Black grouse lek visit

Female is in the tree
All of the males are at the base
of the trees below her.  In this photo
you can see the butt of one male

One of the coolest things to do here in Grimsö is to go and watch the black grouse during the lekking season.  Leks are the display ground for many bird species (grouse and crains etc.)  This is where the males gather together and they will dance and put on a display for the females that hang out in the trees and the surrounding landscape.  The females watch the males strut around and make a big fuss of themselves.  To watch this behavior, you have to be out there before sunrise because you need to sneak under the cover of darkness to be able to sit there and watch the display.  My first attempt was unfortunately too light already at 5am.  Being that it's Sweden and you know...spring it already started to get too "bright" by 5am.   

With my lack of bird biology knowledge, I decided to go home and try again another day.  From what I hear, if they are really in the fever of display, the birds will come back - you just have to be patient and QUIET.  So, 3 days later I returned, earlier and made it into the observation blind.  I went at 4am and fell asleep.  However, I set my alarm for 5am.  At 4:40 I awoke to hear the birds calling.  I shut off my alarm and was waiting for the light to come out better.  Although the sun was up, it was not bright, it was still dusky.  So I leaned back and was listening, waiting and trying to watch.  The little shed had benches in it, but my bench was far away from the little window.  So, at 4:50 I didn't even realize what I had done, but I reached down and scooted the bench forward.  POOF! all the birds were gone.  Spooked by the scraping of the bench across the wooden floor.  Again, I was told the birds would come back - but I think I was still too early in the season cuz by 6:30am they had not returned so I left.

So, one more try right?!?!  A week later, I had to get out there even earlier because of the light and this time I set the bench right next to the window when I arrived.  Success!! and even the little noises I did make - the birds were so inthrawled in their display dance that it took quite a bit of noise to flush them away.  By 8am they were still dancing and I was bored.  (GASP!)

However, the behavior was pretty cool up till it became redundant.  The males would stand on their little mounds, fan out their feathers, make some noise and then hop down and wander over to another male's mound.  When close enough, the males would puff up, look big and charge each other.