Leking Black Grouse

1:st April – 20:th May

Leking Black Grouse

1:st April – 20:th May

When: 1:st April – 20:th May

Price: 2.850 SEK/ person

Black Grouse

Leking Black Grouse photography

The sun is about to set as we walk out on the pineforest bog to get to the comfortable hide from where we can overview the leking ground. We have taken the concept of photo hides further and built a spacious and comfortable wooden hide/ cottage where 4 people can spend the night and view the courtship performance of Black Grouse without disturbing them.

Here you can enjoy the peace and quiet with just natural sounds. During the short spring night´s sleep you´ll hear the sounds of nature, maybe you fall asleep to the buzzing call of drumming Snipes and wake up to the trumpets of Common Cranes or Whooper Swans. Already before dawn the Black Grouse calls will increase in strength and you can get out of your bed and start to get yourself in position by the windows where you can enjoy the lek. To get really close (for excellent pictures) we recommend that you move out some 25 meters to the tent hides we have pitched on wooden platforms just around the liking site.

The wooden hide is 6×3 meters and equipped with 4 comfortable (bunk)beds, a (dry) loo and a heater. Four holes for camera lenses or telescopes are placed beneath the front window reaching horizontally from corner to corner. On a daily basis 25-50 Black Grouse males perform on the tussocks in front of you, usually not more than 20-30 meters away. For ambitious photographers we put out portable hides on wooden platforms that allow an even closer and better angle without spoiling the view from the spectators in the main hide.

Leking Black Grouse photography

The sun is about to set as we walk out on the pineforest bog to get to the comfortable hide from where we can overview the leking ground. We have taken the concept of photo hides further and built a spacious and comfortable wooden hide/ cottage where 4 people can spend the night and view the courtship performance of Black Grouse without disturbing them.

Here you can enjoy the peace and quiet with just natural sounds. During the short spring night´s sleep you´ll hear the sounds of nature, maybe you fall asleep to the buzzing call of drumming Snipes and wake up to the trumpets of Common Cranes or Whooper Swans. Already before dawn the Black Grouse calls will increase in strength and you can get out of your bed and start to get yourself in position by the windows where you can enjoy the lek. To get really close (for excellent pictures) we recommend that you move out some 25 meters to the tent hides we have pitched on wooden platforms just around the liking site.

The wooden hide is 6×3 meters and equipped with 4 comfortable (bunk)beds, a (dry) loo and a heater. Four holes for camera lenses or telescopes are placed beneath the front window reaching horizontally from corner to corner. On a daily basis 25-50 Black Grouse males perform on the tussocks in front of you, usually not more than 20-30 meters away. For ambitious photographers we put out portable hides on wooden platforms that allow an even closer and better angle without spoiling the view from the spectators in the main hide.

Practical info

Season: 1.st April – 25:th May

Included: Guiding to the hide, breakfast, snacks/ evening meal/ supper including hot & cold drinks, breakfast with sandwiches, fruits, buns, yoghurt, juice. You can also make your own coffee/ tea on the very practical and easy little gas-kitchen in the hide. Pick-up from the hides the next morning.

In the tent hides we provide you: a camping chair to sit on. There’s a light bulb in the ceiling as well.

To bring: Camera, tripod (important!), binoculars, flashlight/ headlight, water bottle, warm clothes, waterproof boots, preferrably Rubber boots.

Price

2.850 SEK/person & session

When? How? For whom?

We guide you out to the hide. Walking distance is about 400 meters. We arrive around 6 o’clock in the evening and normally stay til around 8-9 in the morning the next day, after the lek is over so we don´t disturb the birds. If you like you can always stay and enjoy a rest in the cottage after an intense but (hopefully) rewarding morning. This activity suits anyone with a nature/ bird interest as well as the ambitious and patient photographer/ filmmaker. The lek of the Black Grouse is a vibrant and often spectacular show and much more predictable than the Capercaillies, since these birds perform on the same spot practically every day during the liking season. Only really bad weather , with strong wind can put them off. Max 4 persons can use the hide, but we don’t book in strangers together unless you agree to share.

How to get a good session!

It’s important how YOU behave!

Arrive early to the hide, preferably just before the break of dawn. Later in the season the birds might already be singing from the nearby trees, as you walk out, but as long as you are careful and silent, you won’t flush them or make them hesitant to come down. Sometimes you might have to wait for them a bit, sometimes they come later but don’t give up. They practically almost always show up to do their thing. Remember; it’s mating season and these males all want a piece of the action. Sometimes the party can break up and fly away without any apparent reason, it is often a predator that has scared them off. Goshawks or even Golden Eagles frequently attack the Black Grouse on the leaking site. Just give them some time, they will usually come back, even if it takes an hour.

Where?

The Black Grouse hide is placed on a bog in the Black River area/ Bergslagen in the county of Västmanland, central Sweden. The forest surrounding the myre is a 750 km2 big nature area not crossed by any bigger roads than gravel or dirt tracks and very few human settlements. It´s a good area for birds and wildlife.