Ruffed Grouse 001

I was out walking on our trails this week and happened to come across a family of eight ruffed grouse. The babies are almost the same size as the adult now. They just look a little less mature.

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Ruffed Grouse 002

This was the last baby to cross the trail.

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Ruffed Grouse 003

Mom was a little worried with me around. She got on top of this stump to keep an eye on the kids.

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Ruffed Grouse 004

She kept calling so that the little ones knew where she was. She let me walk right up to her acting like a decoy so I wouldn’t follow the kids.

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Ruffed Grouse 005

All seven of the young grouse worked their way by mom and into the thick brush.

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Ruffed Grouse 006

They were pretty good at sneaking by.

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Ruffed Grouse 007

After the babies moved on mom looked at me from around a birch tree and then followed after the kids.

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Ruffed Grouse 008

I was fortunate that she walked on this moss-covered log which was in the open letting me get a good photo of her.

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Ruffed Grouse 009

She jumped up on another tree and kept making that same sound before they all disappeared into the woods.

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I took one last shot of her on the tree. Usually ruffed grouse have about a dozen eggs. About half of them survive through summer.

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Ruffed Grouse Nest 001

This is a ruffed grouse nest I had photographed a few years ago.

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Ruffed Grouse Nest 002

About the time I thought they would hatch there was a huge thunder storm with about 3 inches of rain. I went back to check the nest and sure enough they must have hatched during the storm. I figured that these three babies drowned in all the water around the nest.

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Red Fox 001

Weather isn’t the only thing grouse have to worry about. The same day I was photographing this family of grouse a red fox was hanging around. I took this photo as it went through our flower garden.

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Red Fox 002

I am thinking that this is the guy that was getting the baby mallards that I had photographed earlier this year.

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