The easterly sky lightens up, although the sun is still below the horizon. It is cold, but who cares. Singing larks are sprinkling the sky, invisible Stonechats voice their scrappy warbles... I am waiting for Black Grouse to start their other-wordly bubbles and hisses. On this military training ground near Ede, Black Grouse are much earlier risers than the soldiers who practice rifle shooting between nine and five (with a noon break). Entering these training grounds is not permitted, but doing so nevertheless, makes the trip even more excit-ing. It is early in the 1970s, the heaths are still adorned by a scattering of grouse. Alas, at present the species is ecologically extinct, despite some diehards which serve as a tourist attraction on the Sallandse Heuvelrug (or Hautes Fagnes and Luneburger Heide, for that matter, the breeding sites nearest to Salland but too far away to enable exchange).
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