Hello Tweets,

My husband and I went up to Fish Lake and beyond today, scouting campsites
for an upcoming trip. We were off of Hwy 2 (west of Leavenworth) on Chiwawa
River Road when we were very surprised to see three Spruce Grouse
(appropriately just outside of Grouse Creek campground.) As we were unaware
of Spruce Grouse being in the area, we got out our field guides and tried to
turn them into Blue or Ruffed, but to no avail, these looked like Franklin's
Spruce Grouse. All three appeared to be rufous colored juveniles. The one
we got the best look at was developing his black neck/chest area, and at
least two of them had a red eye comb. They all had short black tails with
obvious white spots, and heavily marked sides/underparts. Thought someone
might be interested in hearing about these!

Thanks and good birding,
Paula Flores
Sammamish, WA
floresnw at gte.net