Female Dusky Grouse in the Wasatch Mountain RangeFemale Dusky Grouse in the Wasatch Mountain Range – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

I don’t see Dusky Grouse near as often as I would like to see them so I was quite happy when I saw several of them last week on my way up Skyline Drive to Bountiful Peak in northern Utah. I didn’t see any adult males, those handsome buggers must leave the females to do all of the work rearing their broods (and do according to BNA), but I did see several adult females with their chicks. The chicks seemed more skittish than the adults, we were able to drive past the female in the photo above without her moving and it was a narrow, one lane gravel road.

I hope to photograph more males this fall after the temperatures cool down some.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Dusky Grouse photos plus facts and information about this species.

*I am away again, left the city behind and headed for locations with far fewer people and many more birds. Please feel free to share this post.