GOSHAWK HIDE

Season; December - March 

Cost; 200 Euro pr person pr session

Booking; email here

You are hopefully about to experience a close encounter of the Northern Goshawk. The following details can help you to prepare and to make sure that you get the most out of your night – AND to make sure that the birds are not disturbed by your presence.

YOUR GUIDE, Mr. Terje Kolaas, can be reached on phone +4790836246 or mail terjekolaas@runbox.no

MEETING POINT AND TIME is at the roundabout at Mule just north of Levanger about 1 hour before sunrise (to be appointed in front). The address to be found here. From the meeting point we will drive about 10 minutes. You are welcome to leave the hide 30 minutes after sunset (unless the birds are still there!) . NEVER sooner than that, and NEVER during your stay and in daylight. If the raptor sees you enter or exit the hide, it will not show up again.

WALKING TO THE HIDE will only take 3 minutes. The bog can be wet, so water proof shoes are recommended

THE HIDE is a well isolated wooden hide. It is small, but comfortable for two photographers. It is equipped with chairs, a heater and bean bags for cameras. It is also possible to bring your own tripod if prefered. The hide has primitive toilet facilities, so please prepare as well as possible in front. There is 4G cell phone connection on the site (with Telenor).

WHAT GEAR TO BRING is always a matter of your taste. Since it is a very short walk, we recommend to bring both your short and your longest lenses. The distance to the bird can be as close as ten meters. The birds are sensitive to fast movements and sounds, so move your lens very carefully and dont make any noise! Normal shutter sound is no problem, though.

WHAT CLOTHINGS TO WEAR is again a matter of taste and your personal preference, but water proof boots and anything that keeps you warm on the feet is nice. The heater will keep your body warm.

THE GOSHAWK ROUTINE is somewhat unpredictable and differ from individual to individual, but it tends to visit the bait once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Sometimes it will show up in the middle of the day in stead, and once in a while it will not show up at all. That`s nature. Your guide will inform you about the actual birds routines. 

THE SCENE is prepared with several nice branches and trees for the hawk to land on on its way to and from the bait. The bait is normally hidden on the ground and will not be visible on your photo. If you stay several days, you are welcome to suggest different locations for the bait, suiting your preferences. Jays, Woodpeckers and small passerines usually visits the place as well. 

Please bring everything you brought into the hide back with you when you leave. And we always appreciate a phone call or a sms confirming that everything went fine and that the raptor experience was beyond all expectations :)

THANKS FOR VISITING AND WELCOME BACK!

For more photos and info check here

BLACK GROUSE HIDE 

Season; April 10th - May 10th

Cost; 200 Euro pr person pr session. Minimum two nights per person or two persons per night. 

Max 3 persons per night

Booking; email here

You are about to experience the amazing theater of lekking Black Grouses. The following details can help you to prepare and to make sure that you get the most out of your night – AND to make sure that the birds are not disturbed by your presence.

YOUR GUIDE, Mr. Terje Kolaas, can be reached on phone +4790836246 or mail terjekolaas@runbox.no

MEETING POINT AND TIME is at the Esso gas station at Åsen (about 20 km south of Levanger) at 18:00. The address to be found here. From the meeting point we will drive into the forest where you park your car for the night. Please inform us in front of your arrival if you do not intend to bring your own car. If so, we will gladly transport you and pick you up the next morning for an additional cost of 500 NOK.

WALKING TO THE HIDE will only take 5 minutes. The bog will be wet, so water proof boots (Wellingtons recommended!) are absolutely necessary. 

THE HIDE is a DOG-HOUSE pop-up-blind with a ground square of 170x170 cm. It is equipped with a camping chair, a plastic floor and a sleeping pad making a dry sleep possible. The hide is not heated, so the temperature inside will be equal to the one outside, which in late April/early May will be around 0 degrees C. It is an absolutely must to bring a sleeping bag or a thermal suit to keep warm. We`re glad to provide a warm sleeping bag for an additional cost of 300 NOK on request. The hide has no toilet facilities, so please bring your prefered facility or prepare the way that suit you most. It is possible to leave the hide for pleasing your nature between“the evening display” and “the dusk display”. There is 4G cell phone connection on the site (with Telenor).

WHAT GEAR TO BRING is always a matter of your taste. Since it is a very short walk, we recommend to bring both your short and your longest lenses. A tripod is essential since the light will be limited and fast lenses (f-stop 2,8 - 4) are always to be prefered. Some of the birds can be as close as 10 meters away from the hide . The birds are sensitive to fast movements and sounds, so move your lens very carefully and dont make any noise! Normal shutter sound is no problem, though.

WHAT CLOTHINGS TO WEAR is again a matter of taste and your personal preference, but water proof boots and anything that keeps you warm through the night is necessary. If you prefer to photograph on a low level you have to lay down on the wet floor and water proof trousers and a water proof jacket is needed to keep you dry. 

THE BLACK GROUSE ROUTINE is somewhat predictable and normally divided into three parts;

-        the evening display takes place at about sunset (+/- 1 hour). Because of this you should be ready in your hide at 20:00 o`clock THE LATEST. The evening display ends when it is all dark and all the birds leave the lek site simultaniously. NB: it is completely normal that the birds leave the site for short periods (2-10 minutes) during all parts of the lekking. DO NOT LEAVE THE HIDE UNLESS THE BIRDS HAVE BEEN AWAY FOR MINIMUM 30 MINUTES AT THE EVENING DISPLAY!

-        the dusk display is the next part of the show. It starts anytime between 02:00 and 04:00 at night, so you should be ready in your hide at 02:00 o`clock THE LATEST. From now you shall under no circumstance leave the hide earlier than 08:30 the next morning! The dusk display is the most intense part of the  lekking and is the part where the females tend to show up – if they show up. It is totally normal that ALL the birds fly away simultaniously once in a while, but they will normally not be away for more than a few minutes. If they dont come back within 20 minutes, they have probably entered their pause between the dusk display and...

-        the  sunrise display. After a longer break all the birds come back for a last session – lasting anything between 20 minutes and two hours. This is usually just after sunrise and the length of the session vary. The birds can take short breaks also during this session. If they have been away for at least 1,5 hour, you can safely leave the site being confident that they will not come back again. The show is over for today.

Please bring everything you brought into the hide back with you when you leave. And we always appreciate a phone call or a sms confirming that everything went fine and that the lekking experience was beyond all expectations :)

THANKS FOR VISITING AND WELCOME BACK!

For more photos and info check here

GREAT SNIPE HIDE

Season; June 10th - June 20th
Cost; 250 Euro pr person pr session. Minimum two persons per night - max 4 persons per night
Booking; email here

You are about to experience the amazing theater of lekking Great snipes. The following details can help you to prepare and to make sure that you get the most out of your night – AND to make sure that the birds are not disturbed by your presence.

YOUR GUIDE, Mr. Terje Kolaas, can be reached on phone +4790836246 or mail kolaas@dintur.no.

MEETING POINT AND TIME is at the YX gas station at Gråmyra just south of Levanger at 18:00. The address to be found here. From there we drive for about 30 minutes up to the mountains where you park your car for the night. Please inform us in front of your arrival if you do not intend to bring your own car. If so, we will gladly transport you and pick you up the next morning for an additional cost of 100 Euro. Unless you have prepaid for your stay in the hide, please make sure to bring payment here.

WALKING TO THE HIDE will take about 45 minutes. The distance is a little bit less than 3 km. Most of the way we will follow a well marked track. The last part is pretty steep, but no worry – we will take it slow. The bog will be wet, so water proof shoes are absolutely necessary. We recommend to dress light for the walk, but to bring more cloths to wear when settled in the hide.

THE HIDE is a DOG-HOUSE pop-up-blind with a ground square of 170x170 cm. It is equipped with a camping chair, a plastic floor and a sleeping pad. The hide is not heated, so the temperature inside will be equal to the one outside, which in June can be anything from 0 to 10 degrees C. It is an absolutely must to bring a sleeping bag to keep warm. We`re glad to provide a warm sleeping bag for an additional cost of 50 Euro on request. The hide has no toilet facilities, so please bring your prefered facility or prepare the way that suit you most. It is not possible to leave the hide during night, so prepare for 10 hours. There is marginal cell phone connection on the site (with Telenor), but calls and sms is possible. 

WHAT GEAR TO BRING is always a matter of your taste. Even if it is a pretty hard walk, we recommend to bring both your short and your longest lenses. A tripod is essential since the light will be limited and fast lenses (f-stop 2,8 - 4) are always to be prefered. Some of the birds can be as close as 1 meter away from the hide, so even wide angels can be useful. The birds are not sensitive to fast movements and sounds, so you can switch lenses and use all the windows in the hide during the night.

The light at the site is for some reason challenging for the automatic white-balance adjustments of any camera model, that consequently adjust too cool. We strongly recommend you to shoot raw-files, to make the correct adjustments later on.

WHAT CLOTHINGS TO WEAR is again a matter of taste and your personal preference, but water proof boots and anything that keeps you warm through the night is necessary. If you prefer to photograph on a low level you have to lay down on the wet floor and water proof trousers and a water proof jacket is needed to keep you dry.

THE GREAT SNIPE ROUTINE is predictable and normally goes like this;

Depending on their mood, they start the lekking anytime between 20 and 23 o`clock. They WILL show up in any type of weather – even snow and wind. Their entrance can be as good as invisible – they are just suddenly there! The first hour the birds can be heard singing from a hidden position in the gras or in the willow in the outskirts of the arena. The darker it gets, the more active the birds gets and at midnight they go crazy. The birds are not shy, so you are welcome to have all windows and doors open, without disturbing the birds.

Once in a while the birds pauses their lekking. This is normal behavour and they will soon take up the activity again.

The females are watching the show from the outskirt of the arena and are very, very rarely seen from the hides.

The lekking will fade out anytime between 04 and 08 in the morning. When the last bird has left the scene you are welcome to leave the hide, but never earlier than 07 o`clock to prevent disturbance to the lek. Please put the hide together and leave it where your guide showed you.

The walk back to your car is easy and will take about 30 minutes.  

Please bring everything you brought into the hide back with you when you leave. And we always appreciate a phone call or a sms confirming that everything went fine and that the lekking experience was beyond all expectations :)

THANKS FOR VISITING AND WELCOME BACK :-)