Black Grouse Lek

I was standing and listening on a top of a snowy hill. Sun would rise in half an hour and nature was still completely silent. In the horizon there was a promising element of light, the new day was breaking through. I had skied in the darkness half a kilometer from my car, then stopped to listen. The skiing in seventy-five centimeter (two and a half feet) deep snow was so hard that I had to wait for a while for my breath to become steady only then could I listen to anything. The morning was calm and clear, in such circumstances it´s possible to hear Black grouse lek even from four kilometers distance. I listened attentively but only heard distant sounds of a Black woodpecker and as usual some ravens. I knew somewhere nearby there would be a lekking site. Leks always take place at open areas such as fields and swamps. I kept on skiing in unbroken deep snow and at the same time tried to hear some lekking sounds. Those particular sounds are continuous bubbling vocalisation and guttural hiss, they are very important elements of the lek. I was heading to a snow covered meadow which was likely to be the display site. Quite soon, just after sunrise, I heard those familiar sounds. I skied a little bit closer and sat down to wait for the show to be over so I could mount my hide there for the next morning. In an hour it  was over and all the birds had flown away. I continued closer into the edge of the woods into dense bushes and found a perfect spot for my tent hide. Next morning with the aid of the darkness I would be back well before Black grouses.

That next morning was cloudy and misty. During the night the temperature had dropped below freezing point and due to the warm day it caused mist. But once again you can´t choose the weather and it´s always challenging to photograph in different situations. I waited anxiously for the birds to arrive and then suddenly, in a blink of an eye, they were there!
The lek was absolutely stunning with all those sounds and posturing, jumping and fighting. The males spread their long, curving, black tail feathers into wide, imposing fans. At the same time the females were sitting on the tree tops and enjoying the show just like me.

In the third morning the weather was much better, temperature just over freezing point and partly cloudy skies. Beautiful morning, fantastic light and the lek on its full!!

Such magnificent mornings at Kuntivaara in Kuusamo. I felt so pleased, packed my gears and stuff and skied back to my car via a small lake, which was only partly ice covered because of the flowing waters. Whooper swans had found that open water spot and I took advantage and shot some photos. 

                                                                       Olli

Great Grey Owl

Once again I found myself packing my photo gears and all other equipments in to my car. It was mid March when I heard news from Kuusamo - Black grouse lek had started, dippers were building nests and a few Great grey owls had been seen. That kind of news you just can´t ignore! When the car was packed I took heading to Kuusamo. I have been on those roads so many times that they are really familiar to me and ten hours in car was no problem when the weather was so fine. Clear skies, dry roads and expectations high up. I arrived in Kuusamo at eight a clock and saw pale light on the sky and when I turned to a mall´s parking area the sky was already full of northern lights. Really beautiful Aurora borealis with green, red and blue colors, such an exceptionally strong, intense and colourful phenomenon. Immediately I jumped back to my car and drove outside the downtown area where the light pollution is bad, even Kuusamo is a small town. When I got my camera ready on a tripod with remote control connected the show was over. Only a hunch of lights were any longer in the sky. What a pity, but you can´t always win. I forgot that disappointment very quickly because I knew I had hot sauna waiting for me, after a while I already enjoyed the sauna´s cuddling heat topped with a few beers and then got early to bed. Next morning I had to be at the Black grouse lekking site at 5 am. Morning was quite okay with cloudy skies and temperature three degrees below freezing point. Since at this time of year the sun rises at about 6.30 am it was still dark. I waited one and a half hours before the first Black grouse males flew to the fir tops around me. Quite soon the lek was played in front of my hide. The air was full of whistles and whooshes which are very important part of the lek. Unfortunately my pictures are without voice effects!

The lek season had just started so it was over quite soon and I continued to Käylä white-water were the Dippers were. In the early spring morning´s soft sunlight I got a few very nice pictures of those dippers.

Some twenty kilometers east from Kuusamo had been seen a Great Grey Owl. In the early afternoon after the dippers I drove over there. My good friend Olli Lamminsalo, who is running the Kuusamo Bird Tours, was also there chasing the owl. We were lucky and found the owl sitting in the tree on the field side. That was something spectacular, breath taking and unbelievable to watch the owl catching moles. This and the coming afternoons we spent at that site photographing. That was something really unforgettable.

 

 The look of an owl is really focused

 

The flying is beautiful and every move is intentional

 

Pictoresque creature

Olli

Chasing Winter

Winter, at least, in southern Finland is a very emotional thing. We think that we should have a real winter which means that temperatures drop below freezing point and ground gets covered with snow, most likely at least half a meter or more than one foot. This is the situation in southern Finland because we used to have real winters but nowadays thanks to the global warming the normal winter weather is rainy and windy. The most eastern and northeastern parts of Finland have the continental climate which means warm summers and freezing winters. Even though the climate has changed, luckily winters still are nice and beautiful at that part of Finland. 

In southern Finland we have had this season a terrible winter with lots of rain and low clouds constantly hanging above. Days have been more or less grey, just grey in different tones. Thats why I took my photo gears,  jumped in my car and took heading up north. I knew that I would find real winter in Kuhmo and Kuusamo area. I checked that there was almost one meter or three feet of snow. Weather forecast said that high pressure was going to park over that area so it was going to be sunny and cold. I arrived at 9 am to Kuhmo and temperature was -28°C or -20°F. I have always said that its not bad weather its only wrong kind of clothing. And so it was again, wooly beanie with balaclava under it and warm boots and mittens, it was just a pleasure to ski with my two and a half meter or eight feet long trekking skis trough the wilderness. I was looking for a real winter and I definitely found it. I spent two days skiing and photo shooting in beautiful weathers. The night I slept very well in my down sleeping bag in a tiny hide where the temperature was -18°C or 0°F.

Next day was a driving day. From Kuhmo to Kuusamo is about 250 kilometers or 150 miles. I chose the most eastern road which roams trough remote forests in the middle of wilderness. I drove 150 kilometers or 80 miles which took two hours and I only saw packed snow covered trees and empty roads. Sceneries were really beautiful and somehow very relaxing and calming. I really enjoyed the drive even the last two hours I had to drive in the dark. That night I spent in Oulanka Research Station in the edge of the Oulanka National Park. Upcoming two days I was skiing and  traveling in breathtaking winter wonderland. Weather was beautiful during those two days with rising temperatures. Higher temperatures were a sign of worsening weather and the third day was windy and cloudy so I decided to drive to Kiveskoski, which is a rapid with only some white waters, many Dippers are spending winter there. Below you can see a photo stream of my tour.

  

Ravens in early morning dim

 

 

Winter art in Kuhmo

 

 Frostface

Rime on branches

 

 

Female Blackgrouse

 

 

 

 

and the male

 

                                                       Capercaillie male warming up

Sunset of a beautiful winterday

 Dippers at Kiveskoski

Olli

Day #3

I spent the last day in another hide some hundred kilometers north from the first one. I had more than one hour drive from Lämsänkylä to Oulanka National Park, where the other hide is situated. It was snowing the whole night so there was one foot or a 30 centimeter new blanket of snow on the ground. I left the cottage at about 6am to be sure that I would be In Oulanka early enough. Roads were in a very bad condition and only one car had driven in the snow before me. It was snowing all the time during my trip so instead of bright lights I had to use the headlights. In such a severe snowfall the lights reflected back from the snowflakes and the visibility was close to zero so I had to drive really slowly. When I reached the main road it was already ploughed clean but it was still snowing and blowing so the snow whirled wildly and I still had to keep the speed down. The last ten kilometers were on a remote back road, where I was the first one driving. The road got more narrow all the time and towards the end it was as narrow as my car. I ended up driving very carefully in snow so deep that it flew over the bumper and engine hood to even worsen the visibility. In the uphill sharp turns  it was most difficult to keep the car on the road, because I had to keep up some good speed, but with my four wheel drive suv I made it all the way up to the hill.  I had only a few hundred meters to wade in the deep snow to the hide with my equipments. As so many times earlier the job was sweaty but worth it. Once again the day was dark and cloudy and I shot with long shutter speeds to get movement unsharp pictures. I adjusted the pictures in Lightroom in a different way in order to reach a graphical appearance. Here below you can see traditional as well as little bit different kind of photographs.

The hide is on the edge of the Oulanka canyon in the middle of the Taiga forrest.

Lots of movement and blurriness in graphical way.

 

 

To the end a more traditional view.

Happy New Year!!

Olli