As I was driving along Ludlowville Rd along Salmon Creek just now, I came upon a handsome Ruffed Grouse walking along the line in the middle of the road. It stopped and watched me as I pulled up beside it. Fearing for its safety I opened my door- I could have reached out and grabbed it- and suggested that it should fly away. No result. When I waved my arms at it and yelled, it finally flew off into the woods. It looked nicely groomed and undamaged, and I'm thinking that it was just doing its Grouse thing of being invisible. I've had experiences like this with Sharp-tailed Grouse on hiking trails out west, and several times with Spruce Grouse that walked calmly along trails in the White Mountains in NH; once I literally stepped over one that was meandering slowly along, without spooking it. Do they really think they are invisible, or what? Never had this happen with a Ruffed Grouse before.
--John Greenly Ludlowville -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
