Grouse

The frost is about -16 now, but the cold wind is blowing so bitingly that woolen shorts and one fleece shirt would not have been an exaggeration. This time, I left my skis in the car and walked along a deeply sunken rut, which has been the route of several skiers and skiers. Can reasonably carry a footman.

A grouse takes off almost from my feet, another one a little further away. Both hid in the shelter of a willow and listened for approaching sounds, then when the dark figure got too close, the flight reaction overcame the instinct to stay sheltered. I have noticed more tracks this winter than in many years, there have also been more sightings. I haven't been able to take pictures.

I follow the birds that have gone in the direction of the pond. They fly in a formation where one is a little further back on the side. They fly silently low and stand out whiter than the hawk below them, the black tail feathers emphasize the whiteness of the feathers.

The birds disappear behind the willows on the shore of the pond and, predictably, listen for a while in their places, and when the sounds are no longer heard, they start to waddle between the willows and peck the urns in their beaks, the stone pie grinds the urns into food, and the intestine removes the excess. At the bottom of the sleeping bag, the waste is mostly found.

I'm still thinking about grouse. They will probably settle down in the snow in their barren dining room. I remembered that in the 80s I shot one grouse and it was the only one. When hunting with a vertical ear, grouse are not the primary target of prey. I think I will give that bird to father and mother.

Today, the grouse, and especially the winter grouse, represents to me beauty, purity and immutability in this changing world; a memory of the times when it really was a life-giving bird in Lapland, even at our altitude. Riekko dives from the flight into the soft snow and moves some distance under the snow from its diving spot, then it settles down, above you can still hear bluish light through the snow layer.

The bird closes its eyes and curls up into a ball. Its small heart pumps blood and maintains vital functions that are satisfied with little. A grouse sleeps a grouse's sleep and its senses are alert for foxes and other predators.

That white fancy bird. Thanks for being here again.