LOGBOOK - WEEK FOUR

This week, we made a slight exception to the "Wolf Mission" rule, following an extremely rare encounter that took us by surprise. During a camera trap survey in a remote area, we first came face to face with a beautiful male roe deer. We exchanged glances and remained motionless not to frighten him. He scanned us and then left, but without running and, above all, without barking, which meant that he wasn't in danger. This "don't move" technique should be applied to every encounter, as it helps the animal not to panic and, if you want to photograph wildlife, not to "get burnt out", as the alarm given may alert nearby species. We were on our way to our camera trap when, looking below, we noticed a medium-sized female bird wandering around with her 6-7 chicks. We hadn't brought our photographic equipment, so we quietly took out our cell phone, the female didn't notice us. Why was this such an exceptional encounter ? Because this bird was a ruffed grouse, a very difficult species to observe in the wild and, also because the female was accompanied by its chicks, which is even rarer. So, for 2-3 days, we tried our hand at stalking in the area, a little saddened not to have been able to immortalize the scene with the right equipment. But we still have stars in our eyes when we look back on it, and even if the photo is far from top quality, we'll show it to you anyway...
 

We also had a great evening, full of nice encounters one after the other, something we took full advantage of : a hare munching a flower, a fox posing with quite a trophy in its mouth (a sausage that will be missing from somebody's evening's supper...), a deer at the edge of a stream and, last but not least, a fawn seeking to gain its independence by moving away from the herd to prospect. Nature is full of wonders that you need to take care of. She knows how to offer gifts to those who don't rush her, don't run, don't search desperately but wait, patiently and respectfully. We'll be doing an article shortly on the best ways to observe wildlife, to avoid disturbing it and so enjoy it thoroughly, ethically and respectfully.

During one of our outings, a pair of nutcrackers disturbed us for almost twenty minutes. Couples arguing, talking about the next outing, go figure, but we can't say they were particularly discreet ! Stationed less than 20 meters apart, each on a different tree, they answered each other's questions until one of them finally left. We can't say we weren't happy to see them flying away, above all our ears.  

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit the "Woody Woodpecker" family, as other tasks awaited us. But we did have the pleasure to meet our little friends the marmots. Between two naps in the blazing sun, they found time to get a little active, having a little wrestling match. The hardest thing about marmots, when they're not used to the public, is to get a good shot at them. They'll spot you very quickly, whistle and the whole "gang" will go off to hide in the galleries, especially if you persist in trying to go in their direction. So you need to hide well (rock, bush, small mound etc.) or lie on the floor in camouflage gear, not moving and wait, over and over... And then you meet new other friends, less friendly because they're terribly sticky : the flies. As much as marmots will make you wait, flies will invade and harass you. Not to mention the summer heat, the blazing sun, in reality this photo costs more than it looks, especially when your hours of sleep can be counted on half the fingers of one hand. But the satisfaction of getting a shot, and above all of not disturbing the marmot colony, is worth every sacrifice.

We rounded off a warm afternoon with another of our forest's little clowns : the squirrel ! The little one was on the prowl for pears, wriggling and stretching to get his paws on his long-awaited booty... A true acrobat, he gave us a good laugh and livened up our already busy day...

See you soon for more news and adventures...


Article : TT - Wolf Mission
Photos : Wolf Mission