One of my favorite photography subjects is the Ruffed Grouse. Starting in the spring, the males will sit on a log and perform a "drumming" courtship display by flapping their wings to attract the females. The sound this creates is a muffled, thumping beat that gets progressively faster, sounding something like a small engine trying and failing to start. It is quite a beautiful spectacle and a welcome sign of spring after a long winter.
A walk in the woods
Ruffed Grouse profile
Young Ruffed Grouse out for a stroll
Warming up on the drumming log
Taking a walk across a road
Portrait between two trees
Im the middle of a drum solo
A gust of wind disrupts the drumming
A Ruffed Grouse with a rare copper-colored "ruff" on the neck. Usually the ruff is black, and supposedly this color morph occurs in less than 5% of the population. I have only seen this one in a lifetime of observing many grouse.
