Week 32 – Spruce “Franklin’s” Grouse

 

Male Spruce “Franklin’s” Grouse preening. Photograph by Neil Paprocki.

Fresh off a 5-day backpacking trip to the beautiful Seven Devil’s Mountain Range and the Hell’s Canyon Wilderness Area comes this weeks photo!

I decided to lug my camera along with me and I’m glad that I did. On the morning of my third day out, I stumbled upon this male Spruce Grouse as I left my campsite along beautiful Baldy Lake below the towering crags of the Devils Throne.

This is the first Spruce Grouse I have ever seen, and is of the subspecies “Franklin’s” as this male showed off the white-tips of his uppertail coverts that are unique to the individuals inhabiting the Northern Rockies and Cascades of the western U.S.

All of the previous 52-week blog posts can be found at the Wild Lens blog or on Flickr.