Grouse

This morning’s phototrip started as many previous ones, my alarm clock rang at three a.m. For a moment I thought of staying in bed, my blanket felt so lovely and warm. In the end I decided to get going. After all, I was all packed and ready to head off. I had even made sandwiches to take along and it would have been a shame to waste them. (As everyone knows, sandwiches taste much better out in the wild than at home.) The weather looked good also, -6 degrees and a clear sky were promising a good morning to come.

The dirt road was a little soft at some places, but I managed to get thru without problems. A full moon lighted my way as I walked along the trail towards my photography hide. At the hide I took my gear from my backpack, set up my cameras and sat down to wait. The sun rose in due course and the weather was pretty close to what I had hoped for:

I sat in the hide and munched my sandwiches, drank some tea and listened to the sounds of the morning. Lapwings were making sounds as the first rays of the sun started to shine and a swan was sounding from the other side of the swamp also. Grouse were not to be seen or heard. As the light increased, I noticed two swans resting at the opposite side of the swamp from me. I wondered if they were the same couple that I had been following last summer. I kept an eye on the swans, but didn’t take too much notice of them.

I had just poured myself another cup of tea and started on a sandwich, when I heard the sound of the swans change. I looked to see what was happening, maybe I could get a picture of the swans in flight if they decided to move on. I almost choked on my sandwich as I realized what was happening. I am sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, the distance was so long that I’ve had to “crop” the pictures with a heavy hand to be able to show even this much:

A lynx tried to get a swan for breakfast. It’s a pity I was situated so far away, but that’s how it goes at times. I don’t think I will be seeing a similar situation anytime soon, so who cares if the pictures weren’t top quality? Nature gave me a thrill I will not forget anytime soon.

Oh, yes, the grouse? A short moment after the episode with the lynx and swans, a flock of about 20 birds appeared in the middle of the swamp. I really don’t know where they came from, all of a sudden they just were there. The birds seemed to be feeding, slowly walking towards my hide. I watched the grouses and snapped pictures. Apparently my hide worked well, since the birds walked right past it, some as close as 10 meters. The grouses didn’t seem to be interested in settling their mating territories which I had expected to be happening. On second thought, this is rather understandable, why have turffights when one can be enjoying breakfast with the guys?