Red-crowned cranes at Tsurui

Flew into Kushiro and drove to Tsurui. The red-crowned cranes come to the feeding grounds in late fall and stay through March. The Tsurui-Ito station opens before sunrise and the birds are standing in the snow by first light. I spent both days there, and a half-day at the Setsurigawa River bridge for the roost shots. The cranes dance even on cold mornings — head back, bow, leap — and I could not pick favorites.

Snow falling through backlit air is hard to expose for. I settled on slight overexposure and just cleaned it up later.