Hi Tweeters!

Yes, I have 'chicken fever' but had a great trip this weekend to the Okanogan (Northcentral WA) to photograph elusive alpine, boreal, and grassland grouse. Grouse are always very intriguing to me, as they are interesting in their display, possess variable plumages, and easy to study and photograph. Some require a lot of energy to get to the right habitat and find, but the rewards are worth it.

Mananged to find a nice pair of White tailed Ptarmigans, a female spruce grouse with a brood of 6 chicks that were about 3 days old, and several Dusky grouse with broods. Sharp tailed grouse were also found, but too skittish to photograph.

My favorite is the female sprucie with the chicks under her belly. They were adorable!! The sexual dimorphism in the ptarmigans is quite evident this time of year. Male is still very white.

There are some scenery shows, too...:)

http://www.pbase.com/spruce_grouse/recent_photos&page=all

Good grousin!!

Khanh Tran (Portland, Oregon)