SWEDEN 20TH TO 29TH APRIL 2007

Photographing black grouse is still possible in the U.K. although it is a declining species. Capercaillie however, is so close to extinction that finding one in the first place would be difficult. Even looking for a lek or display ground is now illegal I am told.

Both species are common enough in Scandinavia so this year I went north in search of my first digital Capercaillie pictures. Black grouse is easy enough to locate. Get up early, 4 A.M. will do, and drive or walk around until 8 A.M. on a windless day and the  chances are you will come across a lek. They are noisy birds and the sound of their burbling calls carries some distance. They are also displaying in the open in large numbers and not difficult to spot.

Capercaillie however is a different matter. They display almost silently, except for a bit of bill snapping, which does not carry far well and the lek will be inside the forest. I do not know a method for locating Capercaillie leks. I think most leks that get photographed are known sites, discovered by accident and passed on from one person to another. 

So I booked onto a workshop with Magnus Carlsson in Northern Sweden. Magnus is a young, self employed forestry worker with a passion for photographing wildlife. He runs a number of photography trips including one for black grouse and Capercaillie in April.

You can book as many days as you like and I stayed for just over a week at 1800 Kroner a day, which includes accommodation and local transport, but not food. The base is a camp site close to Magnus’s home and each photographer has their own room in a large wooden hut. The rooms are small, but comfy enough. Over the road is a McDonalds type restaurant or the hut has a fully equipped kitchen to prepare your own meals. I did a mixture of the two.

My priority was Capercaillie, but I also had sessions in the black grouse hides. I have never been in a grouse lek with so many birds. Around 80 males calling away makes for an incredible wall of sound. The hides are actually ordinary camping tents erected on wooden boards in the swamps. Magnus or his girlfriend Linda take you to the hides in the evening in time for the evening display and you stay in the tent all night. The birds disappear when it gets dark and you sleep for a few hours before being woken by the birds returning way before first light. Sleep is impossible as the birds are so close to the hides and so loud .

Once there is enough light for photography you can push a lens though the tent door, slowly, without alarming the birds. They might be close enough for a 200mm or perhaps a large 500mm. Males tend to fight and display on the same spot so will keep returning to the same patch time after time. You soon discover where that is and choose a lens to match.

Being in a proper tent means lying down to sleep is easy, but is does make for an awkward position for photography as you can’t sit up properly. You either lie on the floor or crouch. Usually by 8 A.M. the birds fly off and Magnus comes and collects you from the hide.

He returns you to the camp site and the day is yours. Most people sleep and rest ready for the next nights photography.

Very important to take Wellington boots with you as the approach to the hides is very wet.  Also buy some food to eat in the hide from the local shop and an empty plastic bottle can be very useful for long sessions in hides. 

The Capercaillie lek was a longer drive a way, but the situation very similar. The same tents are used and entered in the evening. The birds only appear in the morning however and they are far fewer. Three males was the most we saw and about the same number of females. Photography was frustrating as most of the action takes place while it is still very dark. Only on one morning did the dominant male stay until the light was really adequate for good pictures. Also the birds are often hidden by the trees. However I got pictures in the end. They are never going to be easy.