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Capercaillie hen

 

Mulling over ideas in the sauna after the long trip day I realised that if I do not now at once go to Ida-Virumaa on a willow ptarmigan trip, the next opportunity may come God knows when. The weather forecast had just turned a little better and I decided to use the chance. A few hours of sleep and I was in place at the outskirt of the bog. The weather was really good – clear and calm. But the willow ptarmigan let me wait for it. It was a long watch until around sunrise one ptarmigan at last let hear its particular display call. Some years ago a concert from several birds would have been heard during the nearly half-hour. Now the show was somewhat meagre but one more bird species could be noted. Altogether my 2012 list now has 164 bird species.

On the schedule for the morning was some woodpecker monitoring too, but getting out from the bog I fell on my stomach and got properly wet so this plan disappeared. But still, to have heard the willow ptarmigan, seen two capercaillies and a hazel grouse and a larger group of black grouse in action during barely one hour is not a bad result. I have never before noted all of our forest Galliformes during a single trip.