A Standout
Many years ago when we first settled in Idaho it was fairly common to see Ruffed Grouse discreetly stalking the nearby forests, or hear a male drumming its wings from a secluded woodlot. Those incidences seem less frequent today. This winter, however, we’ve had a few visitations from a grouse going about exploring our yard.
The Ruffed Grouse is a native game bird species and a master of deception. Its dappled feathering and extremely slow, furtive gait makes this avian character difficult to detect as it easily melts into the woodland understory. In today’s image “our visitor” pensively poses on a mound of snow. As you can see, its concealment techniques have failed as the camera captured the wily creature on the white surface against the dark shadows of our woods. This Ruffed Grouse was a standout.
~ Anecdote and Ruffed Grouse capture, A Standout © Jerry L. Ferrara