“It’s a shadow, the phantom of the forest. It moves, allways unseen”
“I’ve lived in Sweden all my life. I’ve seen more than a thousand mammal species. I’ve never seen a European lynx”
“Guys, there’s a place in Sweden with a mother and cub European lynx present for several days now. I went there and saw them.”
“If I were you, go!”
…
Immediately I made some calls to people who might be interested. No response… As usual it was easy levelling with Iwan. We decided to leave the next day.
We had three days to drive the 1700km, try to see the lynxes and get back for work. On the way to Iwan, my car broke down. This meant transferring everything into the infamous Nissan Sunny, also known as “wrecky” or “The phantom of Kessel-lo”. Twenty hours later we were in Sweden, at the meadow where the Lynxes had been seen. Upon arrival we met an old friend, Henrik Lind (Club 300 foundation), with whom we had birded in Falsterbo several years ago.
Everybody very nervous, scanning non-stop, but no Lynxes. The local Great grey owl paid us a visit, nice indeed but no Lynx.
Nature photographer admiring Great grey owl at 30m
A few hours of sleep later, we were back at the meadow. Nothing there. Another two hours later, Iwan caught a glimpse of what looked like a Lynx. He lost sight of it. A very intense atmosphere was now present amongst the few Lynx watchers. Two minutes later, I noticed something moving in the grass, but I lost the animal as well trying to put the scope on it. Moments later I was looking in the eyes of the adult female Lynx… It was a MEGA
Probably the cub, moving along the forest edge
We saw mother and her cub for about an hour. A local photographer told us it was impossible to get closer when the mother is around. The cub itself was reported to be not shy at all.
My picture is nothing special, but shows a wild European Lynx, which makes the photo very special.
Tired Lynx watchers on the way home
“If this fails, it was the most stupid idea ever”. Iwan & Karl, Prior to leaving
Jeroen Speybroeck
Crazy guys… Me like!
Jill
Zalig!
Brecht
Weirdo’s…
Brecht
Haha en den Henrik Lind man… leeft die nog!
Peter
Te zot maar schitterend gedaan!!
Hilbran
Freaks!
Anne-Laure
Yeah baby
René Janssen
Goed bezig, en super!!! Jammer dat ik echt niet mee kon, had er graag bij geweest, maar ach, het is maar een lynx 😉 whahahhahaha
Jan Kelchtermans
It evokes intense memories of one of my many trips into Scandinvia. July 18, 1999, Central Sweden. Driving towards a site for nightjar, Per (Swedish fellow) suddenly goes on the brakes. The headlights shine on a blinded lynx on the forest road right in front of us is. After a crouched posture (the same as the front cover of Mammals of Europe by Mitchell & Jones) the beast sits down beside a tree close to the road. I think there is rarely shouted that hard in a dilapidated Toyota Corolla …
Anyway, good fellows, make you aware that you took the right decision: into the car and straight to Vasteras! In the 19 years I am into the field now, I can count the stories of twichbare lynxes on three fingers. You both are more then just privileged! By the way, Sweeds, affected wit the boggy forest field area, do watch the GGO’s there since 2005. Since last year, there seems to be a settled lynx too and even a bear strolls through the area now and then. These animals know damned well that it’ a gun save area caused by the social control of wildlife watchers in that place! There is a future!
John & Margaret
Well done! looked like a gruelling trip…but well worth it. Thanks for sharing the results with us.
This is surely one of the hardest European mammals to connect with.
Chris Schenk
Als je niet gaat weet je zeker dat je hem niet ziet….. Mooi verhaal, mooie soort. Dit soort acties lijkt één van de weinige manieren om het dier te zien te krijgen, proficiat!
jan
zot – zotter – zotst! maar toch alweer goed gedaan!
Wil Luijf
Wow!!! This is the way we like it!
Hard work and finally the lynx without a collar! (like the ones in Spain!)
Good work, nice pictures and super results! Regards! Wil
Late night pussy
[…] Iwan and I actually managed to twitch a female and cub in Sweden back in 2011 (read the story here: http://www.karlvanginderdeuren.be/blog/?p=343). Apart from that, we spotlighted a highly probable lynx in Croatia, but could not be 100% certain. […]