This swamp was registered as a Ramsar site in 2005, and along with nearby Izunuma, it is famous as one of Japan’s most popular places for White-fronted geese to visit. Compared to Izunuma, the area of the swamp is smaller and less developed for sightseeing, but because of this, unlike Izunuma, it is not crowded and visitors can observe the White-fronted geese at a relatively close distance. The number of White-fronted geese, especially around November, is extraordinary, and their dawn flight and roosting is aptly called a rave party by the geese. Once you are in the midst of the feast, you realize that the problems of your life are as trivial as the earwax that is scraped out of your ears.
Geese and ducks (White-fronted geese, mallards, pintails, whooper swans, etc.)
Basically, you have to go there by car. There are three places available for parking.
- When viewing Kabukuri-numa on Google Map, the area to the east of where the swamp is indicated as a swamp is described as the “Swan area” and is not marked as a swamp, but there is a swamp here as well, and many geese and swans visit the area. When I actually went there, I could not see many geese in Kabukuri-numa (before they started roosting), but quite a few were in this “swan area.
- Shoot Point 1 on the map above is the place to observe geese in the “swan area” as they take off at dawn, and Point 2 is the place to observe them as they enter the roost.
- Shoot Point 1 and 2 are both close to the parking lot on the south side. It is a long walk to get there.
- Even though it is closer than Izunuma, 600mm is not enough for photographing things in the swamp (depending on the location). On the contrary, a 200mm-400mm lens is better suited for photographing flying birds.
- Dawn departure can be seen from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after dawn, and roosting from 30 minutes before to 30 minutes after sunset. When I visited, the peak of the flight was 30 minutes after dawn and the peak of the roosting was 30 minutes after sunset.
- The geese can be observed from late October to early February, but November is the best time to observe them. In fact, a comparison between January and November shows that while January was very cold and snowy, there were fewer geese than in November, and in November there were far more geese than in January.
