Hazel Grouse

A 3 and a half hour walk up to Mellomkollen was not exactly a bird rich experience but there was a sniff of quality. Temperatures were hovering around zero and there was a thick frost on the trees. On the way back it began to drizzle which made things very slippery under foot/wheel.
I had of course hoped for Three-toed Woodpecker but needless to say no joy although the area does look fantastic for them and there is a lot of evidence of woodpeckers but the only ones I saw were 2 Great Spotted.
The undoubted highlight was Hazel Grouse. I flushed one bird which gave me a second long glimpse then heard a bird singing which then responded to me playing the call on my phone but remained invisible. On the way back I went off track alongside a stream where there was a good mixture of decidous and spruce trees.  Here I flushed 2 birds which were feeding in trees above me. They landed not too far away but were obscured although one did allow half decent views and this cr*ppy picture.

Hazel Grouse

Then when I was leaving another bird flew out of the tree right above me! Oh well, better luck next time.

I flushed 3 three Black Grouse but only glimpsed shadows and heard their (noisy) wingbeats.
Passerines were extremely scarce with a handful of Blue, Willow and Coal Tits, Treecreeper and Goldcrest.