall turning into heavy snowfall with a very light crowd. Lucky for us most of the other photographers packed up and left once the snow started! The cranes were doing some amazing behavior in front of us, once right before feeding time at the sanctuary the entire group of 100+ birds walked up a small incline to the top of a hill and started to display, jump and dance, all together. Then all at once they all walked back down the hill and stared to feed. That group behavior was something to see in person.

Japanese red-crowned crane resting in a snow flurry. Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary Japan. Sigma 150-600 S at 500mm, Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, manual mode, tripod. — Japanese red-crowned crane resting in a snow flurry. Tsurui-Ito Tancho Sanctuary Japan. Sigma 150-600 S at 500mm, Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, manual mode, tripod.

It was great to see the steller's sea eagles back on beautiful pack ice this year after an iceless 2016. There was tons of action on the ice and completely different weather on each of our three mornings, sun, clouds, overcast and snow, we had it all over 3 days.

Steller's sea eagle landing on pack ice in the nemuro strait off Rausu Japan. Sigma 120 - 300 f/2.8Sports Lens at 300mm, Nikon D500, 1/1600s, f/3.5, ISO 400 manual mode, handheld. — Steller's sea eagle landing on pack ice in the nemuro strait off Rausu Japan. Sigma 120 - 300 f/2.8
Sports Lens at 300mm, Nikon D500, 1/1600s, f/3.5, ISO 400 manual mode, handheld.

Our trip to the snow monkey park was completely different this year. As were first people to arrive we were greeted by piles of fresh powder. The trail to reach the park was completely hidden by snow drifts. Once we reached the park it was really interesting to see how the monkeys coped with fresh snow drifts that were piled over their heads. They moved around in single file lines that compacted the snow created their own trails with the young monkeys forced to ride on older monkeys to get around. It was impressive to see a monkey covered in snow running and jumping over streams and up and over boulders with an infant monkey riding under its belly, hanging on for its life and at the same time they almost seemed to be enjoying it. The snow fall started out light but by 9 AM the snow and wind increased visibility dropped to almost zero but once when it lightened up the shooting was epic.

Young snow monkey snacking on a fresh spruce twig with buds at the snow monkey park. Sigma 150-600 sports  lens @ 350mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 500, handheld, Manual mode, +0.7. — Young snow monkey snacking on a fresh spruce twig with buds at the snow monkey park. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 350mm and Nikon D810, 1/500s, f/8, ISO 500, handheld, Manual mode, +0.7.

Each year we spend an afternoon or two shooting the northern fox, which is a sub species of the normal red fox found in the rest of Japan, but this year the opportunities were so good we ended up spending four sessions with them. The Hokkaido fox have to be some of the most calm, relaxed, and photogenic wild animals on the planet. One afternoon we had the opportunity to shoot a fox pair hunting, which was already an experience to remember, when all of a sudden a single, third fox shows up and then things got really interesting. It was a special opportunity to shoot them hunting, playing, courting, fighting, even napping. Just amazing.

Hokkaido fox confrontation on the beach with a out-of-focus Russian volcano in the background, Hokkaido, Japan. Sigma 150-600 sports  lens @ 500mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 560, handheld, Manual mode, +0.3. — Hokkaido fox confrontation on the beach with a out-of-focus Russian volcano in the background, Hokkaido, Japan. Sigma 150-600 sports lens @ 500mm and Nikon D810, 1/1250s, f/8, ISO 560, handheld, Manual mode, +0.3.

Tatyana-and-fox-Hokkaido-Japan-2017-Robert-OToole-Photography

Hokkaido northern fox getting a closer look at the stranger (with Russia in the background). Hokkaido, Japan.

What makes the fox so unusual in Hokkaido is that they have been habituated to people that when you pull up in our car the fox will actually walk up, sometimes within a couple of feet as in the image above, and just stand there and stare at you. This is due to the fact the people have been feeding them since at least the 70s. Researchers have found that human handouts make up to 10% of their diet in winter, becoming an important food source for the younger inexperienced individuals. The same researchers were surprised to find that even the wild fox located deep in the national park somehow picked up the strategy.

This years trip was one that I will never forget and I have to say thanks to all of our tour participants for making the tour so fun!

There are lots of companies running photo tours to Japan, one has copied my itinerary down to the exact day, but few have experience that we do and none offer the same exclusive group size of only 5 that we do!

If you're interested in taking the trip of a lifetime to Japan please take a look at the Japan tour page on this site for more information. Hope you can join us.

http://www.robertotoole.com/japan-tour/

Featured

Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 sports lens at 125mm, NIKON D500, 1/1250s, f/4, ISO 200, Manual mode, +0.7.

Monkey Blizzard

February 22, 2017

Each and every year it seems like we get lucky in Japan. This year, on only the second day of the tour, we get the experience of getting blasted my a blizzard! It was something to see, the smaller young monkeys jump on a sister or aunt's back as its the only way around in the deep snow for them.

In between the white out periods when the wind would blow there were great chances to make nice images but you still had to be close as the falling snow really cut down the contrast.

Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 sports lens at 240mm, NIKON D500, 1/1250s, f/4, ISO 200, Manual mode, +0.7.

For the very first days of the tour we have had completely different shooting conditions each day so its been amazing so far. I will be posting every couple of days as the tour progresses or whenever my MiFi can get a good LTE/4G signal in the mountains here. More coming soon.

Dalmatian Pelican Tour Report 2017

January 23, 2017

Shocking news was waiting for me when I arrived in Greece ahead of my tour this year, the 400 dalmatian pelicans that were there busy feeding a few days before had gone missing. The tour location was blasted by a historic storm that plunged the temperature down to -12 C or 10 degrees F freezing the surface of the lake, our main location, and blanketing it with snow. Minus twelve degrees C may not seem like a lot to you but this area has a humid subtropical climate and last time the locals saw the lake freeze was 2001 and before that, 1975! One local woman in her 90s she that had not seen that much snow and temperatures that low since she was a child.

The situation seemed almost impossible but in my 12 years of leading tours the lake freezing just gets added to the list of natural events that I have had to work around over the years. This list includes more than one volcanic eruption resulting in a photography stopping ash cloud, more than one tsunami warning from the harbor master has kept our charter at the harbor, and even a tornado warning (not just a watch) causing major headaches on a workshop!

Luckily on the first day of the tour large holes had started to appear in the ice and the birds were starting to return, from about 50 on the first day to at least 100 birds by the end so the photography opportunities turned out to be pretty solid but not as it should have been due to the ice leaving our charter boats frozen in place. Photographing the birds skidding on the ice and swimming through and breaking through thin ice was a bonus. Many thanks to my tour participants for being very understanding about the situation and for our host Nikos for working non-stop to make the best of the situation.

Each year hundreds of dalmatian pelicans spend January and February feeding on small bait fish to fatten up before they nest on the lake in spring. These birds once numbered in the millions but the worldwide population has declined to only about 3,000-5,000 breeding pairs. Thanks to the efforts of the management authority of the lake the birds have been very successful here with over 200 fledglings in 2016.

If you are interested in joining us in 2018, without all the ice of course, please follow this link for more details about the tour: http://www.robertotoole.com/dalmatian-pelican-tour/

Bosque Fall Color Tour Report

November 16, 2016

This year was unusual to say the least, instead of the 18 degrees F that we saw last year, which is about normal, we had daytime temps close to 70 degrees F and morning lows were around 40 degrees. The downside to the unusually high temperatures were insects. The mosquitos would crash into your car windows as soon as you pulled up at the crane pools and go for blood when you stepped out to shoot. The upside to the warm temperatures (and lots of rain) were green, reddish, and orange growth everywhere that looks great in images, and none of the normal dead brown grass you normally see everywhere at Bosque this time of the year.

Crane and geese numbers look decent this year and coyote and bobcat sightings were way up and just about everyday. We had an interesting coyote and bobcat confrontation near the flight deck!

My group and I all had a great time with some memorable shooting sessions. Thanks to everyone that made it over to spend time with me. Even if this is my 12th year in a row going to Bosque, I cant wait to get back there next year! Registration for 2017 is open so check out more info here:

http://www.robertotoole.com/bosque-tour/

These are my favorite images from last week, the colors this year were just unreal and nothing like I have ever seen before at Bosque.

Featured