My first attempt to photograph the spring mating ritual, drumming, of ruffed grouse was in my home state of Minnesota. Northern Minnesota is one of the best places in all the US to see these beautiful birds and experience their drumming ritual. But this beautiful male was photographed from a hide only a few hundred yards from my home in Montana.
Unfortunately, a still photograph doesn’t communicate the overall experience of seeing these birds in action. To get a better idea of what it’s like to see and feel a ruffed grouse trying to attract his mate, watch and listen to this video by Martha Fisher of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
I dedicate this Natural Note to the world’s leading ruffed grouse expert, Mr. Gordon Gullion. I met Gordy when I was just 19 years old, and he allowed me to tag along while doing his research in the Cloquet Valley State Forest in northern Minnesota. Gordy died many years ago, but thankfully his legacy and research live on. Here’s a great article on Boreal about how his research is being preserved. Thank you, Gordy, for some wonderful adventures in the woodlands of northern Minnesota.