Dusky Grouse
This pen and ink of a dusky grouse was inspired from a trip to the high country last summer. I always knew this bird as the blue grouse, but in recent years the name was changed to dusky grouse.
This is dusky grouse country.
Dusky grouse stay in the high country all winter. They survive off by eating fir needles.
The Trinity Mountains
I was in the Trinity Mountains of northern California when I came upon a covey of grouse crossing a little logging spur road. So I stopped and started taking pictures. Grouse are funny chicken like birds. They’re very tolerant of trucks and equipment. You can get quite close to them in a vehicle, but not if you’re on foot. They will hide, run or fly.
A Dusky grouse sneaking through the underbrush.
These birds have given me near death experiences numerous times over the years. They will often hold tight hidden in the underbrush where they blend right into the cover. I’ve nearly stepped on a few only to have them explode out of the bushes, practically giving me a heart attack.
What are you grousing about!
In our neck of the woods, grouse live in the high country, typically over 5000 feet elevation. In the coastal redwood and Douglas-fir forests, where it is cooler, they live quite low in elevation.
It’s pretty up here with the grouse.
What did the grouse say?
Male grouse make a loud booming call that rumbles through the spring woods.
Apparently, she said she was leaving.
Grouse will feed in logging units like this one when the grasses and forbs begin to grow.
Interestingly, grouse aren’t particularly bothered by logging. I’ve seen them watching the big equipment roll by with curiosity.
Using her camouflage magic to blend in.
Since many of you are suffering through the great Arctic vortex, I thought it might be good to put up some nice summer pictures. When the weather gets hot in the valley, there’s nothing like going to work in the high country. The upper elevations temperatures will be in the 70s or 80s. Up there spring lasts into the early summer.
A little Spring bloom to warm up the coldest Winter day.
I hope this gave you all a little bit of sunshine amongst the snow clouds. These are a few of the flowers that were blooming that day.
Nothing says Spring like a tiger lily.
Blitz says she can’t wait for grouse season to get here! Oh, by the way did I mention they’re delicious.
“Is that a grouse I see?”
Disclaimer No grouse were eaten during the making of this post.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 
What a wonder!
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🙂
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Nice and interesting photos of the grouse. What breed is Blitz?
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Thank you Hien. Blitz is a golden retriever.
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Blitz is looking good. My Hound gets scared stiff when ducks fly up at the last moment. Enjoy your weekend, 🍀
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Thank you Mick. You do the same.
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Tim,
Great post from beginning to end! I’ve never seen a grouse before. Are they seen in NC in higher elevations?
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Thanks Linda. The dusky grouse are stricly a western species. Although, I looked at a range map that showed ruffed grouse in western NC. We also have ruffed grouse out west.
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Hi Tim,
I have heard of ruffled grouse. Thanks for the reminder. I haven’t seen one though. At least not that I know of.
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I hope you do someday. They are a neat bird. I don’t see the duskys very often.
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Love the pen and ink picture! The photographs are beautiful!
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Thank you so much Joy! 🙂
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Love this drawing and love following your posts, so refreshing and a great visual break. Much appreciated!
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Thank you so much. I have greatly enjoyed your wildlife paintings. It is wonderful that you have found such a great way to relieve stress.
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Haha I’m such an amateur! Enjoy your work!
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I have been doing this a long time and I still have so much to learn. It’s all about the jouney and not where you are. 🙂
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That sure was a lot of grousing around. Great photos and Blitz is looking good. She doesn’t have a bad side when is comes to posing for a photo.
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You’re right Yvonne, she’s like the Audrey Hepburn of golden retrievers, except she fetches stuff. They don’t come any sweeter.
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I like your answer. The Audrey Hepburn of goldens. That is cute. 🙂
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😉
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That’s a beautiful drawing, Tim. We have ruffed grouse here all year long and they do give a me that near death experience.when they fly up. Everything seems a little more real for a few minutes after that. In the spring the male ruffed grouse make a drumming sound that starts slow and speeds up, like a starting engine that can be heard for a long distance.
Thanks for your forestry posts, Tim!.
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Thank you Annerose. I can tell you know just what I mean. I love hearing them in the spring.
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Yes, me too.
🙂
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Great post. Love the pen & ink. Your photos are so beautiful. And the story they tell is enchanting. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you Judy. I love you bird pics. For a beginner you look like a pro.
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Bless your heart! I’m learning so much from everyone I’ve ‘met’ through these blogs. Such generous, talented folks, including you!!
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😀
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Beautiful pencil drawing!
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Thank you Jenny. It’s actually a pen and ink, but it’s hard to tell online sometimes.
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Oops, sorry!
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Tim, you have a super world out there and it is always a joy to walk along with you thank you for sharing it in pictures words and drawing too. Have a good weekend.
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Thanks Doron, you’re always welcome to tag along. Have a great weekend.
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If only thanks mate have a great weekend…
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The Grouse suits his surroundings. Trust nature to figure that out. Nice pen and ink drawing and images. Enjoyed the visit as always!
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Thank you so much Susan. 🙂
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So, Tim, how is your winter so far? Have you not been affected by the polar vortex where you are? You certainly live in the most stunning area of the world.
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We’ve been quite warn while the rest of the country is frozen. It’s been in the 60s and 70s here lately, but we are in dire need of rain. The nice weather is very pleasant, but we will pay for it next summer.
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We’re paying for lack of rain and high temperatures today, Tim. Homes in the Perth hills are burning AS I WRITE. There are several big fierce fires burning. Yesterday was 111 F (or 44 C) and today not that high but still very hot. I live close to the coast so am unaffected personally but it is terribly sad to hear about. People are rushing about trying to find temporary homes for their horses. Then there is the wildlife…and so far one man is known to have died. All today.
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I’m so sorry about the heat and fires that folks down your way are dealing with. I totally understand, because we have the same fire situation and heat here in the summer. We’ll keep you all in our prayers.
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Great grouse pix! I like the streaming ones, heehee. I understand the heart attack delivery method of some hiding animals. Gaa! I can’t take too many blasts to the ticker like that…Blitz looked like he’s fresh from a swim or bad hair day. 🐶
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She had just gone for a swim. We always have to hit the water holes when in the woods in the summer.
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Love your drawing Tim, beautiful fine details in the wood grain and the Grouse feathers. Beautiful photography, although Blitz is the star again!
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Thank you Mary. Yes, Blitz is always the star of the show!
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These grouse look as feisty and sound as confident as the ptarmigan that once bullied me back into my car and then actively attacked my windshield until I left the premises!
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Wow, watch out for those ptarmigan! Even though the birds are a lot alike, the dusky grouse are really a mellow bird. That is except for when you step on them.
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For a short while I saw myself walking in the Trinity mountains I didn’t even know to exist before; and I felt very, very lucky. From the photos I guess it is a vast and wild area where one can get lost for some long and nice time 🙂
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It is wild and remote. Sometimes people do get lost, but probably not like what you mean. I’m glad you came along of the walk! 🙂
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I love all the details in this drawing, Tim. How long did you work on this piece? Your photos are gorgeous, as usual.
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Love your dusky grouse Tim .. wonder what warranted the name change … perhaps it’s because ones face turns that shade with the ‘near death experience’ as they explode from the undergrowth LOL
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I think you are onto something there Poppy. They come out like a little helicopter taking off. They have scared the pants off me
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Lovely drawing of the grouse. I sympathize with the “grouse scare” experience. I never had that with a bird, but one time years ago I was blackberry picking with Brandy, my pyrenees/lab mix at the woods edge. When we stopped at a nice area that encircled some low scrub, a large antlered buck exploded out of his resting place in the thicket, trailing berry vines from his many tines. I think all three of us just about had a heart attack, including the deer. Brandy even forgot to woof at him as he ran away. LOL I bet Blitz reacts much better than any of us. Does she chase them?
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She’ll flush the birds when she finds them, but fortunately she doesn’t chase deer. I too once had a buck jump out of a blackberry thicket. He came out behind me. He startled me, but in that case I was tracking him, so I wasn’t too startled. He ran off.
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Lovely drawing 🙂
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Thank you so much Maxine!
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Lovely set here Tim, MM 🍀
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