Tweeters and Tom,

Until Sunday morning I was fairly sure that Spruce Grouse not only did not
occur in Washington but were probably a myth as well. This was after
scrambling through "perfect Spruce Grouse habitat" at least six times with
no success. Perfect habitat, for those who don't know, consists of
lodgepole pine with an understory of spruce and so many deadfalls it seems
that the gods have been playing a game of pick-up-sticks. It is real work
to look for SPGR. It definately is not for the faint-of-heart. You really
have to want to see one to go searching. Unless you are among the lucky
ones who happens to see one right along the forest road.

Sunday morning my opinion changed. In the company of Andy Stepniewski and
Mike Schroeder I saw my first two Spruce Grouse. Mike is a biologist with
the Department of Wildlife and possibly the foremost expert in the country
on grouse. He has several SPGR radio-tagged and was able to lead us to one
which was accompanied by an untagged but banded grouse. Mike also has a dog
named Belle that must be the world's best grouse dog. It was a wonderful
experience spending the day with both of them.

There is a very healthy population of SPGR in Okanogan County. Randy Hill
has reported seeing several in Yakima County. I have talked to two hunters
in Yakima who gave me directions to where they think they have seen SPGR in
Yakima County. I am sure they can be found in other counties as well.
Perhaps Mike or Andy will be able to respond in more detail.

The Department of Wildlife needs to be prodded, or forced, to protect Spruce
Grouse from hunting. This is a bird that will practically let you walk
right up and touch it. There is no way a hunter can miss when he shoots
because the bird is so tame it will not fly. It seems that there is not
much sport in hunting SPGR. This might be one program for members of
Tweeters and WOS to undertake - to persuade the Department of Wildlife to
end the hunting of Spruce Grouse.

(The first Spruce Grouse I actually saw was October 9 at Freezeout Pass near
Tiffany Mountain. A hunter showed me a male he had just shot. I didn't get
to see the whole bird since he had shot its head off.)

Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA


At 09:17 PM 10/20/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Tweeters,
>
>I believe this was talked about before. Can
>someone post the official status. Are there
>Spruce Grouse in Washington State? Have there
>ever been any in the state - (a specimen, photo)?
>
>If I remember correctly, someone mentioned
>seeing (or hearing about) a Spruce Grouse
>being found on Mt. Ranier. I think the majority
>of the answers were that they don't occur. A few
>responses thought that birders were actually seeing
>Blue Grouse.
>
>BTW - great discussion group, wish we had one for
>my state....
>
>
>Many thanks,
>
>Tom Bailey
>Robbinsville, NJ
>hanrac at aosi.com
>
>

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