We split up into two groups to watch the birds. I was in the first group which had to build the bird watch shelter. We left from UiA at 1600 to drive about 30 minutes, left our cars there and walked about 1km uphill. On the way the instructor Svein told us different things about the flora and fauna e.g. the bud of the rowan (tree) taste like marzipan. Moreover it is possible to eat ants or their pee. Finally then he showed us the cane which was used as a candlewick in the old days.

The shelter

When we reached the place to stay we started to build a shelter out of logs, ropes and tarpaulins. It became the biggest shelter ever build for a bird watch of UiA student as Svein told us. During this work it was easy to see different phenomenons of group dynamics. On the one hand there were people starting to build while others talked about how to set the shelter up best. On the other hand some social loathing occurred and increased with the time. I really enjoyed this building process and learned useful knots and different way of building shelters. This was kind of new to me.

Under Construction

Finally we finished the shelter and one after another put their things inside. Then were eating our dinner and setting up a hunting bird in a tree to scare away the capercaillies on the next morning. To not scare them from the beginning, we put a plastic bag over the bird and made a construction with ropes which enabled us to pull a rope from the shelter and lift the bag from the hunting bird. Afterwards we went for a small walk with Svein to learn a bit more about the nature. Birds like to sit on dead trees which oftentimes are affected by the birch polypore. About peat moss Svein told us a spine-chiller: while construction work in Denmark a dead body was found. The police was called and they detected that the man was executed 2400 years ago. The “Tollund Man” was preserved by theses peat moss. Furthermore we learned different songs of different birds and animals.

When it got darker we even heard the capercaillies close by which was why we went into the shelter and kept whispering. Much fun was to play asshole in the shelter with head torches. I won all the time which was I guess a bit annoying for my mates. Anyway we went to sleep after some time.

The next morning Katja woke me up pinching my nose. I guess I snored a bit maybe. It was 6:00h and everyone was asleep till Katja told me that she saw a capercaillie. Svein got up too and handed over his binocular. When I spotted the bird and heard Katja whispering into my ear “all in all it looks like a black chicken on a tree” I couldn’t hold it and started laughing. She was so right. After watching THE bird a few minutes we got bored and went to sleep. At 9:00h we got up and walked back to our cars. As the one and only bird already left we didn’t even have to use our construction to let the hunting bird appear.

Conclusion

Cosy and Comfy

All in all it was a great trip for group bonding. The tasks were interesting and not difficult. We had time to play and talk and joke around. Everyone had to be in the same shelter which gave us time as a whole group. The facts Svein told us were exciting and the one capercaillie made the trip successful.