Hazel Grouse in the Mist

Today was very grey – overcast in town and misty higher up. It was windless though and I thought it would be good conditions to revisit the Hazel Grouse and get an idea on how reliable they are (for guiding). Well, he appears to be very reliable and today had the company of a female. Both were feeding on alder catkins and allowed me to stand underneath them whilst they fed (in separate trees). I have never seen them feeding this well before and really wish it had been better light as it would have been nice to get good photos of them feeding. The female is particularly well marked around the head and looks quite male like which I guess makes her an old bird and matches the markings of the female that I saw in the area in the spring.

The forest was very quiet otherwise but I did find 9 Pine Grosbeaks (6,1,1,1) but no adult males amongst them.

This video of the Hazel Grouse starts with the male singing and then shows the agility of the female feeding high up in an alder

Today they were feeding in alder trees whereas last week the male was on the ground eating blueberries

the female stretching for an catkin. They are surprisingly agile high up in the trees

she has a well marked dark throat for a female

the male again

a 1cy male Pine Grosbeak (konglebit) brightens up a grey day

4 birds in the mist

a flock of Common Crossbills (grankorsnebb) which are around in small numbers