Black grouse leks above the treeline

Black grouse (Lyrurus tetrix); capercaillie and hazel grouse in the forest below. Julian Alps (Pokljuka, Bohinj), Kamnik–Savinja Alps, Slovenia.

Best time: 15 Apr – 10 May (April to May). Where: Pokljuka plateau clearings (Rudno polje – Uskovnica), Velika planina (Kamnik Alps), Fužinske planine above Bohinj (Slovenia). Time of day: In place in full dark: display from about 04:00 (an hour before sunrise) until 07:30, peaking at first light.

• Partly on your own
• Free
• Telescope recommended
• Sound 4/5

Open it in the interactive calendarSunrise and sunset listening times for the day you pick, and the map.

When is the best time?

Peak: 15 Apr – 10 May. Mid April to 10 May

Active from 1 Apr to 31 May (April to May) in a typical year.

Time of day

In place in full dark: display from about 04:00 (an hour before sunrise) until 07:30, peaking at first light; a shorter evening lek in the hour before sunset.

• Dawn lek: 1 h before sunrise → 150 min after sunrise
• Evening lek: 1 h before sunset → sunset

What will you hear?

Bubbling 'rookooing' and explosive hissing from several cocks at once on a snow-patched clearing, ring ouzel and water pipit around them; capercaillie 'cork-pop' song from the forest edge in the same weeks.

Binoculars?

Telescope recommended. Sit 150 m+ off in cover at first light; a scope makes the display, binoculars are the minimum.

Where to go

• Pokljuka plateau clearings (Rudno polje – Uskovnica) — Dwarf-pine and pasture edges at 1,300–1,600 m; leks are traditional but not signposted. Map
• Velika planina (Kamnik Alps) — High pasture plateau outside the national park; leks on the meadow edges near the huts. Map
• Fužinske planine above Bohinj — Pasture plateaus (Planina Viševnik, Planina v Lazu); long approach in snow in April. Map

How to go on your own, and what it costs

Leks are not signposted and the park and DOPPS treat them as sensitive — ask rather than search. Once you know a site, walk up in full dark (Rudno polje car park for Pokljuka; the Velika planina cable car base or the walk-up from Stahovica; Bohinj's Fužinske planine from Ukanc), stay 150 m off in cover and leave after the cocks disperse.

Cost: Free; Velika planina cable car ticket if used (check current prices).

Free or no-guide alternative: Velika planina is outside the national park with open pasture edges: sleep in a hut and listen from the trail edge at first light without leaving it.

Field-recording notes

Both grouse are protected and declining in Slovenia; DOPPS and the park treat lek locations as sensitive — ask rather than search, and once you know a lek arrive in full darkness, stay 150 m+ downwind in a natural hide and leave only after the cocks disperse. Snow-firm early mornings carry sound well but crunching snow is your problem. Never approach a capercaillie lek; record it from the forest edge at 200 m or not at all. No playback, no drones (park rule anyway).

Sources

• Triglav National Park – fauna (Slovenian)
• DOPPS – bird watching
• xeno-canto – Black grouse

Similar spectacles

• Capercaillie and black grouse leks in the eastern forestsNorway · Lek · peak 15 Apr–5 MayCapercaillie's clicking, cork-pop and grinding song from pine bog edges, wing-beats of cocks flying in, black grouse bubbling on the open bogs; cranes, whooper swans and Tengmalm's owl in the same nights.
• Black grouse leksUnited Kingdom · Lek · peak 1 Apr–30 AprBubbling 'rookooing' from displaying males, hissing 'tchu-wee' sneezes and flutter jumps; curlew and snipe often in the same soundscape.
• Capercaillie and black grouse — the ones you do not visitGermany · Lek · peak 5 Apr–30 AprThe capercaillie's accelerating clicks, 'cork-pop' and grinding — a very quiet song (audible to ~200 m) that is almost never recorded in Germany without a permit. Black grouse bubbling in the Alps.
• Black grouse leks in the AlpsFrance · Lek · peak 25 Apr–25 MayBubbling 'rookooing' and hissing from males on snow patches at the treeline, ring ouzels, water pipits, and meltwater.
• Black grouse leks in the Alps and JuraSwitzerland · Lek · peak 15 Apr–15 MayBubbling 'rookooing' rolling across a snow-patched alpine meadow from several cocks, sneezing 'tchu-shwee' hisses, wing-flutter jumps; ring ouzel and water pipit around them; cowbells not yet arrived.
• Black grouse leks above the treelineAustria · Lek · peak 15 Apr–15 MayBubbling 'rookooing' and explosive hisses from several cocks on a snow-patched clearing, wing-flutter jumps, ring ouzel and ptarmigan croaks; cowbells arrive later in the season.

More: all spectacles in Slovenia · black grouse leks · leks · Slovenia in April · Slovenia in May