Photograph and experience the impressive courtship display of the black grouse on one of the best lekking sites of the country. The BBC and a Swedish national television channel have used these hides for creating some stunning nature documentaries! The black grouse lekking season is described here in Norway as the biggest adventure of the spring.  

 

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Photographing black grouse

You will be brought to the hides in the late evening. The hides are 2x2 meter, which offers enough space to sleep comfortably. Sleeping mats are provided and warm sleeping bags can be rented on location. You will sleep in the tent until you get woken up by the black grouse arriving on the display area (somewhere between 2:00 and 4:30). The birds will stay in front of the photo tents until somewhere between 8:00 and 10:00. You have to stay in the hides until the guide will pick you up after the birds have left. 

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Depending on the population size, there will be between 15 and 35 males displaying on the lek. Females visit regularly already in April and will be there daily from about the 20th of April. The actual mating happens by the end of April / start of May. The birds will display on various distances from the hides, which means that you can photograph them with a wide range of lenses. As longest lens, anything from 400mm up to 800mm will work. The birds are used to the hides and are not that shy. During the photography session you can easily change lenses. As long as you remain quiet. 

 

The hides

We work with tents so that we can easily pick the best photo spots. On the black grouse lek, the tents allow you to put your lens at any height between 0 and 80cm above the ground. This will allow you to pick an high angle in order to get the ground as background or an extreme low angle in order to get those intense low angle shots which you need for photographing with back light. Some of the hides are positioned with the rising sun in the back and others are positioned facing towards the sunrise. This is perfect for making those special back light pictures!

 

There are no toilets in the hides. You will have to bring a pee bottle with you. For the ladies, we advise to use a "Travel John" urinal. 

 

Getting to the hides

Depending on the amount of snow, it takes about a 15 minute hike to the lek. We will walk through flat terrain. Once the snow has started to melt, the past few hundred meter can be boggy. High boots are an absolute must! Before the snow melt, warm winter boots are advised. 

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Itinerary

• Day 1. Pick up at Oslo Gardermoen airport. The guide will bring you to your accommodation and will give you a short introduction for the coming days. Dinner is at 17:00 and is included in the price. In the evening you will be brought to the lek where you will spend the night in the hide. 

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• Day 2 & 3. In the early morning you will photograph the black grouse. After the lekking is done, you will be picked up by the guide. You have to stay in the hide until the guide is on the lek, to make sure that the birds do not become afraid of the hides. Back at the accommodation you eat breakfast, back up your images of the morning, catch some sleep or photograph around the accommodation. There are bird feeders next to the apartments and the Rena River is just a few hundred meters away. Here you can find whooper swans, golden eyes, cranes, goosanders and dippers. Dinner is served at 17:00. In the evening it is time to head out again to the black grouse lek. 

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• Day 4. You will have the last photo session on the lek. After breakfast you will be brought back to Oslo Gardermoen airport for you flight home. 

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Fill in the booking form.

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Or contact us for inquiries for other dates and other questions.