Eastern Hokkaido Winter 2021 Report
Being told that the owls aren’t in their nests that much this year, we went to check the hole in the tree where they can usually be spotted. But just as our local guide said, they were not home. This owl pair that live near the “Tsurui Dosanko Ranch,” are a favorite because they are usually quite reliable to be close by and so very cute to watch.
Eventually we could see them. I couldn’t see both of them at the same time, but one of them had caught a large Japanese field mouse (Ezo Akanezumi). This subspecies of field mouse is Apodemus speciosus ainu and it is endemic to Japan!
Ural Owl（エゾフクロウ）｜西遊旅行
After the video was taken, the owl did not eat his prize field mouse right away, but instead put it down inside the burrow and just sat there watching us.
Video & Text : Mariko SAWADA
Observation: Feb 2021, Tsurui village, Hokkaido
