Leking Black Grouse safari

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

The spring quire of songbirds like Thrushes and Robins offer atmosphere and tranquility to the evening and some of the Grouse males are bubbling a bit further away on the myre in a little evening display. During the short spring night´s sleep you´ll hear the sounds of nature, maybe you fall asleep to the monotonous call of a Tengmalm´s Owl and wake up to the trumpets of 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.

The hide is 6x3 meters and equipped with 4 comfortable (bunk)beds, a 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 5-10 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.


When? How? For whom?
Season: 1st of April – 15th of May. 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 late morning the next day, after the lek is over so we don´t disturb the birds. This activity suits anyone with a nature/ bird interest as well as the ambitious and patient photographer/ filmmaker.


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.