in the bear hide

The footprints are visible in the trail mud which is promising. We get a big hide for just the two of us and make ourselves cosy.

There are windows both sides so we try to keep an eye on everything. An elk first comes to lick the brick of salt on the pole. Looks like she's enjoying it. On the other side of the house there is active bird life: jays, wood pigeons and a busy raccoon dog.

A roe deer appears where the elk just was and starts to eat grass. Then disappears.

We take turns sleeping, I'll be the first one on watch. It gets so dark that everything seems to move. And I constantly have the feeling that while looking to one side probably a whole gang of bears passes on the other side. The only one I can see is the raccoon dog going back and forth in the rain. After two hours I wake up Kalle and go to sleep.

When it's my turn again it is light outside. The roe deer wakes up under a bush and goes to eat to the other side of the meadow. Then goes back and lies down, only his head sticking out of the grass. His eyes are half-closed but the ears keep moving. So that's what the deer are doing in the woods when they are not fleeing.

Jays are up as are the pigeons. And a willow warbler somewhere. A cuckoo comes singing loud and sits on the big lone tree on the meadow. Soon a pigeon goes to sit near it and stares the cuckoo. Then another pigeon comes and they stare together. The cuckoo ignores them. After I check there again after watching the raccoon dog on the other side the cuckoo is gone and a pigeon sits there instead. The deer goes and eats some more and leaves then over the stream.

Eight o'clock it's time to leave and no bear this time. Still nice to watch animals and birds minding their own business.