Ruffed Grouse


Posted by Josh Gahagan on Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:26 pm

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This is a species that I've dreamed of photographing for the past few years, and have finally found a consistent and curious individual last week who is an amazing subject to work with. I would have to rank them as one of the most difficult species of bird to photograph well here in New England since they are heavily hunted and normally very skittish, usually flushing well before you even see one in thick cover. Not so much with this bird, who comes out of the woods to greet me whenever I arrive at the location. I'm quite sure this individual is a male, and I'm crossing my fingers that he will begin his spring courtship activities soon and show me where his drumming log is. This image is from yesterday afternoon within the cover of his thickly forested territory, when only a small area of light illuminated him almost perfectly while he perched on this log surrounded by Mountain Laurel.

1D4, 300 f/2.8L IS, 1/1600 @ f/2.8, ISO 500, handheld.

Thanks for looking!

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by LynnS on Wed Mar 22, 2017 7:48 pm
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Josh, perfectly posed, with the nice light filtering in - so lovely to see, in its natural habitat.  Great to hear that with your persistence, this amazing opportunity has been presented to you.  The wonderful story of their difficulty you've shared makes the capture even more special.
Lynn
 

by Dorian Anderson on Wed Mar 22, 2017 8:30 pm
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Great stuff. So lucky to have a bird to work with. Should be a good spring!
 

by mikullashbee on Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:49 pm
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Beautiful shot Josh. Amazing how that light managed to creep through and highlight him so well. Cheers
Thanks for looking,
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by KK Hui on Thu Mar 23, 2017 1:16 am
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Lucky you, Josh!
Nice pose and awesome detail and color ...
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by Ed Cordes on Thu Mar 23, 2017 7:34 am
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Congratulations on this achievement. Nice pose, with a good head turn and well exposed. Good luck with the spring ritual.
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by Denis55 on Thu Mar 23, 2017 8:27 am
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Congrats on finding this co-operative bird,Josh!
Great capture and good luck down the road!
 

by david fletcher on Thu Mar 23, 2017 12:53 pm
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fabulous capture Josh. well done on that find and super splash of light
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by Karl Egressy on Thu Mar 23, 2017 5:04 pm
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Wow, such a wonderful image of this most wanted bird by me.
 

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