Brambling

A wonderful day today, heading further north and just reaching the southern edge of Lapland. We had this Brambling late in the day, not a particularly easy bird to see most of the time, so we were pleased.

Edit (after midnight): After dinner we we went out to a Great Snipe lek (courtship area) fairly close by. It was fascinating; in a marshy area, at least two dozen snipe were actively moving around, jumping darting, flying, and performing breeding displays. The birds were difficult to see, since it was fairly dark and there was low vegetation nearly everywhere, but as we got used to what to look for, we saw more and more. Of the few leks Marylee and I have seen this was definitely the best. We also saw and heard black grouse in similar activity; willow grouse were audible sporadically, and one flew by, as did a short-eared owl--and we heard a cuckoo occasionally at a great distance. A wonderful evening.