Dusky and Ruffed Grouse Chicks(20140804) A second Supplemental

The first pair of Dusky chicks we found on Monday could hardly be call chicks any more. They were nearly as big and filled out as mom.

Here is the second, this was a great encounter. I tried "talking" to them to help keep them calm and it sort of worked.

Here is a shot of Mom with one of the chicks. I could never get them situated to get all three in the frame at the same time. Herding cats in nothing compared to herding birds!

Here is a shot of Mom number two on the day. This little sweetheart had at least 4 chicks that we could find, there could have easily been more as we didn't spot number 4 until the very end of our encounter.

Here is another shot of her chick number three. He was on the "sunny side of the street". If you look closely you will see that it is eating the berries off the bushes.

The fourth chick of group two seemed to be a little smaller and lagging behind the others. It actually came up from behind us, so there could have quite easily been more further back or even across the road. I love how you can see its wet featheres as it has been moving through the damp undergrowth.

Next up is Momma Ruffie. Again these beirds were in heavy shade and difficult to even find let alone get decent images.

And of course the star of the show was this little darling pretending to  be all grown up!

Overall a fabulous session with some Grouse, I haven't had this much fun with these birds since the spring.

There's more to come yet of our fabulous Southern swing through Porcupine hills. Next up will be a couple of Muley Bucks.
Turbo