A change of scene

[luzula]

I'm taking advantage of the distance teaching to go up to northern Sweden and go cross-country skiing with my parents. This is how it looked the other day; the mountains you can see in the background are in Norway. Also, yesterday I saw Siberian jays, which are my favorite corvids! ♥

Comments

[feroxargentea]

I was going to ask if the red grouse get annoyed when you cross their territory dressed in red-above-black like that (they do here, this time of year), but apparently it's not (or not exactly) the same species or plumage, so maybe not.

[luzula]

Oh, really? That's interesting. We did see a ptarmigan in its white winter plumage today--seems like your red grouse don't change color in the winter, even though it seems closely related? But then, I guess you don't have as much snow in winter. Anyway, it didn't seem annoyed at me, aside from flying away when I approached.

[feroxargentea]

No, they stay brown. The mountain hares do turn white, but I think the grouse have the better plan. It does snow quite often here in the Peak District, but it rarely lingers more than a few days at a time, even on the tops. But then it's the very southern limit of the mountain hares' range, so they're adapted for snowier places.

(The male grouse are very entertaining this time of year, if you have a red hat or a red lining to the hood of a black coat, like mine. They'll follow you the full length of their territory, buk-buk-buking indignantly at you. You take a few steps, look round, and they're motionless six feet away. If they were human, they'd be whistling and looking up at the sky, pretending they're not there. You take a few more steps, look back, and there they are, still six feet from you. It's like playing Grandmother's Footsteps. Ridiculous little beasts.)

[luzula]

Ha, that does sound like entertaining behavior! Although perhaps not entirely adaptive, if they are hunted...But I guess it must be okay, since they're still here.