Hazel Grouse / Hidden Jewel of the Mountain Wilderness

Описание: Today we will enjoy the last footage from this year’s September trip to the mountains. I managed to capture one of the most elusive spirits of our wildlife – the hazel grouse 🎥

If I were to make a ranking of animals that have cost me the most hours of futile effort throughout my filming career, the hazel grouse would proudly take second place – right below the red deer. This cautious forest bird sneaks through deep woodlands, bursts from the bilberry thickets almost from under your feet, and often reveals its presence only with a faint, high-pitched whistle. But showing up on my camera card? That would be asking too much 🥴

Late September and early October – the time of the red deer rut – is also the right period to observe hazel grouse. That is when their autumn display takes place: the males mark their territories, sing energetically, and even fight rivals. So during my deer trips, I always scout for hazel grouse territories as well, trying to film those fluffy little forest dwellers. Usually in vain 🥹

This year, I finally came across one active male who seemed quite willing to cooperate. Beautiful visions began to fill my mind – of the bird singing gracefully on a lichen-covered branch in golden morning light... But of course, not a chance.

1️⃣ On the first day, he sang his heart out but never appeared.
2️⃣ On the second day, he showed himself briefly but stayed silent.
3️⃣ On the third day, he whistled once in the distance, then spent half an hour walking around my hide in thick bilberry bushes – completely invisible.

So today’s footage is the result of three freezing mornings at –6 °C. The countless mornings I spent the same way in the past seven years don’t even count. And I will probably spend many more until that bird finally decides to have a face-to-face conversation with me 💪

We are not done yet, you mottled poultry! 🐔

🌿

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Want to buy me an ice cream? 🍦

I have always created videos for you on my own and at my own expense. Bringing today’s post to life took a total of 19 hours of work in the field and at the computer. If you’d like to support my work, you can donate to my PayPal or bank account:

✅ https://paypal.me/lukaspichvideo
✅ CZ24 2010 0000 0023 0078 8150

Thank you! 🙏

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✿ Species
Hazel grouse (Tetrastes bonasia)

✿ Location and date
Šumava National Park, Czechia | October 2025

✿ Equipment
Panasonic GH7
Sigma 60-600
Zoom F3
Sennheiser MKE 600

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

▶ YouTube (English)
   / @lukaspichvideo  

▶ YouTube (Czech)
   / @lukaspichkameraman  

▶ Facebook
  / lukaspichvideo  

▶ Instagram
  / pichlukas  

▶ Stock footage
https://www.pond5.com/artist/lukaspich

▶ E-mail
[email protected]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Hazel grouse | Tetrastes bonasia | Jeřábek lesní |
Haselhuhn | Gélinotte des bois | grévol común |
francolino di monte | Ря́бчик

#europeanwildlife #hazelgrouse #tetrastesbonasia