The first warmth lowers the snow level, and the night cold makes it more compact; grouses then leave the tree tops and more likely are visible on the ground. This male capercaillie was weighting its territory with slow steps, taking position in the waiting of the right moment to start its daily spring shows. This is a picture from last week, and it was intended to be a greeting for the coming mating season. Actually, the greeting appears to be already outdated: this very morning, passing by the same place, I found this bird already showing off in its courting display, so far still without any attendance (at least from its own class...).
Click on the image to further enlarge it.
At the end of September two Italian photographers came here for a vacation, and stayed one week at our hostel; guests for the first time, then, in the term's classical meaning. Nature and outdoor enthusiasts as they are, they got things going in the right way, exploring the territory without sparing any energy, following the hints by yours truly. This way they have been able to enjoy most of the beauty of these latitudes' autumn, albeit a weakening one. I am glad to give visibility to their passion and niceness devoting this post to a gallery made with a selection of the pictures they made here around: thereby, they are guests a second time. At the same time it's a way to show what results the commitment and a correct approach could produce – from a wildlife standpoint – even in such a short period of time, and not in the very best season, at least for the animals. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you, in strict alphabetical order, the dynamic duo Perlino & Pons (Luca and Massimiliano respectively), whom I thank here for the helpfulness. By the way, the Chronicles are today passing the milestone of 400 pictures, since May 2007.  I believe I could spend the rest of my life in Sweden (and, to be honest, I hope to do so) and yet continue to experience a special emotion at every encounter with the Nordic fauna. After all, I am and I’ll always be a foreigner, a man from South of Europe raised between broad-leaf forests and Mediterranean scrub. To whom "Capercaillie" is a name which the aftertaste of a myth, that urogallus taken as paradigm of the endangered wildlife in the Alps. A shape which still makes me jump anytime I see it, despite I meet it quite often.
Moose, balck grouse, dotterel… those are now my fellow travellers, the characters that accompany the days of that journey which is my Swedish life. The Capercaillie, but not just, is also a road companion in the literal meaning: along the roads it's easier to spot it and distinguish it from the depths of the forest; and it’s along a road, from the privileged point of observation of a scarcely nature-friendly car, that it’s possible to get closer to it, being it more confident towards a car than to a human. Urogallus, then, and one from yesterday: a cold and windy morning where I met several female squatted in holes dug in the earth, warming up; then, who knows, bringing that warmth to the chicks probably waiting nearby, under the shelter of the undergrowth.  A male capercaillie, caught while nibbling pine needles, stands on a tapestry made of white snow, hoarfrost and milky sky.
As always, click on the thumbnail to enlarge. In this case, even more so.  Yesterday I met a female Capercaillie especially friendly and cooperative. Instead of just stealing some of those furtive shots which are usually connected with such accidental encounters (and which always leave a bad taste in the mouth, under the point of view of personal fulfilment and empathetic relationship with the subject), I took advantage of its kindness watching her for quite a long time.
And admiring her: the massive body, perfect to keep the heat, is also a masterpiece of mimetism, wonderful in its warm and marbled tones culminating in the tawny breast; the thick plumage on the powerful claws; the bill, an ideal tool to cut handfuls of pine's needles, taken away with a strong torsion of the neck: a move clearly visible in one shot of the sequence you can see after the break (click on Read More). I spent 45 minutes together with this remarkable bird, keeping myself discreetly in distance; during this time she just occasionally looked at that unknown shape which was producing strange swishes at six frame per second. Until she decided, for once in total quietness and freedom, it was time to move to another tree. |
All site contents are: © Vitantonio Dell'Orto, all rights reserved worldwide. The Chronicles of Särna, and other stories from the North.
I live in Sweden, in Särna (Dalarna). The Chronicles are a photo diary about the nature (but not just) here around and from all the Scandinavian areas where my photo job takes me.
My book: "My Sweden - Tales from an Italian photographer in the North" is available in the bookstores and by the publisher.
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