I headed out this morning with a friend of mine. Our aim was to get some capercaillie (a.k.a. caper tailed grouse) pictures. My friend had scouted a good spot for getting pictures, the entire hillside was covered with tracks and while we were waiting for the sun to rise, some capercaillies landed in the trees around us. The nearest one was in a tree no more than 10 meters from us. Unfortunately, the birds obviously had noticed us, since they did not come down from the trees, nor make much sounds. After some time, we decided it was a no win situation for us and headed for home. With a slightly different approach, there are some great photos to be gotten from that location.
The best capercaillie this morning was this one, in a tree on the other side of the clearing. So, so far away: The capercaillie in the tree right next to us was so hidden by branches, that there was no photo-opportunity there. As the sun rose and the day became brighter, some smaller birds took flight also, some close enough for quick pics: Eventhough we didn't get the pics we were aiming for, I think this was a good morning outing. The only thing I didn't like was that my feet were cold. I'll have to re-evaluate my footwear for these cold spring mornings.
It's been quite some time since my last post. The reason (or excuse) is that I have been busy re-doing the bedrooms in our house. In the middle of it all, I haven't had the energy to give a thought to computers or the net, much less blogging. A little time away from the net felt pretty good, sometimes it is just time to concentrate on something other than a keypad and screen. There were moments that made me feel like what you get from listening to this song:
Not so much the lyrics, but rather the general feeling that comes from the music. This held especialy true to the couple of days that I spent wallpapering.
During the past month, I did manage to take a few pictures. Nothing spectacular, but I took them anyway and at least I got to get some feel for my new camera.
These birdies I managed to photograph at lake Lappalanjärvi, just a 15 minute drive away: Then it was time to celebrate my mothers birthday. Quite a few people showed up and the party was a success, eventhough the rain and cold wind tried to make a garden party a not so great idea. For the group picture we managed to get everybody except me, since I was behind the camera and tried desperately to get our kids to look the right way, without any success: A friend of mine, Jussi, dropped by and took a picture of me. I was amazed how fast the whole process was. While I was changing into my camo outfit, Jussi had set up his lighting system in the small spot of forrest just behind my backyard. All that was left to do was sit down on my backpack, and snap, snap, snap, a few quick shots and we were done. It's obviously easy, when you know your system. Jussi is a great guy, and I feel lucky to have gotten to know him and now I got to see what his type of photography is about. An enlightening experience.
After our little photoshoot, we called up another photographer and headed into town for a cup of coffee, some talk on photography and the world in general and a small walk around the town, snapping pictures of this, that and whatever. In the top picture, photographer "virus" is showing of his surfing moves behind our town hall. He spotted a loose cement block and decided it was time to show a balancing act. In the lower picture a young lady, out in town with her friends for her bachelorette party is showing us some aerobics moves.
Once again I started off during the early hours of the morning. At 5 am I had set myself up in the hide with all my gear ready. It was still far too dark to take any pictures, but I was still late. The sun was already making the horizon lighter and therefore I was not able to get to my hide without being detected by the birds resting at the swamp. Soon I'll have to start going to the hide in the evening and sleeping over to be ready in the morning. With the advancement of spring soon there will not be many dark hours to use for covert movement.
As the sun rose, the lapwings started their morning concert, as did the curlews, swans, cranes, grouses and a number of smaller birds that I can't identify by their sound only.
Noticing that the ospreys had returned to their nesting tree brightened my morning considerably: As usual, cranes could be seen only in the distance: The grouses were busy with settling their mating territories, however this time they stayed further away from my hide: The swans made several fly-by's: Lastly, no trip to my hide can be made without a few pictures of a sunrise:
The capercaillie in the tree right next to us was so hidden by branches, that there was no photo-opportunity there. As the sun rose and the day became brighter, some smaller birds took flight also, some close enough for quick pics:
Eventhough we didn't get the pics we were aiming for, I think this was a good morning outing. The only thing I didn't like was that my feet were cold. I'll have to re-evaluate my footwear for these cold spring mornings.
