04/06/07

There was a recent message asking about Dusky Gouse at Freezeout Pass. Unfortuneately I deleted it.

I was just looking at an old Metzker Map of Okonagan County, to see where that location is. Assuming that it is in the Tiiffany Mountain area, I'd say it was indeed a Dusky ( i.e. not west-side type Sooty) Grouse. My accidental stumbling upon a male Dusky grouse near Winthrop, on a biology class field trip many years ago, was clearly a Dusky Grouse. Seen from above, as it flushed (twice) downward on the hill I was on, it had a solid black, squared-off tail. My location was further west than Freezeout Pass, so it looks as if the grouse in question would safely be counted as a Dusky.

I am wondering what species of Blue Grouse is found in Manning Park -up on the alpine ridge.

Phil Hotlen
Bellingham, WA
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