I had a notable collision with a Ruffed Grouse several years ago while
garage sale-ing along a back road in Danby on the second or third day of
March. Something large and brownish flew across the road, right in front of
the car, and while I was processing what I'd seen and figuring out what it
was, a great cantaloupe-sized WHUMP slammed into my windshield. I stopped
the car and walked back, and found a dying grouse. No doubt he had been
pursuing a female. After he was gone I put the body into a shopping bag I'd
serendipitously left in the car, took him home, and put him in the freezer
until I could get him to a taxidermist.
He's been a member of the family ever since. We call him Roger, since that
was what he was up to. ; ) And we even made up a cheerfully tasteless song
about him (sung to the tune of "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer"):
Roger, the randy Ruffed Grouse,
Flew across a country road
After a fleeting female
Hoping he could ... [this part is censored]
And then along came Robin
Searching for EAPG*.
She didn't see poor Roger
Now he's taxidermy!
*Early American Pattern Glass, c. 1835-1915. I apologize in advance if I
have offended anyone.
Happy birding —
Robin
On Sat, Feb 20, 2010 at 9:13 AM, John and Sue Gregoire <[email protected]>wrote:
> While we were out tracking skunks yesterday (and there was plenty of track
> as they
> wake for the breeding season) we flushed a Ruffed Grouse. As usual it beat
> out of
> cover but then slammed into tree branches much like a flushed turkey.
>
> It was a few minutes later when we heard wing flutter and closed on the
> grounded
> grouse which appeared to have a damaged wing. We recovered the bird and
> delivered it
> to a Schuyler rehabber.
>
> We've spent a lot of time birding and generally off the beaten path over
> the years
> but this is the first such incident we've ever seen or heard of. Thought
> we'd pass
> it along. Have any of you seen/heard of such an avian accident?
> --
> John and Sue Gregoire
> Field Ornithologists
> Kestrel Haven Avian Migration Observatory
> 5373 Fitzgerald Road
> Burdett,NY 14818-9626
> Website:
> http://www.empacc.net/~kestrelhaven/<http://www.empacc.net/%7Ekestrelhaven/>
> "Conserve and Create Habitat"
>
>
>
>
> --
>
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>
> ARCHIVES:
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>
> Please submit your observations to eBird:
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>
> --
>
--
"We are more alike in our ignorance, than we differ in our knowledge."
— Forrest Church
--
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ARCHIVES:
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Please submit your observations to eBird:
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