Posted 8 years ago
Alan2310
(915 items)
Good Morning CW Members--- 1:30 AM)2016-7-15
When i was part of a group of Birds Watcher specialist on the field looking for nesting birds, we face many birds behaviour, when some simulate injury(Kildir, Ruff) , other become really furious(Falcon, Owl) when some others just attacked.
This what happen to me during this summer of 1989 when I was in the region of Manic 5 (Daniel Johnson Dam).
I just walking along the forest road, listen mostly Warbler and Sparrow, i just doing fine taking note of what i could expect to see(regarding what i ear) when suddenly coming from nowhere a Ruffed Grouse start walking toward me, displaying there foliage nicely, making terrible noise, well well i think this male want to hide something, he try hard to get me away from the side road(tactic commonly use), I decide to go on the opposite direction, bad choice, this little fellow start to charge me, picture 3 and 4 are is attended to attracted me in one direction, picture 1 is when realize i am not fallowing and finally picture 2 after hitting my leg(that's explain the out-focus)
A day later I was able to raise the nesting code from territorial (the attack)
to chick present(5), i see them crossing the road with the couple.
Thanks for Viewing.
Alan
--------------------------------The ruffed grouse------------------------------------
The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa.
The ruffed grouse is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "partridge", an unrelated phasianid, and occasionally confused with the grey partridge, a bird of open areas rather than woodlands.
The ruffed grouse is the state bird of Pennsylvania, United States.
------------------------------------Behaviour----------------------------------------
The ruffed grouse differs from other grouse species in its courtship display. Unlike other grouse species, the ruffed grouse relies entirely on a non-vocal acoustic display, known as drumming. The drumming itself is a rapid, wing-beating display that creates a low frequency sound, starting slow and speeding up (thump...thump...thump..thump-thump-thump-thump). Even in thick woods this can be heard for a quarter mile or more (~1/2 km).
The ruffed grouse spends most of its time quietly on the ground, and when surprised, may explode into flight, beating their wings very loudly. In the winter, they will burrow into the snow for warmth, and may suddenly burst out of the snow when approached too closely.
Courtesy of : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruffed_grouse
Alan thank you for the post, I prefer to see living in nature than dead on a hunting board!
Ive had many encounters with these allan and will fake a injury or fly at you if they have young nearby. They always seem to scare the crap out of me almost when they unexpectedly fly up in front of you. Great pics.
kyratango, you are welcome my friend, me too, and many more to come, I wish you will love it.
Caperkid, I know you also walk a lot in the wilderness, it is something surely happen to you many time, you know what I meaning in my story.
Many thanks to both of you for taking some of your time to comments my post, also thank you for the love, much appreciated.
Regards
Alan
Great Post. Enjoyed the pictures and story.
Yes, this is a great post Alan, I'm glad I didn't miss it this time around. I really enjoyed reading it and can imagine you out there with this chasing you! ;)
buckethead, As a Birds watcher yourself i could imagine you would love this one, thanks for the comment and the love, really appreciated you bring back this one.
Shareurpassion, well I have to mention I was 30 year at the time, I could competed with this one, but 2 week earlier i was down below pentecote river, i was laterally aggressed by a Goshawk, much bigger and very agressive, I just turn around till my head was in place, i have my Gibson recorder at the time, and when i put this event on my player, i feel all the tension and running for saving your life, LOL, but most likely the incredible voice of that male defender of the nest, I was very to close, good memory.
Many thanks for stopping by, and for the love too, very much appreciated
regards
Alan