Every spring I look forward to hearing the first deep, thumping sounds of the male ruffed grouse as they establish their territory trying to attract a female and chase other male grouse away.

The sound slowly builds as they rapidly rotate their wings. Each sequence might last only 10 seconds but during that short period his wings may beat up to 50 times. When they move that fast, they cause an implosion of air through the feathers creating a very distinctive noise. Some descriptions compare it to a sonic boom.

This last Saturday I was fortunate to be able to photograph one of the most colorful ruffed grouse I have ever seen. Experts say that between their tails and the ruff on their neck ruffed grouse come in over 30 different color patterns or phases. This one has that beautiful patterned red phase tail and the cinnamon ruff around his neck.