Every spring I look forward to photographing the ruffed grouse as they go through their ritual of trying to find a mate. After establishing his territory, they pick a favorite log that gives them not only a good view around them but also branches overhead to protect them from hawks. This is Scottie. He lives by a friend of ours who gave him his name. I have had the good fortune to spend time with Scottie for over five years.

Every morning Scottie will be on his log puffing up his chest and beating his wings. Ruffed grouse actually create small sonic booms from the air moving through their feathers. The sound carries for almost a half mile. Any female grouse that is in the area will be attracted to this sound. He will drum about every three minutes for hours on end hoping to attract a mate.

After spending five days with Scottie all his work paid off. As I am sitting on my stool watching, a female comes up from behind me. Scottie reacts. His tail fans out, his ruff puffs up and he is excited. If he could talk to me, he probably would be saying. “Get out of my Way”. Scottie is so excited I thought he was going to run over my foot to get to the “Love of his life”.

Paul