On the Black Grouse Lek - part 2

Three months... yes, three months! I can't believe I left so much time pass between part one and part two of this post! What a shame... :(

               24mm f/5.0 1/100sec ISO800 +3.33

Anyway, I am going to show you now probably the most interesting part of the courtship, the actual fights.

While the mating display I told you about in the previous part continues for most of the time, once in a while a more serious action takes place, especially when females come to visit the lek.

               560mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO3200 +0.67

               560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/6.3 1/640sec ISO6400 +0.67

The confrontations go from just facing each other without really "attacking", to jumping towards the adversary trying to find an opening.

               400mm f/5.6 1/1600sec ISO1250 +1.33

And then... ATTACK!

               400mm f/5.6 1/640sec ISO640 +0.67

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/6.3 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

Everything is very fast and it's quite difficult to clearly see what's happening in those few seconds. Only when I look at the pictures, later, after coming back home, I can see the drama of the action, the fierce look and the strength the birds put in the fight. Feathers fly in the air and for a short but very intense time, the two birds fight in the air, almost as if they were dancing.

               400mm f/6.3 1/1000sec ISO2000 +1

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO800 +1.33

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

               400mm f/5.0 1/400sec ISO3200 +0.67

Shots have been taken throughout a period of four days, in different weather, as you can see from the colors and the light conditions.

               400mm f/7.1 1/800sec ISO2500 +0.67

               400mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO2500 +0.67

And then, suddenly, everybody fly away... a small bird of prey arrived in the distance... better be far, you never know. It was almost time, anyway, for the birds to stop their mating activity for the day.

               722mm f/8.0 1/320sec ISO6400 -0.67

The four days spent photographing these beautiful birds have been an awesome experience that I hope to repeat one day. If you enjoyed the shots, you might enjoy also the story I published on MAPTIA:

https://maptia.com/frazgu64/stories/fight-dance

Golden Eagle

Last year, in December, I went to Sweden with the goal of taking some dramatic shots of the majestic Golden Eagle. I had a great experience, even though the bad weather conditions and not that much luck, prevented me from coming back home with the great pictures I was hoping.

In April, I went to visit Conny again, this time to photograph the Black Grouse during the mating season. Since the birds stop fighting around 9:00am, the rest of the day was available to focus on different species, and I asked Conny to stay in the eagle hide to try again and shoot this wonderful bird.

So every day, after a one-hour drive back from the lek to the house, and after having some breakfast, I was going to the eagle hide to spend the afternoon there.

Unfortunately, the first three days passed with no eagle showing up: the following day was going to be my last chance and I was preparing myself "psychologically" to get home once again without the eagle shot. 

On the fourth day I arrived to the hide as usual, after passing the first hours in the early morning with Conny at the Black Grouse lek. Some time passed without anything special happening, but then, finally some luck: I saw a shadow passing over the hide, a glimpse of the Golden Eagle, and it landed on the trees nearby. I took some shots with the second camera placed on the side of the hide while the eagle flew, over my head, to land again, but this time just in front of the hide. The dominant male, an old eagle that had been visiting the site for many years.

               400mm f/5.6 1/1000sec ISO320 +1

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO320 +1

               400mm f/5.6 1/1250sec ISO320 +1

The majestic bird was very close, just a few meters from me. I am glad I had placed there the 5D MkIII, set in silent mode – I do not know what would have been its reaction from hearing a normal shutter sound. I was moving my lens extremely slowly, not to scare the eagle and I was able to admire and photograph that bird for almost 50 minutes: just the eagle and myself.

No fights between birds, dramatic shots in the snow or contest winning pictures, I know, but such a close encounter with the Golden Eagle was really special.

               800mm f/8.0 1/320sec ISO1000

               800mm f/8.0 1/640sec ISO1000

               560mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO640 -0.33

               800mm f/8.0 1/1000sec ISO1000

               400mm f/8.0 1/2000sec ISO1000

               200mm f/6.3 1/250sec ISO640

               560mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO640

               200mm f/6.3 1/1000sec ISO640

               200mm f/6.3 1/1600sec ISO640

               560mm f/6.3 1/250sec ISO640

A Brief Encounter

Though the main purpose of this trip was to see and shoot the Black Grouse courtship activities during the peak of the mating season, the Swedish forest gave us the opportunity for a brief encounter with a nice little owl.

The Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus), also known as Tengmalm's Owl, it is said to be very shy and elusive, so difficult to study and apparently not as much is known of this species, vs the other owls.

Our chance to take a picture lasted just a few seconds, the time the owl popped out of the hole in the tree to check who was out there. Not much light at that moment so the photo is a little grainy, but still I am happy to have been able to shoot this nice nocturnal bird.

              560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO 800 +0.67

              560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO 800 +0.67

             560mm f/5.6 1/500sec ISO 800 +0.67

Searching for the Golden Eagle – Day 1

The Golden eagle. Beautiful, strong, majestic, iconic. A dream for many nature photographers. One of my dreams as well.

We leave from Malpensa early in the morning, Sabrina, Valerio and myself, to start our adventure in the search of the eagle. Our destination, Kalvträsk, Sweden. There we'll spend three full days with Conny who will guide us in this endeavour.

After three flights and 8 hours, after begging Lufthansa crew to let us bring the heavy camera equipment on-board, after missing our luggage that remained in Frankfurt, we finally arrive in Skelleftea, the closest airport to the little village that will be our home-base. 

There is Conny's wife,  Catarina, who is so nice to have come to the airport to pick us up; we drive two hours into the forest – apart a little stop to get some supplies in Burträsk – until we get to Kalvträsk.

Not all the time will be dedicated to the eagles, because the sun sets very early and is already dark at 3:30pm, so one other goal of this trip is to photograph the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. So, despite the long journey out here, after a very good pasta dinner we are already ready to go out for some night photography. Before going, we do not know if we'll see the the Northern Lights, the activity is expected moderate, but the sky is clear and the stars are bright against the dark celestial sphere, so we are sure we will not regret this.

Two other photographers from England are here and almost ready to leave, but tonight they join the group for one last shooting session and all the 5 of us, plus Conny behind the wheel, get onto his 4-wheel drive truck, and head outside the village. Along the road it looks like we were in a Christmas winter land fairy tale: everything is frosted and sparkling in front of the car's lights. Once we get to the place, we unload our tripods and set to take pictures of the Milky Way. It's cold but bearable.

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM@22mm f/4.0 25sec ISO3200 - tripod

We start shooting at the stars but soon the sensors of our cameras start picking some green reflections over the horizon, so we concentrate our attention there. The phenomenon keeps changing, sometimes with red flashes, sometimes with vertical or horizontal  light designs. The naked eye can't really see all the colors, because the activity is low, 2-3 on a scale of 9, but the powerful sensors of the cameras can record this wonderful expression of Nature. 

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM@17mm f/4.0 15sec ISO3200 - tripod

 I wish Denise could be here with me, but she could have never "survived" the cold temperature we will go through in the next few days and nights. 

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM@17mm f/6.3 30sec ISO3200 - tripod

             EOS 5D Mark III – Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM@17mm f/5.0 25sec ISO2000 - tripod

When the activity slows down, we decide to get back, since tomorrow we'll have to leave before dawn. Even though its intensity was not high, experiencing the Norther Lights for the first time it's been very exciting.