Arrived last night from Japan and am only now just thawing out.
AKA the Tancho or Japanese Crane, these number only about 1100 in the wild, up from 33 left at the start of conservation and breeding efforts.
This is one of my favorites. Early morning light and only -10 or -15 deg C without the windchill but the opportunites were worth it.
Putting a workshop series together for this spot and others on Hokkaido for 2009.
Canon EOS-1D Mark II N and 28-135 IS.
1/640 sec at 5.6 Exposure compensation: +1 1/3 ISO: 400
Focal length: 100mm
Hokkaido Japan
Sorry for the pixelation in the sky, I use an action set up for small file sizes.
Image Copyright 2008 Robert OToole