If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I recently had the luck of spotting – and photographing – the elusive Eurasian Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix).
As if that weren’t exciting enough, I discovered that mating season was just around the corner. This meant I had the rare opportunity to observe and capture the fascinating courtship displays performed by the males, which take place from early April through late May. Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued, and I was eager to photograph and document this natural spectacle.
During one of my hikes, a local stopped me and asked what I was up to, hauling such a large camera and lens around. I explained that I was hoping to photograph the courtship display of the Eurasian Black Grouse. To my surprise, he mentioned that he regularly spots them in an area I hadn’t explored yet. Naturally, I headed straight there the very next day. Partway through the hike, a small patch of snow caught my attention. It looked trampled, with countless footprints converging from different directions – just the right size to belong to Black Grouse.
I had apparently found one of the leks!
My motivation couldn’t have been higher! I decided to head out early the next morning, feeling confident I’d snap a few decent photos.
Spoilert alert: I could not have been more wrong! As usual for wildlife photography, more than one attempt was necessary…
On my first morning up the mountain, not a single Black Grouse showed up – not even in the distance. Undeterred and determined to get some photos (and maybe a few videos), I kept at it. For the next few mornings, I was up between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m., hiking up to the spot and patiently waiting in the cover of some trees for any Black Grouse males on the lookout for love to make an appearance. But don’t feel too sorry for me just yet! Sure, waking up that early and hiking to the site with all my gear was no walk in the park – but hey, it definitely counted as a solid workout! 😉
Finally, on my fifth or sixth attempt, I spotted a male standing in the lek as I approached the site! I quickly ducked behind a small mound, slipped into my ghillie suit, and began creeping closer, hoping I wouldn’t be noticed. As I peeked over the mound, I saw a second male had entered the lek and was challenging the first. I could hardly believe my eyes! Today surely would be my lucky day! With my heart racing, I moved in carefully, making sure not to give myself away. Once I was hidden beneath some tree branches, I started firing off bursts of shots.
Back home, I faced yet another test of patience. A full workday awaited me, all while knowing that 3841 photos of competing Black Grouse males were sitting on my SD card, just waiting to be reviewed. In the end, this might honestly have been the toughest part of the journey! 😄
Later that afternoon I went through all 3841 photos and after four laborious rounds of review I was left with 42 photos of that day to call my hard drive their new home. So, after all this talking, let me share some of the results with you. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!
Wow! You made it this far through my post? At this point, there’s something else I would like to share with you!
Not only did I come home with nearly 4,000 photos that day, but I also mustered up the courage to use my Sony alpha 6700’s video feature for the first time. I’ll admit, it felt a bit intimidating at first, being used to stills. As a total newbie to video editing, I nevertheless decided to give it a go. Maybe someone should’ve warned me that video editing is a whole different beast compared to photo editing. Naturally, I ended up down more than one rabbit hole in the process. But hey, I hope you’ll enjoy the final result!
Hey Felix,
What amazing footage!
I’m a bit jealous. 🙂
Your story really showed how much work and patience goes into capturing something like that. And the experience you take home is priceless — it’s not just photos or a video, it’s the whole package that motivates us to get out of bed early in the morning.
And when, after several tries, all the pieces come together like they did in your case, we come home with a smile and an adventure that tells a story.
Great job — looking forward to our next get-together!
Best, Markus