At 10:52 PM 10/20/98 -0700, Russell Rogers wrote:

> When you heed to the call of nature and find your
>self in a compromising position behind a Spruce tree, ankles firmly bound
>by garments that cover your midlands, take a moment to look up. Chances
>are there will be a Spruce Grouse checking you out. I have seen the
>aforementioned bird no less than three times using this method. On one
>occasion a male actually came over and pecked at the end of my boot.

You know, I'm amazed at this story for the simple reason that it's exactly
how I saw my first blue grouse many years ago! Except, in my case, it was
a mom and chicks in the Jefferson Wilderness (central Oregon) meandering
around my ankles, clueless as to the fate that was about to (forgive me,
this is a true story) fall upon them.

Hmmm...the same trick works up north for spruce grouse, I'll have to remember
that.




- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net